The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-04-16

with South Carolnia, If can help it. Ap-
plause,] Mark me, now; let no man misun-
derstand me and repeat, lest I may be
misunderstood (for their Is none so difficult
to understand as those who don't want to).
Mark me again, say, do not intend to
give up single inch Of the soil of South
Carolina Loud cries Of" Never !never y
and great applause II had been living
at that time, and had the position, the will
and the ability. would have dealt with
South Carolina as jackson did. and kept
her in the Union at all hazards but noN
she has gone out, and will take care that
when she comes in again she will come in
better behaved Loud laughter, I" Good !"
aud cheers i that she shall no longer be the
firebrand of the Union--aye, that she shall
enjoy what her people never. yet enjoyed,
the blessings of republican formed of Gov
ernment Renewed applause. And. there
fore, in that view am not for the recon
struction Of the Union rs it was. | have
spent treasure and blood enough upon it, in
conjunction with my felIow-citizens, fe to made
| IL little better, and think we can have a
better Union. 1t was good enough if it
had been let aloue. The old house was
good enough for me, but thu South pulled
down the ell part and propose, when we
build it up. to build il up with all the mod
ern improvements. (Uproarious laughter
and great cheering.) Another one of the
logical sequences, it seems to me, that follow
inexorably and is not to be Stunned, from
the proposition that we are dealing with al
len enemies, what is our duty with regard
to the confiscation of their property And
that would seem to me to be very easy of
settlement under the Constitution, and
without any discussion. IL my first PROPOSE
ton was right. HASN'T it been held. from
the beginning of the world down to this
day, from the time the Israelites took pos
session efthe land of Canaan, which they
got from alien enemies-hasn't it been held
that the whole Of the property Of those alien
enemies belong to the conqueror, [applausel
and that it had been at his mercy and his
clemency what should be done with it I?
And for one, would take it and give to the
loyal man, who was loyal from the heart,
at the South, enough to make him as well
as he was before, and would take the bal
ances of il and distribute it among abe vol.
unteer soldiers who have gone forth to the
service Of their country applause; y and
so far as know them, if we should settle
South Carolina with them. in the course of
few years | should be quite willing to re-
ceiye her back into the Union. daughter
and applause.) That leads US to deal with
another proposition-what is to be done
with the slaves And here. again, the laws
of war, dealing with this species ofproper-,
ty Rave long since settled themselves with
clearpess and exactness-that it is at the
hand of the superior, of the conqueror, Of
the Government which has maintained or
extended it's jurisdidton over the territory,
to deal with slayes as it pleases--to free
them or not, as that Government chooses
1t is n,t for the conquered to make terms or
for them to send their friends into the con
quering country to make terms about it.
e. Good" and cheers.) have again anoth-
er corollary, which follows, as say, logical
y, from this view of the case. Perhaps if
the mind of any of this audience has gone
with me to this point, upon the proposition
that we are fighting with alien enemies, we
may by this consideration again relieve an
other difficulty which seems to trouble
some of my old Democratic friends, and
this is the question Of arming the negro
slaves. If these men are alien enemies, is
there any objection that you know of, and if
so state it, to our arnipg one portion Of that
foreign country againgt the other. while
they are fighting us Loud response of
No, no. and cheers.) Suppose we were
at war with England, who here would get
up in New York and say we must not arm
the Irish, lest they should hurt seme EGG
lishman daughter and applause.) Well
at one time, not very far gone, all
these Knglishmen were our Grand
fathers brothers. Either they or we
erred but we are now separate nations,
arsiing out of the contest So again, say
if you will look carefully, you will see that
their can be no objection for another reason
There is no law, either of war or of interna-
tional law, or law Of the governmental &C.
ton, that know Of which prevents coun-
try arming any portion of its citizens, or its
subjects, for the defense of that portion, or
ofany other, and they become CT they do
not take part with those rebels) simply our
citizens, residing upon our territory, which,
at the present hour, is usurped by our ene-
mics (Applause.) At this moment, and
in the waning hour, I donot propose to dis
cuss, more than hint to these various SUBJ
jects. Cloud cries Of ''go on, 60 on.') But
there is one question that have been so
often asked. that I want to make an answer
to, cae for all, and when have answered it |
to every body, nobody will ask me again,
and that is this, (and most frequently am I |
asked that question by my old Democratic
friends.) "Why, Gen. Butler, what is your
experience Will the negroes fight s' To
to that have answered, that upon that sub
ject have no personal experience. left |
the Department of the Gnlf before they
we're fairly brought into action but they
did not fight under Jackson, Chalmette.
More than that, will bring some other man
to answer that question. Let Napoleon III.
answer IL who has hired them to do what
the veterans Of the Crimca cannot do-to
whip the mexicans. I win answer it in an
other form. Let the veterans at Napoleon
the First, under his brother-in-law. LeClere.