The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1863-02-05
Gen. Butler ON sou,hern life aud secie-

1ys
In conversation with the committee which
waited upon him yesterday to render him the
honor of 4 public dinner, Gen. Butler gave a
most interesting account of his administrator
Ia New Orleans aud the condition Ofatfalrs ana
society he fonnd there. We would make some
extracts from a report of his remarks below
Gen. Butler said -
1T they would allow him to be cOlloqulal, ne
would speak a few things respecting his course
in New Orleans, which had been carped at and
severely criticised by those who had been ac-
customed to act with him politicallyin times
past-not for the purpose of lnjuringhim, but
the cause of the country. With reference TO the
slavery question, his views had undergone, q
radical change during his residence in New Or
leans, and while entertaining no preJudices
against his old political associates, who found
fault with him on that score, he would only say
to them that if they had gone there with the
same sentiments that he felt, they would have
come away with the same sentiments that lie
felt. Laughter He thought he might say
that the principle members OF his staff, and the
prominent officers of his regiments, without any
exception. went out to New Orleans Hunker
Democrats of the hunkereat sort, for it WAS but
natural that he shD'd draw to him those whose
views were similar to his own, and every indi-
vidual of the number had come to precisely
the same belief on the question of slavery as he
had put forth in his farewell address to the peo-
pie Of New Orleans. This change came about
from seeing what all of them saw, day by day.
In this war the entire property OF the South
was against US, because almost the entire prop
erty Of the South was bound up in the institu-
ton of Slavery. This was a well known tact,
probably, but he did not become fully aware of
it until he had spent sometime at New Orleans.
The South had $l63, 900, 900 of taxable proper
ty in sla res and $163, 0O0, 900 in all other kinds
of property. Aud this was the cause why the
merchants of New Orleans had not remained
loyal. They found themselves ruined all their
property being loaned upon planters notes and
mortgages upon plantations and slaves, all OF
which property is now reasonably worthless
Again, he had learned what he did not know
before, that this was not q rebellion against US,
but simply a rebellion to perpetuate power IN
the hands of a few stakeholder. At first he
had not believed that Slavery was the cause OF
the rebellion bur attributed it to Davis Slidell.
and others, who had brought it about to make
p%sliticsl triumphs by which to regain their for>
ner ascendaDcy ~ .
The rebellion was agsinst the humble and
poorer classes, and there were in the South
large numbers OF secret societies, dealing III cab-
alistic signs organized for the purpose OF per-
petuating the power OF The rich over the poor
when he saw the utter demoralizatiou ofthe
| ROpplS1 culit iOAA ~ ~
it was an institution which should be thrust out
of the Union. He had en- reading Mrs. Stoves
bcok-Uncle Toms Cabin-believed it 10 be an
overdrawn, highly-wrought picture OF southern
life, but he had seen with his own eyes, and
heard with his own ears, many things which go
beyond her books as much as her book does be-
yond IN ordinary schoolgirls novel. He re'a'
ted an inst .ce of the shocking Generalization
of society Ct New Orleans. There came in his
| e. yyono. uo1k ayn - Parro no.w
fectly white, who asked him in proper Ian
guage if he would put her in one of her fathers
houses. Her history was this Her father had
educated her in the city of New York until she
was,between seventeen and eighteen y oars OF
age, and then taken her to one of the metropoll-
ian hotels, where he kept he ras his mistress. Not
raii5hing the connection, and desiring TO get W
from him, sh0 vent to New Orleans-he follow
ed ner, but she refused to live with him, at which
he whipped her in the public street, and made
her marry q slave. She afterwards resumed the
unnatural relation, going to Cincinnati, but was
brought back by her husband or father with g
child belonging to somebody. Her father flee
from the city at the time of its occupation BY
the United States forces, leaving her in q state
of restitution. She wanted to live in one o
her fathers houses, but her story was not cred
liable, and he determined to investigate it. IL
his surprise it was found to be well known and
testimony of it's truth was obtained from A, L
and without difficulty. Notwithstanding thu
fact, widely known as it was, this man could be
elected IN Louisians,in the city OF New Orleans
a indge of one of the courts.
tOn one occasion one of his aids brought be-
fore him a young woman almost white who ha<
been brutally whipped and turned out of thu
house of her father. For this outrage the mai
had been made to.pay a fine Of 81 900 and CAV
the woman a deed OF STANDARDIZATION. Applause.
These were the kind ofchRrges which had beef
; brought against him. [Cheers, and cries o
'God.' Yes, no ri~ght-minded man could b.
sent to New Orleans without returning an un'
/, conditional anti>slavery man, even though III,
roofs of the houses were not taken Oft and thu
full extent Of the corruption exposed
All the lower class of the people of New Or
leans were loyal. During the first fourteen days
after the Union forces entered the city fourteen
thousand took the oath ofallegiance and wher
he went on board the steamer, on his return t.
6 the North, at least one thousand laboring mel
came down upon the levee, and uttered no word
except those of good will to him as the repre-
: sentative of the Government.
Gen. Butler continued by saying that the wa
could only be successfully prosecuted by the de
~struction Of slavery, which was made the cor
ner-stone OF the Confederacy.
One of the greatest arguments which he coulG
find against slavery was the demoraliziDg influ
ence it exerted upon the lower white classes
who were brought into secession by the hun
dred, because they ignorantly supposed tina
great wrong was to be done them by the Lin
coin Government, as they termed It'll the NOrtl
succeeded. Therefore, if you meet an old Hun
ker Democrat, and send him for sixty days tt
New Orleans, and he comes back a Hunke4 still
he is merely incorrigible. Laughter.
There was one thing about the President
Edict Of Emancipation to which he would cal
attention. In Louisiana he had excepted frou
freedom about eighty seven Thousand slaves
These comprise all the negroes held in the La
fourche district who have been emanaipased al
ready fol some time under the Jaw which freei
slave taken ia rcbollious territory by our armies
Other of these negroes had been freed by The
proclamation Of September, which declared al
slaves to be free whose owners should be ii
arms on The Ist If ~JauuarytndThe slaves o.
FTenchmen were free, because the Code CtDH,
expressly forbids a Frenchman holding slaves
and, by The 9TH and 9th Victoria. every Eng
lishman holding slaves submitted himself to &
penalty of $4,000 for each. Now take the ne
groes of secessionists, Ffenchmen and English
men, out OF the 81, 600, and the number is re.
duced to a .nfnitessimal portion of those ex
ceptod. 1ue fact had come 30 his knowledge
from having required every inhabitant of the city
to register his nationality. After ali the names
had been fairly registered, he explained these
avs to the English and Freach Consuls. and
had thus replied to demands which had been
made by English and French residents Of Lou
isiana upon the Government for slaves alleged
% have been seized. Applause RI
set Webster speak.
Let Daniel Web ster from his grave reply tC