Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-01-12

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against eight millions.
The first movement of these 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 nova
bic and immovable.
He was not generally accused of being
humanitarian-at least not by his southern
friends. (Laughter.) When he saw the ut
ter decentralization of the people, resulting
from slavery, it struck him that it was an in
stitution which should be thrust out of the
Union. He had, on reading Mrs. Stoves
book-Uncle TOMS Cabin-believed 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 school
girls novel. He related an instance of the
shocking decentralization of society at New
Orleans. There came into his office woman
q years of age, perfectly white, who asked
him 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 \ ork until she was between II and Is
years Of age, and taken her to one of the me.
tropolitan hotels, where he kept her as his
mistress. Not relishing the connection, and
desiring to get away from him, she went to
New Orleans. He followed her, but she re-
fused to live with him, at which he whipped
her in the public street and made her marry
a slave. She atterward resumed the unnat-
ural relation, going to Cincinnati but was
brought back by her husband or father with a
child belonging to somebody. Her father fled
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 credible, and he determined to invcs-
tgate 1t. 70 his surprise, it was found to be
well known, and testimony of its truth OBJ
tanned from a, B and G., without difficulty.
Notwithstanding this fact, widely known as it
was, this man could be elected in Louisiana,
in the city of New Orleans, 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 fine Of $1,000,
and give the woman deed of emancipation.
(Applause.) These were the kind of charges
which had been brought against him. CHEERS
and cries of 'Good!) Yes, no right minded
man could be sent to New Orleans without
returning an unconditional anti-savery man,
even though the roofs of the houses were not
taken off and the full extent of the corruption
exposed.
All the lower class of the people 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 he went on board the steamer on
his return to the NORTH at least one thousand
laboring men came down upon the levee, and
uttered 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 corner stone of the confederacy. This
was the second time in the history of the
world that rebellion of property holders
against the lowe classes and against the gov
eminent was ever carried on. The Hungari-
failed, as must e3Gffy that kind and that
property against government and against the
rights of the many. One Of the greatest ar
guments which he could find against slavery
was the demoralizng influences it exerted
upon the lower white classes, who were
brought into secession by the hundred, be-
cause they ignorantly supposed great wrong
was to be done them by the Lincoln govern
ment, as they termed it, if the north succeed
ed. Therefore, if you meet an old bunker
democrat, and send him for sixty days to New
Orleans, and he comes back bunker still, he
is merely incorrigibe Iaughter)
There was one thing about the presidents
edict Of emancipation to which he would call
attention. In Louisiana he has excepted
from freedom about $1,000 slaves. These
comprise all the negroes held in the Latourche
district who have been emancipated already
for some time, under the law which frees
slaves taken in rebellious territories by our
armies. Others OF these negroes had been
freed by the proclamation of September,
which declared all slaves to be free whose
owners should be in arms on the LIST OF Janu-
airy. The slaves of Frenchmen were free be-
cause the code cigil expressly prohibits
Frenchman holding slaves and by the 18th and
Sth Victoria, every Englshman holding slaves
submitted himself to a penalty of $500 for
EACH Now, take the negroes Of secessionists,
Frenchmen and Englishmen out Of the 81 600
and the lumber is reduced to an infnitessimal
portion of those excepted. This fact bad
come to his knowledge from having required
every inhabitant of the city to register his ma
tionality After all the names had been fairly
registered he explained these laws to the
English and French consuls, and had thus re-
pliedto demands which had been made by Eng
lish and French residents of Louisiana upon
the government for slaves allegedto have been
seized. (Applause.)
Gen. Butler then adverted to the fight at
Vicksburg, and explained how utterly impos-
sible it was for Banks and Farragut to pass
the strongly fortified rebel position three hun
dred miles below, at Port Hudson, in time, at
the present low stage of water in the river, to
cooperate with Gen. Sherman. pleasant
conversion on various topics followed, and
the committee left, evidently pleased at the
manner in which the evening had passed.
The guests at the hotel afterward pressed
into the room to shake Gen. Butler by the
hand and the ladies especially appeared tobe
delightedw with the opportunity of offering their
compliments"