Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-11-04

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For the Enquirer.
THE IMpOLICY OF TIE PKOpOSED
DIAN 0F ARMINa THE SLAVE
p0pULATlON OF TIE SOUTH.
It ia osaasicnally hintsd IN thu newspapers
,,ot "a q ,,crnicr resort, we have means 0t
| self.dofsnoe i'll tho aTtnlng OF our slave poPu-
io,;on 10 defsnco Of eur liberty and their own
.Inrer;. Ws.ahouid not Deceive ourselves
ell, any ouch idea, but oontine our ettent!0n
+, rs,) ard snbstsptial resources aud MEANS
Of deienrc.
The schsne il any form, Of arung the
b;,,ka seera to ths writer the ,espedient .!
.hsusd desperation, rather taaa " s2hef
;u.:sr.cnts That they may be made use'a' az
ssntasssrs snd laborers, rs csmp toiioE'r''
-, .ks end nurscs is very true, anu 80 IN al ro-
n.iu:is requiring labor consistent with then
,,arn.t.r eud statue rs slavsa. Bot tbay are
u,i;t c,r elevation into soldiers, and the ehaot
,n,r both those so elevat.d and upon the resi-
dual siaYa population will DO perniclous IN
th,, extreme. We ahall have no increase OF
military strength. with lsss Of Industrial
r,,ens.h and with the uonsoiousnass OF rep1-
suy BY our own folly. upon this. volosno OF
which our Nor,heril trieuda delight 80 much
10 .pa.S
Az regards cur right. 80 far the North and
tls world are c2n0srnel, to arm our slaves,
!ta,e IAN ha no question. We have CO good
r;.tt TO arm ,hera and use them as soldiers ns
ss have to sht uuwho|asams meat snd use 1t
80 fco, But the latter will not u0urish For
will ths former pr0tscs us. The great, lEams.
ticte question is as to their availability, end
Tho ulterior question as the effect on the 1u-
,urs relations Of tho two races. In the latter
segurd il will 30 dsle.esious snd disoTssn'x-
!sp 10 tho last degree, while, in the formcrswe
shall add to our numerical strength and real
weakness.
Tia negro il not fighting material for any
body especially not 40 for us. His fidelity
* sookeuor. il in wonderful but the faith
"a: are Usually the humble and submissive
Those who will fgh. ere of the enterprlting
and seu-wiiiod sort who escHpe to tbs an
keaa. By how much the better slave he Is b7
81 ,n,gh the poorer soldisr. He must un':ssn
ali ;;,:, irssona Of his Ito nnd with immense
rsoia,.r acquire rev ONES 60 become solcler.
A.i in doing this he must set an example
". ars no1 anxious to have followed hy h's
hr.,hroa 81 ho.us. To think otherwise betrars
:;.aorcaos Of the character and education Of
lie g,ey5, and Of tue characteristics o; h:s
racs.
l. Is snia We must put forth our full strength.
l;i.r i, ho IN elsment Of strength As Ia
horsr, undoubtedly go, but not as soldier
TAe phgs;eal strength to make soldier the
negro has, snIwith this his qualifications enc.
lie lacks ints!ligenos. and yet more courage
n;:i :n0.irs. TSs latter some propose TO cup
:,!y ~ he promise OF freedom But il dces
cot ,>l.ire much Of aven negro cunning to
saew ,hat freedom is at least as cer1a!n by
te..rti5n 10 the other sido as by fighting on
oar-: perhaps. they may think, moro 3d.
They have Is provArb, white folks are very
un1ortaia. !" Children in capacity, their rec
sorin. can scarcely be expected to bs very
Comprehensive in its reach. As school boys
s,s ever IN the side of holiday. and prone to
ragard thar toacheIs es natural enemies, go
tac.e ohildran of darkness may prefer immed.-
e.. freedom to freedom at thu end of the was,
aud deses: us for more speedy and certain
reward than we promise them. Novelty and
change delights them as they do children
Many Of ihen,. 1t is true, have faith In tleir
E,ss,eys ard of sction for them, too. But moro
(1f tho few who will Aght) would prefer
lossus ngainss their masters to promise from
thea We DO not regard freedom as vofJ
valuable boon to them, but propose it 70 suit
,!.sir Own taetes and wishes. But by deaer-
ton they figh: as well for tho Freedom Of t:l:ir
r7iy.s and children and their RAGS rs for th-ir
own. And 40 the motives to fight, 30 far 80
nny can appreciate them, actual and plausible,
raal ani apparent, 8re opposed to us. 1t 1t is
maswerei tina. they will not understand T'e
aa=b, tbs reply ia that the most artfu! and d.
g,r:.ing will understand 1t, and control the
opinions of tina weaker sort.
But il is said tbs Yankees HAYS made col.
i:sIs Of them. and why not wei The very
ryas1Ile uhich make them serve the Yankees
are tho sslsnrs why they will not servo us.
ras most enterprising and hand among thou,
wlio rem away in former times or moro recent
il, are wrought up into vary poor soldiers,
r.u.!ls f.r rGst service ard garrison duty
I:u: VIZ e:ull never feel any security in thu
roa7assicu Of fertilization guarded by them.
They wtuld have to be organized mo separate
c,,nmauls. for cur soldiers would not assooi-
r.e with them. VIVA: reliance GOULD We place
Gu either thsir courage or fidelity? Their mo-
t;vae to exert whatever Of fighting capacity
'hsy haea. w3,dd ba too nearly balanced to
bear eng ,aight or Justify confidence.
Their habits Of obedience and subordina.
ton sro spoken Of But We doubt whether rs
soldiers they would bo oven AZ orderly as white
mop. Filled with o new md strong excite.
t,cnt, the 7e;y novelty Of their position woiid
iasrxicats thsm, and ,hsy would DO tying
tooiith ey perimsnts, and spoiled by their elcvc-
tion thu authority which pu: those thiogs
down would make them discontinued and ready
T. desor. Neither go well fed, clothed or
housed as ut homs, they would not long relish
the change when they found obedience AID
;E:ll u! :, marc irksome kind than plantation
work eyao.ei Of thsu. It would be an eleva-
tia.s l;':ls appreciated By taste which longed
Tor lstkn and onions and the fsshpots Of
Egypt The Yankees could offer them better
Inducements than We could afford them in
clothing, in food aad all the comforts they
headed They would, in fact, be msrcenary
sol4isry, who had left better wages at homo,
and even offered better wages on the othcr
sids. They would do 81 other meroenarics do
under Nko circumstances--desert in large
numbers to the enemy-sometimes BY coms
psaies or regiments, and never be trustworthy
under fire or in any critical emergency.
What, practically. isitthat makes the white
nan fght2 Not S18 per month of pspsr
money, vita hard lodging and short rstions.
No; il ia sense Of character 70 DO gained Or
lost-of suaine--of love of eountry-of inter-
%. ia the cauae. But what is to~maka the
negro Fight, and especially for US? His sense
5G character His reputation for o0urageG The
negro slave is the very autipodss Of fighting
man in oil ra.tioulars-in part, bearing, car
risgs If himself in character and feeling, in-
dependence, native impulse. His impulse is
to escape from danger, not TO confront it, LII
the iron. RINK, be would surrender or desert;
ia the rear rank, he would run.
The Yankees have msde soldiers, not of
negroes only, but of foreigners also. Why
heva not wo2 Because We could not supply
taat necessary thins-motioe. We could only
promise them worse wages, worse fare, and
worse lodgings than those they would leave
behind.
And wLat would be the effect upon tho
ar,ry--ths army of white men-of this infu-