The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1864-04-22
The President .. Baltimore.

At tho opening Of the great Sanitary Fair
nj Baltimore recently, President Lincoln
made the following neat speech. in which he
declared tho policy of tho Government in rnf'
ercncc to the late rebel massacre an "a,
ue referred to the great change that had "a.
- niace In baltimore in the last three years.
r.",p he sa;d. the world moves. AT the cnni-
..anssment Of the war the soldiers OF the un-
;nn couId mot pass through Baltimore unmo.
io.,sIs and now ne have this large concourse OF
neonis brought together to do them honor anu
proy;do for their wants and make them cTmlort;
able. All honor to the brave patriots VINO naa
wrought the change, and TO the nooic "0n'en
who aided them. ,,a;v;dr.,
,houcht Il would last till now. All thought II
would be ended in some way In much shorter
time. Very few, ut that time, thought the IN
stitution of slavery would he so much affected;
But these expectations were not realized, anu
here we are (laughter), and slavery has oeen
somewhat affected (great laughter). 90 Eu9
II Is, my friends, that man proposes anu uou
disposes. The world had long been In want Oh
a correct definition Of the word freedom.-
Whilst all protested to advocate liberty, theio
was In the minds Of many very opposIms, view ,'
Of what liberty was. With one man hoer,y
implied to work for himself. and do rs ,,, nc
pleased with the proceeds of his labor. with
others liberty meant to do as you pleased win
other men and their labor. One OF these Two
conflicting ideas would have to give way to the
other. He thought, from some occurrences
that had taken place in Maryland, that her
people were about to determine which OF these
views OF freedom should control her destiny.
The President then passed on to refer 20
matter which, he said, no supposed was JUST
now deeply agitating the minds OF the people
all over tho country. He alluded to an occur
renee which was reported to have taken place
ut Fort Pillow, the massacre OF several hundred
colored soldiers by the Confederates. Many
supposed the country did not intend to do Its
duty In regard to tho protection Of these color
ed soldiers. lie desired to say that oil such
were mistaken. When the question OF employ.
ing colored men as soldiers was len to the gov.
ernmont, It rested very much with himself
whether he should make soldiers OF them or
mot He pondered the matter carefully, and
when he became convinced that It was duty
to so employ them, no did not hesitate. lie
stood before the American people responsible
for the act; responsible before the Christian
world; responsible for Il he should stand In the
eyes OF the historian; responsible for 1t he stood
before God, and he did not shrink from the de-
cision he had made, for he believed II was right.
But when Government determined to make
soldiers Of these colored people, he thought 1t
only Just that they should have tho same pro:
lection rs the white soldiers (Applause And
he hesitated not to declare that the Government
would so protect them to the utmost OF Its
power.
Whenever clear authenticated case should
DO made out, retribution would follow. II had
hitherto been difficult to ascertain with that
certainty which should govern decision In q
matter so serious, but In the affair at Fort Pill
low he thought they were likely to find clear
case. The Government had no direct evidence
to confirm tho reports In existence relative to
the massacre, but he feared that the facts as rc-
lated were true. When the Government does
know the facts from official sources, and they
substantiatc the reports, retributon will be sure
ly given. lGreat applause.
But how should rctribution be administered,
was question still to DO settled. Would It DO
right to take the life Of prisoners In Washing
ton, in Fort Delaware or elsewhere, in retalia.
ton for acts in which they had not shared !
Would II be right to take prisoners captured
say, Mt Vicksburg, and shoot them for acts OF
which they were not guilty, and which prob
ably will he found were the numbering OF only
n few individuals, or possibly Of only one man.
The President reiterated the declaration. that
the Government would not fail to visit retribu-
ton when the acts were clearly proven.
Throughout the Presidents remarks they were
warmly applauded especially his cnunciation
OF determination to visit retribution for tho
barbarous deeds Of the rebels.