The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-12-02

| labor of negro slaves, directed by white
engineers And in this way the soldiers
in the confederate armies have been re-
lieved from a great portion of the camp
drudgery. In this manner, and to this ex-
tent. slaves will continue to be employed
in the Southern armies; for to this extent
they can be employed without injury to
the agricultural interests of the South.
In every one of the Union armies there
are thousands of soldiers employed in du.
ties which take them away from the ranks,
and weaken the effective strength of the
army. In the Southern armies these du-
ties are, and will continue to be performed
by slaves, and thus the effective force of
the Southern armies is greatly strength
ened.
THE SLAVES WILL BE ARMED AS SOLDIERS
HOWEVER, IF NECESSARY.
There are some prominent members of
the Confederate Congress who contem-
plate the possibility that the war may con-
tinue for five or six years yet, and that
ultimately it msy be necessary to arm a
limited number of the slaves, and to dis
cipline them as soldiers. 1t may be re-
garded as settled that this step will never
be taken, as long as the southern armies
can be recruited by white men. If tho
time should ever come, however, when
difficulty begins to be experienced inkeep
ing the ranks of the old regiments full,
then the step will be taken, unhesitatingly.
THE SOUTH WOULD SACRIFICE THEIR SLAVES
IN ORDER TO GAIN INpEPRNDHHoR.
The people of the North must constant
ly bear in mind one thing, for it is the key
to all that the South will do in any emer-
gency. The Southern people are not
fighting for slavery; they are fighting for
Independence and separate nationality.
They would sacrifice slavery unhesitating-
ly, if it were necessary to do so, in order
to gain their independence. l ought to
say, more accurately, that they will sac
rifice their slaves, if necessary, in order to
gain their independence. The South can
never flourish without slave labor, and
that they will always have. They have
already sacrificed the lives of $4,000 of
their bravest men to the cause for which
they are fighting. They will, without tal-
tering, sacrifice as many more, if need be.
And when this million of white men are
gone, they will not hesitate to sacrifice
half a. million of slaves for the same OBJ
ject. They hope that in the end they will
secure their independence; and they
know that they can always procure slaves.
These are not prophecies. They are facts.
SLAVES WILL PROBABLY BE USED TO FACIu-
TATE TRANSPORTATION.
The great difficulty under which the
South has labored during the campaigns
Of 1864, has been in the transportation of
supplies from the places where the arti-
Giles were produced, to the places where
they were required for use. There was
superabundance of supplies everywhere,
the same as in Virginia. But there was
lack of the facilities for transportation.
It is not unlikely that some measures will
be brought before the present confederate
congress which will result in the employ
ment of slaves, under military regulations,
and under the direction of military officers,
in facilitating the transportation of sup
plies for the Army. DRUID.