, 1863-09-04
REBELSARhlINGT THEIR SLAVES,
Further and ConGrmatory E1i-
dence of the Plan.
VIEWS OF THE REBEL CABINET.
The Last Card to be Played.

Correspondence Of the New York Tribune.1
WASHINGTON, Aug. 50, 1863,
Although your paper 1as recently alluded
to the ar1ntng ct the Slaves In the South, I
do not remember to hare :een anywhere an
account OF the manner In which this question
happened to be introduced into the politics
OF the South, nor any menticn Of the impor-
tcnce it cannot fal to assuIue In the eyea of
European cabinets. lwill therefore add to
the Information you hare already given to
the public. BY communicating to you the
contents Of letter written IL Richmond q
from Gource which have the best reason to
believe well informed on these matters. md
IL entitled, in my humble opinion, to tre
confidence OF the people.
Converting blacks Into soldiers for the de-
fense Of lie nstIonal territory, is not = new
ear1y as 1861, when the Union forces nnder
Mcclellan were scattered along the extensive
line Of the Cbicknhominy swamps, many of
the most prominent AID Healtaicst pfantcrs,
frightened by the danger of the fail Of Rich
mopd, which they then considered rs an inev
table event, proposed to arm and to 1ead
tteir slaves, and to bring them to the rescue
Ion having not yet been prepared by repeated
reyer6ss and Losses il men, to overcome one
of its strongest prtjndsces, nor to -contem-
plate without . shudder Of contempt the pos
sibility Of eeeing one dsy a free man light
Eide By eide WITH slaTe, the proportion was
locked upon Us dangerous and visionary, and
VAS 60 treated By the great mejority Of the
people. Sill 1t Vas rumorcd at the time
that the members OF the cabinet would have
willingly accepted the Froffered aid had 1t
not been for the sake Of their popularity.
jeff Davis, who, since the beginning Of this
to adopt come reformato1y measure In refer
ence to slavery, eald, On that occasion, that
It would be desirable to see the tide Of pub
lie prejudice recede from its course, and
black regiments formed for the defense Of
cities and stroDglolds. It was obvious,
then, that the cabinet was already contem~
plating the feasibility Of armfng the slayes,
only by the fear Of hurting too violently ex~
istiDg pre}udlces, aud thus weakening their
own power.
The series of victories won By General Lee
ibaate d the pride and vanity Of the Southern
e.s to such m extent that, for momzct, they
success to the holiness Of the institution of
slavery as well as to the superior Tzlor Of
their men. The victory Of Gettysburg and
the conquest OF the borders Of ths Mississippi
by the Union armies caused this stupendous
cdif1ee OF pride and error to crnmbla down,
and demonstrated to them the emptiness and
folly Of their iniquitons theory. They ,hen
tarEed their eyes toward their four millions
Of blacks, and asked themselves how it was
TINT the Government had not Jet ayailed itself
OF the resources offered By tiis large recruit
lng field, and why an ormy OF blacks was not
Iaafeo 1orthW1th. l may say. Moreover, til 1t
those who wished at first to use the blacks as
soldie1s did not think that their services IL
that capacity we're entitled to a reward; they
would haye held them in slavery all the while.
1t vas, I understand. the fentfment Of the
army which modified the views OF the planters
In that respect. The army refused to fight
unless the slaves be made Tree before entering
tie ranks, and received equal advantages with
thofe enjoyed by the whites
Before this question wns ripe enough to be
brought before the rebel Government, Beau
regard, supported In this by the opinion of
asking for authority to arm few negro regi-
mcnts for the defense of Charleston, and
GoY. Shorter Of Alabama, pressed By tho ne
cessity ct providing for the defense of Mo-
bile, had addressed the snn1e request to Rich
mond, and recommended In public procla-
nation, the arming OF negroes in his own
State. :.
Thtse unexpected demands coinc1Ied too
well With the secret sentiments Of the Cabi
net not to be used by it as the ground Of q
new policy. Thus, while Beauregard's claim
might be considered as justif, ing the armiug
Of the negroes under the plea OF military
necessity, the proclamation of Gov. Shorter
Of Alabama. and the Endorsement Of the
Governor Of Sonth Carolina, more important
still, unreservedly placed at the disposal Of
tie Government a force Of several thousand
men, and paved the way for 3 powerful mill
taIy organization all over the extent Of the
Cortcderacy. JEFF Davis WAS to shrewd not
to avail himself Of. these fortunate circum-
staEces. e.
By his order, every Governor in the rebel
States was consulted concerning the propri-
ETY. Of aEming slaves for the war, and vas in
yited to Ric chmond to confer with the Presi-
dent on that subject. This Invitation was. 1t
seems, Immediately complied with, and after
fifteen days Of close conference between the
Governors Of the States and the members of
the Cabinet, 1t was decided that the salvation
Of the country required the arming Of the
tlaves, and thst cali Of 4QQ, 600 blacks, one
from every eight inhabitants, should take
place forthwith.
Outside Of military and social eonsidera-
tlon6, the Importance Of which caunot be fa,-
II Estimated ROW, one Of the motives which
urged the adoption Of this measure is, un-
deletand, the effect 1t is likely to have upon
Europenn powers. While--the discussion on
the measure r as going on, a member OF the
Cabinet removed oil the objections raised BY
stating that the enlistment Of the blacks IN
the COME derate ranks, and the gift of their
freedom ard portion Of Land as the reward
for their services, would cause great major
ity Of the European people adverse to slavery
to become friends Of the South, and forco
their Governments 10 interest themselves In
it's behalf. It won1d at the same time show
that the black, who had been represented IS
the enemy Of his master, WAS in reality his