Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1863-02-05
The Testimony Of an Eyewitness
What Gen. Buffers Officers Think.


Butler was in New York, and committee OF
the Chamber of Commerce waited npOn him
at the the Fifth Avenue Hotel offering him
on behalf of the citizens public diDner.--
This the General declined for the present his
private affairs requiring his presence at home.
TIE New York papers report
The General was then introduced to num-
her of gentlemen present. and during the col
loquy that ensued he spoke of few things re-
spectng his course in New Orleans. which had
been carped at and severely criticised by those
who had been accustomed to act with him po
liticaliy in time paSt--not Tor the purpose Of
iniuripg him but the cause Of the C0uutry.-
With reference to the Slavery question, his
views had undergone radical change during
his residence al New OreaLs, and while en-
tertaiuing no prejudice against his old poiti-
cal 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 wou!d have come away with
the same sentiments that he felt. Laughter.
He thought be might say the principal mem
bers of bis staff, and the prominent officers Of
his regiments, without any exception, went
out to New Orleans Huuker Democrats Of the
hunkerest sort, for it was natural that he
should draw around him these whose views
were similar 10 bis own, and every ipdivd-
ual of the number had come precisely to the
same belief on the question of Slavery as he
had put forth i0 his farewell address to the
people of New Orleans This change came
about from seeing what all of them saw, day
by day. Iu this war the entire property of
the South was against US, because almost the
entire property OF the South was bound up
in that Institution. This was a weilkhoWn
fact, probably, but he did not become fully
aware Of it until he had spent some time at
New Orleans. The South had $lG0,O00,000
of taxables property in slaves, and SlG2, 000,,
600 in all other kind of property. And this
was the cause why the merchants Of New-Or-
leans had not remained loyal. They found
themselves runed-alI their property being
loaned upou planters notes aud mortgages
upon plantations and slaves, all Of which prop
erty is now reasonably worthless. Again, be
had learned what he did not know before,
that this was not a rebellion against us, but
simply rebellion to perpetuate power in the
bands OF few shareholders. At first he had
not believed that Slavery was the cause Of the
Rebellion but attributed it to Davis, Slidell
and Others, who had brought it about to make
political triumphs by which to regain their
former ascendancy The rebellion was again
the humble and poorer classes, and there were
in the South large numbers of secret socie
ties dealing in cabalistic signs, organized for
the purpose of perpetuating the power of the
rich over the poor. 1t was feared that these
common people would come into power, and
that three or four hundred thouSandmen could
not hold against eight millions. The first
movement of these men was to make land the
busis 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 immovable. lie was not generally accuS-
ed of being humanitarian-at least not By
his Southern friends. laughter. 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. Hdhad on rCading Mrs Stoves
book" Uncle Toms Cobin"-believing it
TO be an over drawn, highly-wrought picture
of Southern life, but be had seen with his own
eyes, and heard with own ears, many things
which go beyond her book as much as her
book does beyond an ordinary schoolgirls nog-
el He related an instance of the shocking
decentralization of society at Newt Orleans-
There came into his Office woman, p 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
CHI hafv I nd
years Of age, and taking 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 Oreans-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 afterward resumed the unnatur
al relation, going to Cincinnati, but was brOt
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 investigate it.
To his surprise, it was found to be we'll known,
and testimony of its truth was obtained from
A, 3, and c, 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 before him a 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 81 600 and give the woman a deed of
emancipation. [Appause.] These were The
kind of charges which had bsen brought against
him. Cheers and cries Of Good Yes,
no right-mnded man could be sent to New
Orleans without returning an unconditional
Ant-Slavery man, even though the roofs of
the houses were not taken off and the full eX-
tent Of the corruption exposed. All the low
er class of the people of New Orleans were
Il.Iui. IL. E..-tf do ftnn