The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-10-13
The True Policy OF slave owners.
An exchange says;

In A speech at Rockville, Maryland,
acme DAYS since, Ex-Governor Thomas
said that slavery is effectually dead in
that State. No lot of one hun dred sla-es
In the State will sell on the block for one
Thousand dollars No slave in the State
can be made 10 render 10 "his owner"
more than he elects TO render, or to re-
m ain under his jurisdiction = mouth
after he elects 10 flee from it.
What Governor Thomas says Of slave
ry in Maryland is equally true Of slavery
in Tennessee. No slave here can be COM
PEELED 10 work for his "owner" against
his win, nor can slave be made 10 re-
main with his owner unless he chooses
70 do 20. Whenever the slave is dissAtis-
Ged with his home, he walks of, as free
lyas black man would in Northern
State, or in Europe. The slave code is
dead; and Tue master has no longer abb
soIute control over the body and limbs Of
his former bondsman. We doubt whether
any slaveholder in Tennessee has faith
enough in the restoration of the system
Of compulsory labor, TO give one hundred
dollars in good money, for the best negro
among ne.
Yet there are many thousand farms in
Tennessee to be taken care Of; many
thousand acres of excellent land TO be
titled, and about one million of mouths
10 be fed. There lisa great deal of labor
necessary to be done at this very time, in
rebuilding burnt fences, breaking up
ground demonstrating barns, stables, and
other work, iu all parts Of the
State. The work Of farm can never
stand still, and to-day, by reason of it's
long suspension, or frequent interruptions,
il is more needed than ever. Farmers
should begin to inquire how this work is
10 be done, and by what laborers.
They must conform their course
to circumstance, since ciroumstan-
Ces will not conform themselves
to them, as in former times. Ifthey can
not force labor, IS they used TO do, from
unwilling labOrers, perhaps they can hire
it from willing laborers. The same la
bOrers are around them, but not situated
as formerly. The whip is no longer po-
tent; but money is as potent as ever.
The man who will run away from the
oVerseer's lash, will easily be persuaded
by the seductive music of the planters
coin. The oracle Of Delphos once said
to Philip of MacedOn:
"Mske gold thy weapon, and thou
wilt conquer the world" o
Let our farmers try the virtue Of green
backs, and we think they will expert
ence little difficulty in getting their work
done, better perhaps than they ever had
it done before, for willing heart always
does the best work. Let them make con-
tracts with their old servants, the bulk
of whom would perhaps prefer working
at their old homes, to going off in search
Of employment. The experiment has
been made by many persons, and has
generally worked we'll. II is surely de-
serving of immediate trial Our farms
must be cultivated; the people must be
fed; and the black population, nearly
ali Of whom depend on their daily labor
for Subsistence, must have employ
ment. Especially do we urge the
adoption of q system of compensated
labor, by ell who have expressed fears of
insurrectiou and anarchy in consequence
Of the destruction Of slavery. The best
preventive of this apprehended evil is
employment. Men busily employed have
little leisure fos mischief, whether their
skins be black, red, cOpper-colored or
white. Offer your negroes wages, set
them to work, relieve them of Sill fears of
starvation and suffering, and we shall
enjoy q quietude to which We have been
strangers for many years. We shall
also have the sympathy and help of the
entire nation. Men who abhor slavery,
and are ready 10 justify its victims in
the use of any means TO escape from IL,
viii DO our wArmest friends the moment
we adopt system of compensated labor.
II gang Of idle negroes should attempt,
after the adoption of this system, to live
by OutlAwry, as thousands of the South
Orn chiyalry are trying 10 do to- day, in
Tennessee and Kentucky, troops from
all parts Of the North would rush with
enthusiasm to our assistance. The Fed
erAl Government would then protecl us
IS people never we're protected before.
The whole nation would extend to us
not only the hand Of sympathy, but its
wArmest admiration. The past is gone
irrevocably, And'we can never restore it.
He who talks of reviving the obsolete,
shattered and detested slave code, is sim
ply thrusting iirebrand into every house
hold in Tennessee, for negro insurrec-
tons, burnings, tumult and bloodshed
would Assuredly follow the insane at
tempt The lands of Tennessee would
lie at least another year nnploughed and
unsown; the meAgre crops already gath
cred would be consumed to ashes by the
torch OF the inceadiAry, and those who
escaped assassination would have to Ay
from the State TO avoid tho fanes Of