Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1863-02-13

York (Mr Diven,) the gentleman from Ken
lucky (Mr. WickiifeG and the gentleman
from Indiana (Mr. Porter,) however much
they may differ in phraseology and detail,
agree in this, that they propose to raise, or
ganize and arm q body Of negroes, TO be re-
ceived into the military service Of the United
States Most Of them, believe all Of them,
permit II they do not Lenjoin, and certainly
contemplate, that this body Of men shall be
constituted as well of slaves as Of free ne.
groes Of the slaves of loyal as well as of dis.
loyal masters and that recruiting stations
for the enlistment Of these negroes shall be
opened in the slsveholding as well as in the
non slaveholdng States They all contem.
plate that mAnumission will be granted to the
slave after he shall have enlisted Some of
them provide that compensation shall be made
to the master who shall have remained loyal
Now sir, of all the bills and substitutes
prefer the original bill, introduced by the
Chairman of the Committee of Ways and
Means (Mr Stevens) 1t is characteristic OF
him 1t is plain, direct and bold. 1t express
es plainly the meaning Of its author 1t pro
yides, in so mahy words, for the enlistment of
slaves, and the establishment Of recruiting
depots anywhere in any of the States. 1t
promises fresdom to all who shall enlist, aud
compensation to the masters who may be en-
titled to it 1t is not only Characteristic Of
the gentleman in this, that it is frank and
straightforward it is also characteristic OF
him in another respect to which he himself
alluded the other day that he is the forerun-
nsr Of his party-that he is always in ad
vance of his party friends, but that he finds
they soon come up to the position which he
takes.
These bills have been presented and urged
on the House from various considerations -
They are urged as Il military necessity We
are told that the exigencies Of the country now
require their adoption. We are told that
there is great body of loyal men who only
wait to be asked to enter the service of the
United States Sir, beg leave to doubt the
proposition. have no evidence of its truth
do not believe that it is true. The exper
fence Of the country shows that it is not The
experience of the Government in its expert
ment at Hilton Head, shows that these
men have no desire to enlist in the military
service. | see by a statement in the pa
pers to-day, that the first negro regiment o.
Kansas was sworn into service on the | 9th day
of this month and that already half of then
have deserted They were offered freedom :
They were offered full pay They were offer
ed full bounty Every thing was done to ag
itate--to use the phraseology of the member
from Illinois, (Mr Lovejoy)-"this grea
ocean of loyal hearts" But we find that th
storm lasted only until they we're enlisted an,
organized, and received the advance paymen
of their bounty then suddenly it subsidized
and with each rehuent wave a company @
these loyal, war-loving negroes vanished frou
the ranks.
Mr. Conway-Mr. Speaker
Mr. Pendleton-If Ihsve misstated the fac
| will be glad to be corrected otherwise,
prefer not to be interrupted.
Mr.. Conway do not propose to contr;
dict the genlleman's statement, as | can ut
do so; / merely desire to explain the facts.
Mr.. Pendleton-Thst explanation may yer
well be made Afterwsrd. The gentlemen wi
not consider it discourtesy, for l have no il
: tention to be diScousteous, il | decline
n yield. he will excuse me for the present
Nor is it entirely certain that the exige
cies of the country require resort to mea
4 ures Of this kind A contrary opinion hi
been very gravely expressed. During th
session, not longer ago than the early part
December, the gentleman from Vermont on
, Morrill) offered resolutions in these word
"ResoLuSd, That ut no time since the cor
n mencement Of the existing rebellion have II
e forces aud materials in the hands of the Ex
cutive Department of the Government bee
so ample aud abundant for the speedy al
triumphant termination of the war as at Il
present moment"
l. For this resolution every leading memb
n of the Republican party voted-in fact evei
member Of that party who was present-ar
% none more eagerly and with more emphas
than those who now most zealously press th
bill Have circumstances so greatly change
Have those forces and materials been
greatly and so speedily diminished or b.
the desire to pass this bill made gontlemt
T. change their opinion2 Perhaps might 6r
1t an answer in the speech made yesterday /
of the gentleman from New York, (Mr. Sed
i. wick.)
y pass now, Mr.. Speaker, to another bran
u Of this subject Gentlemsn who have urp,
D. the adoption of these bills because the mi
f. tsry necessities of the country require it, u
Ia less am greatly mistaken, have failed TO /,
us how they propose to organize this boz
y OF negro troops Do they propose to cons
se tute of them separate and independent al N
b which shall operate independently Of all II
other corps in any department Of the countr
l can hardly think they would consider tb
either practicable or wise Do they intend
organize them in divisions or brigadss or re
iments or companies, and have them comb
ed with the white soldiers who are already {
ganized in this way2 Do they propose
have them fight together in the war in viii
the country is engaged2 If so, they will me
ih the trenches they will commingle on h
battlefield they will stand side by side 10 1
assault Their dead bodies will fall side
side 10 the battle, and be placed peaceful
together in ths same grave. And how, VIII
n, are placed thus together in moments
danger, can they be kept separate at the can
tire and at the messtabe1 If that assoc