Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1863-01-30

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Gen. Butler. at Lowell blnis, made 4 speech
to his heighbots on the occasion cfhls welcome
home, in which he stated tho issue before ua %
follows; nANEr
I have be. I'd It said, my friends, that have
changed in some Of my ideas aud thoughts on
political questions since left you. have
Changed i, some Of my ideas, ! grant you, be-
causeI have learned foneihng, (grpqt nrpaufe
but that have changed III single pruciple,
denv. siand before you the same Denociat
who for elniauy years baftlod fof The rights OF
the people at the North and now butues for the
same rights in the South, have found thpt
this rebellion is a rebellion against the woiking
classes, without distinction OF color; and hhte
stood upon that. question where ] have ever
stood and where ! shall ask you to slands---as
know YOU will The rebellion was begun and
carried on for the purpose Of creating landed
aristocgacy, which shall give 10 four hundrsd
thousand tie government Of eight millions oi
whites and four millions Of blacks. II is for
that thnt Jeff. Davis aud his confedefetes have
undertaken rebcllibli which they claim is TO
secure tho oiights ef lhe people. sif
Do you think, II il was aiebellion OF the peo-
Pile it would be necess airy to resort TO ccnscriP-
ton 10 raise theit armies Did our fathers
have to conscript men Did not our fathers
willingly 60 forth Z At tthis time ] may say
that nofe than one half Tie army Of the South
is composed of men driven into It ai the point
ofthe favonet. DidtnythBg Of this kind ever
succeed before, and will it succeed now No;
unless the laws Of nature are entirely reversed.
Now lpt us look directly at your interests
and your dutics; for am sl eakng now, having
Just come from the cotton regions, where inter-
csts and duties at once 20 hand in hard
Would you wish to be at the command OF these
masters at the South, who could make you do
as they said by cutting off the supply q eot9ni
II is for your freedom from those masters that
we are fighting to- day; that the people of the
South may not claim to be our masters, but our
brothers, that we may place ourselves where
they will feel US TO be, as we know we are,
their equals, not their interiors.
1t is to correct this idea that the Northorn
man, with red blood, blue eyes, light hair, and
all that God gives to the image oihimself, is not
equal TO the slave-driyers, with their thin lips
and pallid brows are engaged in this norDen-
tous struggle. That is the question before us;
and he who does not side with US ON that ques-
ton says that lie desires to kiss the feet OF those
masters.
went to Louisiana desiring 10 do everything
to restore it as it was; to il by any possibil-
ity might bring the principles, the laws and
the Institutions which govern that State into
harmony with the Union; but | found that there
was no disposition to have that done. found
that the aristocracy looked upon us as their en-
emies; and found that the working and mid
ding classes looked upon us as friends. With
in the first month 1900 of those who compose
the bone and sinew Of New Orleans had taken
the oath of allegiance. not by lip service only,
but from their hearts; and from that day found
no man owning slaves who would take the oath
Of allegiance, except for the purpose of saving
his property.
That was the rule: there were some excep-
tions. found the working men true TO the
UniCn, and found the SHAREHOLDERS false TO tho
Union / dealt kindly with the working men,
and dealt harshly with the slave-holders.-
loud applause) l recognizedmy friends and
enemies, and made as wide difference be-
tween the one and the other as there was be-
tween Dives and Lazarus (Applause) un-
derstand that you have sent forth your sons and
brothers, not for the purpose Of making peace,
but war wherever they found enemies. Be-
lieve that YOU sent out your sons and
brothers for the purpose of insisting that the
flag of the United States should wave every
where in sympathy with the powers Of the Uni-
ted States; and upon that thesis have acted
l encouraged the laboring men. A thousand
were employed every day by the United States;
thirty -four thousand were fed every day by the
United States and over seventeen thousand OF
these were foreigners, whose Consuls assumed to
represent them but whod did not represent them
truly, because the Consuls represent commerce
and property, not men.
Thirty -four thousand, as Ihave said, were fed
every day, and precisely the same action was
taken toward men who needed the assistanceas
would be taken here But those men had no
voice in the newspapers abroad or at home, tho
consequ quence was their thanks and their ap-
plause were never heard, while The complaints
of the property men, who felt that swhen they
we're struck slavery was struck, flowed all over
Europe and the North; and every misrepresent-
alton that the malice of enemies and traitors
could devise was resorted 10, inorder to enibar-
rass, and if possible, defeat, my plans. But
there is one thing that havea right,to say
and thank you, sir for adverting to it-apd
that is, that from the first week when our sold
iers entered New Orleans until left there, it
was ss safe, as quiet and as convenentto attend
to one business, by day or by night, as ever it
was in the best governed cities of the North
even our own. cloud applause.)