New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-01-13
THE RIGHT TO FREE AND ARM
SLAVES I'm CIVIL WAR.

we presume no Vnc WIZ CVntchu tno., III
case of the formidable invasion Of any slave
holding country by foreign power, the in.
vaded people would not have perfect right
to free and arm their slaves to aid them in
resisting and repelling the invaders. Most GER
tainly, we have never yet seen 1t even sug-
gested that this would violate the canons of
humane and civilized warfare. The ranks of
the Russian armies have for centuries been in
good part filed BY serfs, who by becoming
soldiers earned their freedom. Was this ever
complained Of by any nation or government
whose armies were required to meet these
emancipated bondmen in the shock OF battle 2
If it has, we never heard Of it. And that the
great armies of the Christian Crusaders were
habitually and largely recruited from among
the serfs who then tiled the fields Of Western
Europe, and who, by fighting for the recovery
of the Holy Sepu!cher from the clutch of the
Infidel, achieved their freedom and that of their
posterity, will not, we presume, be disputed.
The Paynm ch.valry were all Shareholders;
bat We cannot remember any complaint on
their part that they were compelled to encoun-
ter in battle the serfs Of their knigbty foes.
If Jefferson Davis had seen fit, one year ago,
to proclaim that every slave who would volun-
teer to fight for his Confederacy should, at the
close of the war, be enfranchised, we presume
no one doubts that he would have thereby
secured legions Of sable warriors. Does any
one believe or pretend that we should there
upon have threatened those soldiers and their
White officers with the ignominious death Of
felons whenever taken prisoners of war 7 Where
is the canon OF international law, where the
section in the code Of war, that would have
authorized us thus to hang men for what JEFF.
would term listening to the call OF their i'm
periled country There is none.
The oamor against the liberation of the
slaves of the Coniederates as war measure
implies cool assumption that the masters are
not Rebels. II they are, the outcry in their
behalf is simply absurd. Slaves are abstractly
aud gcnericoly prisoners of war; ard to say
that belligerent may not set free the captvea
of his foe is to talk wildly enough; while to
maintain that rghtful sovereign, whose au'
thority is defed, whose rule is resisted by a
subject, may not decree the freedom Of that
subjects bondmen, whom he is using in aid OF
his rebellion, is to say that the soyereign's
hands and feet are tied, and his right to vindi-
cate his authority a deluson. Jefferson Davis
exercises the right to confscate the slaves
whether Of loyal or diSloyal masters by allowing
his partsans to shoot those who are found
guarding our trains or cooking and serving in
our camps. True, he kills, while we free them;
but the assumption Of power is the same, and
the master loses his property in either case;
dead negroes being Of no more account Pc
cuniariy, than though they had run from
Carolina to Canada.
Only let it be settled that our Government
has equal rights as belligeront with that OF
the Rebels-that they may not justifiably treat q
citizen of the United States residing in Ten.
nessee any worse than we may treat citizen
OF the Confederate States residing in that 10.
cality, and all ia clear. JefI.'s organs tell u,
that he will hang negroes who shall be caught
fghting on the eide Of the Union ns "not in