The Portland daily press., 1863-01-14
Cen. ,ntler,s Views on slavery.


Orleans. The following, as given by the New
York Times, is the conclusion of his reply,
After expressing his qualification at the flater-
ing terms of the invitation, and his inability
at present to accept it, he said:
If they would allow him to be colloquial,
he would speak of a few things respecting his
course in New Orleans, which had been carp
ed at and severely criticised by those who had
been accustomed to act with him politically in
times past-not for the purpose of injuring
him, but the cause of the country. With ref
erence TO the slavery question, his views had
undergone radical change during his resi-
dence at New Orleans, and while entertaining
no prejudices against his old associates. who
found fault with him on that score, he would
only say to them, that if they had gone there
with the same sentiments that he felt, they
would have come away with the same senti-
ments that he felt. tLaughterl He thought
he might say that the principal members Of
his staff and the prominent officers of his regi-
ments, without any exception, went out to
New Orleans bunker Democrats of the hunk
crest sort, for it was but natural that he should
draw around him those whose views were sim
liar TO his own, and every individual of the
number had come to precisely the same belief
on the question of slavery as he had put forth
in his farewell address to the people of New
OltcailS. HIS CudiEt Cdlnt iioHi scciuS
what all of them saw, day by day. In this
war the entire property of the South was
against u.s. because almost the entire property
OF the South was bound up in that institution.
This was a well known fact, probably, but he
did not become fully aware of it until he had
spent some time at New Orleans.
The South had Sl63, 100000 of taxable prop
erty in slaves, and sl63,000.00O in all other
kinds of property. And this was the cause
why the merchants OF New Orleans had not
remained loyal. They found themselves ru-
ined-all their property being loaned upon
planters notes, and mortgages upon planta-
tions and slaves, which are now reasonably
worthless. Again, he had learned what he did
not know before, that this was not rebellion
against us, but simply to perpetuate power in
the hands of few shareholders. AT first he
had not believed that slavery was the cause of
the rebellion, but attributed it to Davis, Sill
dell. and others, who had brought it about to
make political triumphs by which to regain
their former ascendancy.
The rebellion was against the humble and
poorer classes, and there are in the South large
numbers of secret societies, dealing in cabalistic
signs. organized for the purpose of perpetual
ing the power of the rich over the poor.
1t was feared that three or four hundred
thousand men could not hold against eight
millions.
The first movement of these men was TO
make land the basis of political power; and
that was not enough, for land could not be
owned by many persons. Then they annexed
land to slaves and divided the property into
movable and movable
He was not generally accused of being a
humanitarian--at least not by his Southern
friends. tLaughter.) When he saw the utter
decentralization OF the people, resulting from
slavery. it struck him that it was an institution
which should be thrust out of the Union. He
had on reading Mrs. Stoves book-Uncle
Toms Cdbin-beieved it TO be an overdrawn,
highly wrought picture of Southern life, but he
had seen with his own eyes, and heard with
his own ears, many things which go beyond
her book as much as her book does beyond an
ordinary schoolgirls novel. He related an
instance of the shocking decentralization OF So
ciety at New Orleans. There came into his
office woman u years of age, perfectly white,
who asked in proper language if he would put
her in one of her fathers houses. Her history
was this. Her father had educated her in the
city of New York until she was II or Is years
of age, and taken her to one of the metropolitan
hotels, where he kept her as his mistress. Not
relishing the Connection, and desiring to get away
from him, she went to New Orleans. Hefollow
ed her. but she refused to live with him, at
which he whipped her in the public street and
made her marry slave. She afterwards spurn-
ed the unnatural relation, going to Cincinnati,
Dut was DdCh D1 "ltii d
child belonging to somebody. Her father fed
from the city at the time of its occupation by
the United States forces, leaving her in a state
of destitution. She wanted to live in one of
her fathers houses, but her story was not cred
ible, and he determined to investigate it. To
his surprise, it was found to be well known,
and testimony of its truth obtained from A, b
and G, without difficulty. Notwithstanding
this fact widely known as it was, this man
aoulb ha alactaI i'm T.oniSiana in the pifv NJ
New Orleans, a Judge of one Of the Courts.
On one occasion one of his aids brought be-
fore him young woman, almost white, who
had been brutally whipped and turned out
of the house Of her father. For this outrage
the man had been made to pay a fine of $1,000
and give the woman a deed of emancipation.
(Applanse.) These were the kind of charges
which had been brought against him. (Cheers,
and cries of "Goodi"l Yes, no right-minded
man could be sent to New Orleans without
returning an unconditional anti-slayery man,
even though the roofs of the houses were ta-
ken Off and the full extent Of the corruption
exposed,
All the lower class of New Orleans were
loyal. During the first fourteen days after
the Union forces entered the city, fourteen
thousand took the oath OF allegiance; and
when 1ie went on board the steamer on his re-
turn TO the North, at least one thousand labor
ing men came down upon the levee, and utter
ed no words except those Of good will to him
as the representative of the Government.
Gen. Butler continued by saying that the
war could only be successfully prosecuted by
the destruction of slavery, which was made
the cornerstone OF the Confederacy. This
was the second time in the history of the
world that a rebellion of property holders
against the lower classes and against the Gov
ernment was ever carried on. The Hungarian
rebellion was one of that kind, and that failed,
as must every rebellion of men of property
against Government and against the rights of
the many. One of the greatest arguments
which he could find against slavery was the de-
moralizina influences it eXerted upon the low
er white classes, who were brought into seces-
sion by the hundred because they ignorantly
supposed that great wrong was to be done
them by the Lincoln governmentas they term
ed 1t, If the North succeeded. Therefore, if
you meet an old Hunker Democrat, and send
himfor sixty days to NewOrleans, and he comes
back Hunker still, he is merely incorrigible.
(Laughter.)
There was one thing about the Presidents
edct of emancipation to which he would call
attention In Louisiana he had excepted from
freedom about $1,000 slaves. These comprise
all the negroes held in the Lafourche district
who have been emancipated already for some
time, under the law which frees slaves taken
in rebellious territory by our armies. Others
of these negroes had been freed by the procla-
nation of September, which declared all slaves
to be free whose owners shall be in arms on
the first of January. The slaves of French
men were free because the code ciuile express