The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-07-25

DOT a6 pOlltlCl0n., l"UOn'C WANT uuy pVi-
iticians.' He would be poor soldier, in
my opinion who would fail to use every ele'
ment of war which God Almighty gave
him, il he could use it to his advantage.
| Prolonged and enthusiastic cheering !
think you concur with me in that at least.
| Cries OF "Certainly we do;" Every sensi'
bic man will'1 Now then If we find the
negro before Us, or around us,as we advance,
planted there by some observation-disclosures
may have had o great deal to do with it
and we can find bis services available, would
not that General be crazy man who would
refuse to use them? "Most assuredly,"
and applause.
So it seems to me,aLd my position may be
plainly stated upon that. 1t by the services
of negro / can make my soldiers comforts
able; if by the services of band of negroes
I can relieve them of onerous duties and
hard work; if I can make them available to
! dig my trenches ["That's right'], shall I
not do it? Cries of eyes. yes" Loud
applause.] Yes, and will do it. Vocif-
erous cheering. A voice" Soldiers will
follow you to the death for that" Another
| voice" Put no arms in their hands," Sew
eral voices-"Oh yes, as many as they
want"
Now, then, let me speak about that.
[Cries OF "All right now; You are a
mighty good boy."] If I accept the SER
vices of negro, and he works we'll and
faithfully, fed by US, clothed by US, and he
stands by gallant regiment, relieving them
of the hard duties have mentioned, would
| it be human, would it not be cruel, to put
him into the army, in they way of shot, and
yet give him nothing with which to defend
himself? [Cries of "That's so," and loud
and continued cheering.
My fellow.citizens, speak as soldier
all the time, recollect. l am not viewing
this matter in its political aspect, for have
as much prejudice against the negro politi.
| cally, and am as much opposed to slavery
agitation as any of you can be. Yet where
he can be made available let Us make him so.
Then what shall we do with him? A voice
--"Place him in the rear" "No, put him
to the front" (Applause) A voice-"In
the ditch" Stop one moment. there is
policy in war as we'll as in politics. One
thing ia very certain, nothing is to be 80
carefully guarded against as the prejudices
of the soldiers, and unless it was some des.
perate occasion, some last resort, when even
soldiers would be grateful for their assist
ance, I would not propose to put him in the
line of battle to the front. That's the
true doctrine" and applause. But to every
brigade l would have a regiment of working
negroes-to every company l would have a
fair complement of cooks. Applause. I
would feed them, I would organize them, and
to each one who did good service would at
the end of the war give him or her freedom.
Immense cheering.I
Let me make one remark further. The
common impression has been that this was a
war in which we bad all the advantages.
Now, then, listen to my practical expert.
ence. tell you it has not been such war
of inequality in our favor as many suppose.
have visited plantations in the course of
marches. have asked, Where is the man
of the house? He is in the army. I have
looked around. have seen his harvest
field full of stalwart negroes. They reap
his harvest and they put it away as well
and as carefully as if the man had been at
home and not in the army and what was
the result? He had plenty to eat-a super.
abundapce-some of which he was sure
would come to the sustenance of that South.
ern army.
There are supposed to be 1900, 900 of
negroes. Do you suppose that Jefferson
Davis, if we went humbly to him beseecb-
ing such thing, proposing to him: You
have 1000 900 of operatives belonging to
your people in the South under our policy
we may not touch them-not modest them.
We will leave them upon your farms to
work, will you agree to leave US 100000
| of operatives home on our farms, in our
shops, unmolested? Do you suppose that
Jefferson Davis would agree to that p
[Nol Yet be would have to agree to it
before equality OF advantage was establish.
ed between us. [Applause.] Jefferson
Davis is better manager because he is
desperate man. Applause. Our army
upon the James River is said to be in dan.
ger. How true that is l do not know. l
hope it is false. Well, if that is true, and
they come back; what becomes Of the good
Government that those of Us who have
been in the field have been fighting for !?
To say the least, it becomes imperiled. Now
then, what do you think of the legislator
who will sit in the halls of our Congress
and be afraid to use the power of the Gov
erpment to sustain the Government
I"Thats it," "Hit 'em."]
JEFF Davis early in this war impressed
men. He was oct afraid. He saw the me-
cessity of it and be being bold man resort
ed to improvement. We want soldiers and
want them quickly. There is a way to get
them. In time they will come by volun-
teeripg. but the exigencies of the government
are so great it is dangerous to wait. Will
this Congress before it adjourns-and the
time of its adjournment, l ann told, ap.
proaches-will it have the courage to leave
behind on the statute book drafting law ?
fear not. Eyes they Wilt And yet
they ought by all means, because the time
may come When every strong arm in the
North aod 10 the Border States, too, may
be required to sustain the government
| [True! We have been dealing in affecta-
lions. Let US discard them. We have been
accused OF vanity by the people of the Old
World. All people are vain. 1t was ma
tural that we should be. Let US not carry
our 90 nitv hOuevpr IN tho mint 0f Apctync-