The Portland daily press., 1863-03-09
VIII the Freeing Of the Negroes impose
National Burden2

National Burden
The question with which we have headed
this article is not proposed to the Christian be-
the cardinal principles of his creed is, that
those who are strong should bear the infirmi-
ties Of the weak. He is not to be deferred
from work of duty because OF the burdens 1t
may impose upon him. 1t is enough for him
to know that any given course is crong, to Sc
sure his abandonment of and his opposition to
IT,; or to know that it is right and just, to Sc
cure his hearty good will and cooperation.
He acts from no such groveling standpoint
O. that where right is made to kick the beam
by success, duty by expense, a common BROTH
erhood by a common burden.
Nor is the question addressed to the phan-
thropist, for we would not insult his name by
implying that he can be held back from lining
up the oppressed, or from breaking the letters
of despotism, or from instructing the ignorant,
or by creating men from things by any consid-
erations Of burden, or expense.
We should not be required to answer such a
question to the patriot, for surely, a patriotism
worth fighting to defend will not hesitate in
the way of right and duty, because they are
expensive luxuries.
We are not aware that the Christian Master,
or his worthy disciples, ever stopped to ask the
question, when demand was made upon their
attention, xviii it payf" We are quite sure
that the best man that ever lived, while he
chad not where to lay his head" actually
Awent about doing good, and the man who
refuses to walk in his footsteps-in this as in
other cases when necessity calls-is not wor-
thy to be his disciple.
We doubt very much If John Howard, or
Elizabeth Fry, or Florence Nightingale, ever
weighed the question with any considerable
anxiety, @Will the performance of this or that
duty involve burden?" Will it pay to visit
and relieve the prisoner? Will my bodily
health suffer from encouniering the malaria
OF the dungeons, to battle the ierered brows !?
Will it answer for me to dive into the hospital
and minister to those cropping in the shadow
of death?
We have never heard that Washington
asked the question, "Will all this pay'" when
encamped at Valley Forge, or when his pro-
gress was marke. by the bloody footprints
left upon the wintry SHOWS. Does our Santa
~ Commission, or our Christian Commission,
or any of our other ten thousand forms of car
rying relief and comfort to the sick and
wounded soldiers, paya Is that what all this
Is for? Shall all these streams of mercy be
dried up because, iorsooth, they are burden
90 me? The question is an Insult to every
true mind.
Tae question at the head OF this article Is
proposed for the benefit OF those occupying a
lower level-not the lowest. There are those
who weigh every act by its results, who know
no god but gain. and who would, like Judas,
sell their best friend for thirty pieces Of silver
We do not speak TO such, but to that large
and candid class who would do right, but
who seldom see the right unless 1t is bordered
with flowers; who would perform their duty,
but to whom the path of duty is usually a
paved way-paved with gold With this ex-
PLANTATION we approach the question, will the
freeing of the negroes impose national bur-
den?
Arguing from abstract principles, we should
say, mol Freedom is boon desired by all,
and freedom, the world over, is the friend aud
ally Of enterprise, Of industry, of thrift. Those
who have carefully read that master work of
n. Cocain-the Results OF E nancipation-do
not require another word; but such as have
not read upon the subject, who ask for facts,
and facts coming directly home on the ques-
tion Of emancipation, as our own people will
soon be obliged to look at and meet it, are in
vited TO consider few facts gathered from the
printed Annual Report of the National Freed
mems Relief Association, of which Rev. DIR.
Tying, D. D., of New York is President, and
which numbers among its members such men
IS VIM. c. Bryant, Judge Edmonds, John b.
Collins, Rev. Prot. Smith, and others of the
first names which it is the boast Of our coun-
try to cherish.
The Association was not organized till the
22d Of February, 1S62-too late in the season
10 lay out any large plans TO produce visible
results the first season. The operations near
Beaufort, and the abandonment of the sea
Islands In that region by the planters, and
the proximity of an army which could be re-
lied on for protection, induced the Assoeia-
ton to turn its attention TO that point, and to
zee what could be done with and for the "con-
trsbands' which made that point their gener-
ri rendezvous. The Association adopted rules
to govern their operations, one of which was
that the contrabands should be treated by
them as freemen; another that they should
be made to earn their own living, and not be
dependent on charity another that while they
should labor under well organized superin-
tendence they should be compensated iortheir
labor. Schools and religious instruction were
not TO be lost sight OF. Donations OF food,
clothing and money were solicited; but these
were granted to the contrabands-now free
men-as advances, to bepaid for out OF the
proceeds of their labor should the experiment
prove q success.
The Association had to encounter the usual
amount Of prejudice, and has had to fight its
way, and 10 gain its conquests over prejudice
by facts. The battle has been hard-fought
one, but the victory has been most decisive
We copy from the report, remarking that the
figures nave been authenticated by the actual
returns made to the national treasury:
Fifteen thousand acres were planted in cotton
and other crops. while each family of laborers
cultivated, in addition. its own patch of corn
and vegetables. Large crops of corn, peas, etc.
have been raised. sufficient 10 feed the laborers
Al Al - -.