Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1864-02-27

thing should never be done again2
1 come now to the question more direct
ly before US. This question of land. Mr.
Speaker, is inseparably connected with the
peculiar institution of the South. 1t II
well known that the power Of slavery rests
IN large plantations; that the planters cap
ital drives the poor whites to the noun
tains, where liberty always loves to dwell.
and to the swamps and by places Of the
South; bat the bulk Of all the landed es.
tates is in the hands of the slave owners
who have plotted this great conspiracy
Let me give you an instance Of this, one
of thousand that might be given. In
the town of Murfreesboro Rutherford Co..
Tennessee. place made sacred and glo
rious forever by the valor of our Army
there are fourteen thousand fonr hundred
and ninety three acres Of land owned by
sixteen persons, and three Of the sixteen
men own more than ten thousand of the
acres. One Of the three owns more than
half of the whole township Of Murfrees
boro'. And that is only q specimen Of what
these men Of the South are TO the lands
Of the South. Only few hundred men
own the bulk Of the land, in any Southern
State, and these men hold the lands and
own the slaves. These men plotted the re
bellion and thrust it npou us. They have
had the political power in their hands. and
| if you permit them TO 60 back to their
lands they will have it again. The laws OF
nature, the laws of society. cannot be over
come by the resolutions of Congress; grant
a general amnesty, let these men 60 back
| to their lands, and the land owners will
again control the South. They have so
long believed themselves born to rule, that
they will rule the poor man as with rod
of iron. The landless man of the South
has learned the lesson Of submission so
we'll that when he is confronted by land
ed proprietor he begins to be painfully de-
ferental, he is facie and dependent, aud
less man than if be stood on Gods acre
covered by bis own title deed.
Sir, if we want lasting peace if we
want to put down this rebellion so that it
shall stay down. we must put down its gail
ty cause; we must put down slavery; We
we must take away the platform in which
slavery stands-the great landed estates of
the armed repels of the South. Strike
that platform beneath their feet, take that
land away, and divide it into homes for the
men that have saved our country. put it
| TO this House as necessity which stares us
in the face What, let me ask you. will
You do with the battle fields of the Southf
Who owns them? Who own the red field
of Stone River? Three men own it; and who
are these three men? Rebels, every one
one of them man who once sat 10 this
Chamber, but who is now leader in the
rebel army. Will you let him come back
aud repossess his land? Will you ask his
permission when you 60 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 out,
there is not one of the great battle fields
of the war, (save Gettysburg, which lies
yonder on this side of the +, line, that will
not descend to the sons of rebels for all
time to come-to men whose father gained
bad eminence by fighting against their
country. and who will love those fathers
for affections sake, and love the 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 feds
and plowing the graves Of our brethren,
while the sweat Of slaves falls on the sod
which ought to be forever sacred to every
American citizen.
The history of opinion and its changes il
the Army is very interesting one. Wher
the war broke out. men sprang to arms
from from all parties by common impulse
of generous patriotism, which l am glad to
acknowledge here in the presence OF those
in whose hearts that impulse seems now to
be utterly dead.
| remember to have said to friend When
| entered the Army, You hate slavery;
so do /; but / hate disunion mere. Lei
US drop the slavery question and tight tt
sust ain the Union. When the supremacy
of the government has been reestablisbeC
we will attend to the other question.
| l said to another, You love slavery. d.
YOU love the Union more? If you do, g
with me; we will let slavery alone ant
fight for the Union. When that is saveC
we will take up our old quarrel, if there i
anything left to quarrel abont.
started out with that position taken il
good faith, as did thousands of Others o
all parties. But the Army soon found
that do what it would, the black phantom
met it everywhere, 10 the camp. in the bl
youac. on the battlefield and at all times
It was ghost that would not be laid
Slavery was both strength aud weakness c
the enemy. His strength, for it titled hi
| fields aud fed his legions; his weakness, fo
in the hearts of slaves dwelt dim prophecie
!. that their deliverance from bondage woul
, be the outcome of the war.
Mr.. Seward well says in an official di'
patch to our minister at st James, Ever
where the American general receives b
: most useful ond reliable information fro
y the negro, who halls his comeing as Il
! harbinger of freedom. These i'll used me
: came from the cotton fields; they swa
: rivers; they climbed mountainss they eau
|; through jungles; in the darkness and stern
!, > of the night. to tell us that the enemy W
' coming here or coming there, They we
. our true friends 10 every case. There b
hardly been a battle, march, or any il
; portant event of the war. where the frieI
a q of our cause. the black man, has not hel
! found truthful and helpful. and always d
. votedly loyal The conviction forced its'
y y upon the mind of every soldier that beli'
y the rebel army of soldiers the black aln
T. of la horers was feedinp and sustaining d