The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1863-05-06

Has Il not been held from the beginning OF
tie ~orld down to this day, iron the tine the
Israelites took possession Of the land Of Canaan
which they got from alien enemies, has it lot
been held that the whole property Of those
alien enemies belonged TO the conquerer, and
that it has been at his mercy aad his clemency
whai should be done With it, For one, | would
take II and give the loyal man who was loyal in
the heart of toe South, enough to make him as
veil as he was before, and | would take the
balance OF u and distribute il among the VOL
unteer soldiers who have gone the remainder
OF the sentence was drowned IN & tremendous
burs, Of applause. And 80 far ss | know
them, If ws should settle South Carolina With
them, in the course of : few years | should be
quite willing to receive Der back into the Union
That leads Us 70 deal With another proposition:
What shsll be done with the slaves, Here
again the laws of war have long settled, with
clearness and exsctnese, that il is for the con-
qusror, for the government which has main
tanned or extended its direction ever the terri
tory, to deal with slaves as it pleases, to free
them or not as it chooses. 1t is not for the
conquered 10 make terms or TO send their
iriends into the conqueriug cosntry to make
terms upon that subject. Another corollsry
follows from the proposition that ~e are fghtisg
with alien enemies, which relieves from an
other difficulty which seems TO trouble some OF
my Old democratic friends and that is in relation
70 the question OF arming the negro slaves. II
the States are alien enemies, is there any objec-
tion that YOU know Of, aud il so state il, TO our
arnling one portion OF the foreign country
against the other while they arr fighting Us,
Suppose that We were at war with England.
Who would get up here in New York and say
that Se must not arm the Irish, lest they should
hnrt some of the Englsh, At one time, not
vers far gone, all those Engshmen we're eur
grsfaisthers' brothers But We are now sepa
rate nati0ns. There can be no objection for
another reason, because there is no international
lsw or any other law of governmental action
that | know Of, which prevents the country
from auning any portion Of its citizens; and if
the slaves do not take part in the rebellion,
they become simply our citizens, residing in
our territory which is at present ssurped by
oar enemies. At this waning hour, | de- not
propose TO discuss, but merely 70 hint az these
various subjects. There Is one question | am
frequently asked" Whv, Gen Butler, what is
your experience; Will the negroes fight,
To that answer | have no personal experience,
because | left the Department OF the Gulf be-
fore they we're fairly brought into action. Bat
they did hghC under Jackson at Chalmette -
More than that. Let Napoleon III. answer,
who has hired them 10 do what the veterans of
the Crmea cannot do - to whip the Hexi-
caas Let the veterans Of Napoleon l., under
LeClerc, who we're whipped out from San Do
mingO, say whether they will SIGHT or net.
What has been the demoralizing effect upon
them as a race by their contact with white meR,
l know not; but | cannot forget that their
fathers would no: have been slaves, bat that
they were captives in war. And if ycu want
TO know any more than that, l can only advise
YOU 70 try them. Passing to another logical
deduction from the principle that we are carry
ing on against alien enemies, | meet the
question whether we thereby give foreign ma
tious any greater rights than if We considered
them as a rebellious portion OF our country.
So far as the rebels are concerned. they are
estopped from denying that they are alien
enemies; and so Tar as foreign nations are con-
cerned, although they are alien TO US, they are
upon our territory, and until We acknowledge
80 'la~ Va nattOns tnEiI foraivu rac
ognitiOn of them is an act OF war Aha no
country is more sterDlg bound 70 that view than
is England, which held the recognition by
France Of our own independence TO be an act
of war, and declared war accordingly. What
then is the duty Of neutralss Let Us take for
example the English nation. They have
no treaty with the rebels, no open relations With
then. They have treaties Of amity and COM
merce with us A contest arises between us
aud our enemies, to whom they are strangers,
and they claim 20 exercise the same neutrality
as if the contest were between two nations with
which they had treaties of amity. Let me
illustrate: / have two friends who have got
into hght. | am on equally good terms with
both, aud do not choose to take par. in their
quarrel l hold myself neutral But suppose
Ohe OF my friends Is fighting with stranger, of
whom know nothing that is good; have seen
nothing except that he would fight; ia it 10y
duty then to stand perfectly neutral? 1t is not
tie part of a friend as between men nor between
nations. The English say, we viii not sell you
any arms, because We should have to sell the
same TO the Confederate States. To that | an
swer, You have treaties of commerce with us
by which you agree to trade with us. 1su
have no treaty of commerce with the rebels.
insist that there is q greater duty to Us, con
sdering this as a separate nation-an interloper
irving To get admitted into the family of IA
tions There is still another logical consequence
which, in my judgment, follows from this view
of the case. A great question put TO me has
been: How are We to get those men back,-hOw
are we 70 get this territory bsck!- how are we
10 reconstruct the Unions | think that 10 much
better answered upon this hypothesis than upon
any other There are but tao wsys in which
this contest can be ended. One is by revoIu-
tiouEing given portion of this country, and
having them ask TO be admitted into the Union;
the other is 10 bring it back by the triumphsl
car sf vcteTy.
Whenever any portion Of the inhabitants Of
toe South shall again become part of the Union
and shall erect themselves into q State and ask
as to take them back, with such constitution
as th ey ought TO be admitted with, there is no
difficulty in its being done. There ia no witch-
cry about it. This precise thing has been done
in Western Virginia She went out and stayed
oct for while. By the aid OF our armies, and
by the efforts of her citizens, she reToutioRized
and threw OF the government Of the rest OF Viz
ginia and the Confederate yoke, erected herself
into State, with a constitution which believe
is quite satisfactory to you, especially With the
amendment came back and has been received
again into the Union. This is the first, the
entering wedge, Of the serie. Of States which
will come back in that way But if thsy viii
not come back We are bound to subjugste then
What then DO they become. Territories of the
United States. We acquire them precisely a:
We acquired California AID Nevada; net exactly
as We acquired Texas. Was there 2sy difficult,
in dealing with tke State Of California, VII
there be any dificUlty in admitting a. . leS
STATE Nevada, when rezdy 10 come in; Wa
there any difficulty u .tskiag in portion Of the
/ Louisiana purchase: VIII there be any di5erl
~ When her people are ready, in our taking
them back again. VIE there be sny dih
eulty in reconssructizg the Union, when thos'
that have gone out without cause, without right
I without grievance, that have formed thenseive
/ Into new States a1d taken upon themselves new