The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1864-02-23

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what these men of the South are to tn
; lands of the South. Only few hundre,
men own the bulk of the land in an
Southern State these men hold tn
lands and own slaves. These men plot
ted the rebellion aud thrust it upon us
. They have had the political power in the
f hands, and if you permit them to go bacI
to their lands they will have it again
The laws of nature, the laws of societ,
cannot be overcome by the resolutions 0
Congress. Grant general amnesty, lie
these men 90 back to their lands, ant
they will again control the South. The,
have so long believed themselves born te
rule that they will rule the poor man in
the future, as in the past, with rod Of
iron. The landlees man of the South ba:
learned the lesson of submission SO wei
that when be is confronted by landed
proprietor he begins TO be plainly defe
rental. he is facile and dependent, and
less man than if he stood on aIittle spoi
of Gods earth covered By his own title
deed.
now TO INSURE LASTING PEACE.
| Sir, if We want a lasting peace, if We
want to put down this rebellion so that il
shall stay forever put down, we must pu,
down its guilty cause; we must put down
slavery; we must take away the platform
on which slavery stands-the great land
ed estates of the armed rebels of the
South. Strike that platform from be-
meath their feet, take that land away, and
divide II into homes for the men who have
saved cur country. put it to this
House as a necessity which stares us in
the face. What, let me ask you, will you
do with the battle. fields of the South ?
Who own them Who owns the re- j
field of Stone River? Two or three men
own it all. And who are those two or
three mem rebels, every one-one OF
them q man who once sat In this chamber,
but who is now leader in the rebel
army. Win you let him come back and
repossess his land Will you ask bis
permission when you 20 to visit the grave
OF your dead son who sleeps in the bosom
of that sacred field If the principles
OF the gentlemen on the other side be
carried cut, there is not one of the great
battle fields of the war, (save Gettysburg,
which lies yonder on this side of the
llne, that will not descand to the sons OF
rebels for all time to come-to men whose
fathers gained bad eminenee bv fight
ing against their country, and who will
love those fathers for affections sake, and
love rebellion for their fathers sake. God
forbid that we should ever visit those
spots, made sacred By the blood OF SO
many thousand brave men, and see our
enemies holding the fields and plowing
the graves Of our brethren, while the
sweat of slaves falls on tie sod which
ought to be forever sacred 10 every Amer.
lean citizen.
CHANGE OF SENTIMENT IN THE ARMY.
i The history of opinion and it's changes
in the army is very interesting one
When the war broke out, men sprang q
arms from all parties by common i'm
pulse of generous patriotism, which / au
glad to acknowledge here, in the presence
Of those in whose hearts that impulse
seems now TO be utterly dead.
l remember to have said to friend
when entered the Army, "You hate
slavery; so do |; but | hate disunior
more. Let US drop the slavery question
and fight to sustain tine Union. When
the supremacy of the Government has
been re-established We will attend to the
other question -
/ said to another, "You love slavery
Do you love the Union more ? Ii you do
90 with me; we will let slavery alone and
fight for the Union. When that is saved
we will take up our old quarrel, if there il
anything left to quarrel about"
| started out with that position taker
in good faith, as did thousands of other:
of all parties. But the Army soon found
that do what it would, the black phantom
met it everywhere-in the camp, in tn,
bivouac, en- the battlefield, and at al
times. It was ghost that would not b
laid. Slavery has both the strength ans
the weakness Of the enemy. His strength
J for it titled his fields. and fed his legions
his weakness, for in the hearts of slave
+, dwet dim prophecies that their deliver
ance from bondage would be the OUTCOME
of the war.
Mr.. Seward well says in an official dis
patch TO our Minister at St. James:
"Everywhere the American General re
ceives bis most useful and reliable infor
: nation from the negro, who halls hi
coming as the harbinger of freedom
These ill-used men came from the cot
ton fields; they swan rivers they climb
ed mountains; they came through jun
; giles; in the darkness and storms of tn
I night, to tell US that the enemy was com
ing here or coming there. They wer
our true friends in every case. There ha
hardly been battle, march, or any i'm
portant event of the war, where the frien'
of our cause, the black man, has not bcel
found truthful and helpful, and Away
devotedly loyal. The conviction force,
itself upon the mind of every soldier tha
: behind the rebel army Of soldiers th
black army of laborers was feeding an
Sustaining the rebellion, and there coul
be no victory till its main support shoul
: be taken away.
"You may take my housc, when you do take the prov
8 That doth sustain my house.
Tho ~okalt,ov, Ill.