Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1864-04-16
Knoxville, Saturday, April I6, 1864.
Paying Loyal Men for their Slaves.

Paying Loyal Men for their Slaves.
We are not the advocate of paying loyal
men for their slaves, beyond the bounty Of
$500 offered by the government, when the
negroes are enlisted in the service. Itissaid
that it is hard for a loyal man to lose his
property and have no rccompCnSe. So it
is but human existence is full Of hardships,
and this rebellion subjects many truly loyal
to hardships greater than the loss of slave
property We have all had our losses in
this war-thc mechanic and the laborng
man-but who can reckon them up, and
pay them all ? The publication Of our pa
per was suppressed when we were doing a
prosperous business, and we were sent out
Of the State by the rebels, Who is to pay
VS. for our losses? We don't expect the
Federal Government to pay us, although
we are as much entitled TO pay as the loyal
man who has lost TO an extent in slave pro-
perty, In God 8 government the innocent
suffer with the guilty, Why should we
expect mans government to be more per-
feet than Gods?
But why this hue and cry for the pay
ment of slave property only? Whence is
the revenue for this purpose dcr, cd?-.
From taxes. Upon whom and upon what ?
Upon the poor white men, and upon the
free white Iaborers Of the State We must
tax the poor white men made still poorer
by the war; to pay the losses Of rich men,
in ordor that the rich may suffer no loss at
all And we must tax a clas. Of men who
never favored the rebellion to rcmuneratc
class who were active in bringing it about
This is the proposition, when carried out,
and nothing less How will such propo-
stion strike the conscience and Judgment
Of the world?
But many Of our shareholders are loyal
and were all the time opposed to the rebel
lion, and they have lost half they owned,
as their property was in slaves. Granted.
Bat is there any reason why the loyal slave
holder should possess any peculiar cNomp.
ton from the losses and caamites of the
war; Unless weare prepared to pay all
the losses that the war has ocoasioncd to
toyal men, we do not see how we can lairl
make an exception of ono class and pay
the Shareholder though his loyalty is un-
questionable What! shall the heslavcholdcr,
pm account of whose property, and Oh ac-
count Of whose class II is war has been
brought on, and the nation plunged into
Euch vast losscs-shall he alone demand to
rome out harmless from the wreck and ruin
he war has brought upon the country
Must all other men, no matter how loyal
Ind true, be stripped without remedy Of
heir property and homes, be reduced from
kfluencc to poverty, and the owners Of
laves alone expect to be made whole and
saved from every loss ? ......
The debt tofTeunessec--ad of debt incurred for /
pur magnificent State Capitol, our railroads,
BUR turnpikes, all our internal ;;:Aprove-
ncuts and public institutions amounted to
EIGHTEEN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. We pro-
,osc TO repudiate all the debts incurred
While the State was in rebellion, but we arc
pot for repudatins the honest debt OF
EIGHTEEN MILLIONS lcgiiimat.'y y incurred.
The debt incurred by rebel Legislation aud
ebe issues Of Bank paper, together with
he stealing of ;hc school fund bank ean-
4 Al. a. - 81 H..
raitors who usurped the government Of
he State must be rcpudiated, and the lattcr
tcstorck as FAR as may be. by sezing the
property of tho guilty Legislators. bank OF
icers, and guardians. and arproPrating it