Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1863-12-02
THE FREEDMEN.

ton would inHiot terrible iniuryrpnon tbe
C"loIeu RAGE However mach phiianthro-
By' UeheEoience and humanity NAV plead
lot lheir operation, it is evident that the
war WIZ emancipate many Of them. and
under The best circumstances, they will
suHe" rom penury and their changed
mode eotliie Gradual emancipation wo1ld,
in our belief be far preferable to.tbe
wholesale plan. But tho latter method
seems to be the iayorite one of the ex-
tremlsts at the North and if is success
iuliy adopted, millions OF poor uneduca-
ted, unemployed negroes will be thrown
upon our hands. The means taken TO ed
ucate them, are commendable. and il is
hoped VAL result in great good but for
4 All That, there will be hundreds of lhous-
onds who never can enjoy these blessings.
An Official report made by a committee
appointed by the Chaplain's Association.
= NlcksburE, represents that $4,000 freed
men are now gathered on the banks of the
Mississippi. from Helena to Nalches. and
1t has relation ia detail of their emplov
ments, substantially rs have been desori-
beu ny some IN the army and others on
abandoned plantations. The report SAYS,
as TO health, That there has been fearful
mortality among the freedmen, both the
enlisted soldiers and the camps of the in
lrm, show the most sgoni2ing proof. The
speech Of Rev. Mr.. Fiske, at the Cooper
Institute, who is Lhaplain in Gen. Grants
army, in dwelling on this STATE of things.
uses strong language: "The SUFFERING of
these people" he said, was a national
dlshonor. If they we're not rescued. his
tory. would write something like this, the
American people enliced within their lines
tens OF thousands of slaves, alluring them
thither with promises of liberty, took from
among them all able-bodied men to rein
force their armies, huddled the rest to-
gether IN great camps and left them to
perish OF nakedncss by the hundred. =
How, he asked would that page Of hsto.
ry read :" Such question is of no force
in the madness of this passing hour "Un-
less" says the Boston statesman, "a relqnt-
less ianatioism has paraly2ed The heart,
the agonlzed feeling is destined TO be gen
aral, Of the spectacle Of q black nation, as
it were, invited to freedom which is to
consist of disease and death in their worst
shapes.
The preface to this history may be read
already in this tale Of misery. The cries
OF those ready to perish ought now to
sound in the ears of the people, for they
show the torture already committed in
the name of liberty. respectfully ask
is there line of suffering which has not
been portrayed, not by INSCRIPTIONS pol,
iueians, who carry on this business of
cheating the people by false professions
in order 10 get the honors and emolu-
ments Of oilice-but 10y statesmen who sc-
ted not for themselves, but thought and
!abored for the country. Is there a single
element in this cup OF horrors Of immedi-
diate emancipation that thoughtful minds
have not predicted? Have not all the
evils been enumerated? Was there one
left outI IL is the whole worlds xper-
enoe that races, long dependent, long en-
eryated by oppression, must ne educated
up to state in which to enjoy the bless
ings of freedom and those who would in
yile into state where starvation is before
them ace responsible for the harvest of
death. ..'.
The great problem before the country is,
how to deal with four millions Of negroes,
and how to determine relations which six
or eight millions of whites shall bear to
them. And now who is to solve this pro-
blem? Who are to be the law-malors to
do this The radicals, who say the Fed
eral Constitution is played out, uuhesita-
tingly answer, Congress and the plan
adopted, in supplying the negroes with
ratioEs, is avowed TO be the beginning of ia
general system, Let this be looked st
fully in the face. This is 10 establish the
paternal policy Of governments taking
care of people. Great distress has pre-
vailed in England for two years past among
the manufacturers, and who does not know
Of Ireland in her starvation years But
the British government never undertook
to take care of the millions Of its distress
ed population Can this be- done by the
Federal Government.
The problem of race is forcing Itself on
the country with painful strides and in
way that will not admit Of postponement.
Meantime the present duty is clear. There
must be ways devised to prevent further
suffering and to relieve the present hor-
rors. The radical recipe Of emancipation
and fulsome promises will not cothc the
destitute or feed the starving, aud for TIE
remedy the country must look elsewhere
North S'v, ( Wy
THE New GosPrL or THE WAR De
pARTMEET. .-Thou shalt hate George
B. Mcclellan with all thy heart, and