The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1865-03-25

ton, which had become intolerable under
the old Union, was 70 have no place. But
Ito his surprise he finds that this Govern
ment assumes the power toarm the slaves,
which involves also the power Of emanci-
patton. s
To the agitation Of this question, the as.
sumption Of this power, he dated the ORR
gin Of the gloom which now oyerspreads
our people. They know that if our Hber-
ties were to be achieved, it was to be done
by the hearts and hands of free men. It
also injured as abroad. It was regarded
- confession Of despair, and an aban.
Of the sh sSa a npn - Ws h wshad
sisted that Congress had no right to inter-
fere with slavery, and upon the coming
into power OF the party wh0,it was known
would assume and exercise that power, We
seeded. We had also then contended that
whenever the two races were thrown to-
gether one must be muster and the other
slave, and we vindicaied ourselves against
the accusations OF the abolitionists by as
sorting that slavery was the best and hap
piest condition of the negro. Now, what
does this proposition admit? The right Of
the central government to put the slaves
into the militia, an0 to eInancipate at least
so many as shall be placed in the military
service. It is clear claim Of the central
government to emancipxte the slaves. IF
were wrong in denying to the old govern
ment the right to lntertere with the ineti.
tuition Of slavery, and 20 emancipate slaves.
Beside, if We offer slaves their freedom as
q boon, we confess that we were insincere,
were hypOcriticl in asserting that slavery
was the beet state for the negroes them
selves. He had been sincere In declaring
over the institution Of slavery, and that
freedom would De no boon 70 the negro
He now believed, a. he bad formerly said
insdiscussion on the same subject, that arm.
ing and emancipetipg the slaves was an
abandonment of this contest-an abandon.
ment of the grounds upon which it had
been undertaken. If this is 80, who 10 to
answer for the hundredS OF, thousands ef
men who have been slain in the war? Who
was to answer for them. before the bar Of
heAven7 Not those who had entered into
the contest upon principle, and adhered to
the principle, but those who had aben.
doned the principle. Not for al the gold
in California would he have put his name
to euch measure ~ this, unless obliged
to do it by instructions. As long as he
was free to vote from his own convictions,
nothing could have extorted it from him.
Mr.. Hunter then argued the necessity Of
freeing the negroes, if they were made sol
diors. There was something in the human
heart and head that tells Us il must be 80;
Wtseu taA0y OOAAA0 Out s0oeaIleO S1O1A tulS cOLe
fiict they must be free. If we could make
them soldiers, the condition OF the soldier
being socially equal to any other in society,
we could make them officers, perhaps, to
command white men. Some future Ambi-
tious President might use the slaves to
seize the liberties of the country, and put
the white man under his feet. The Govern
ment had no power under the Constitution
to arm and emancipate the slaves, and the
Constitution granted no such great powers
BY implication. Mr.. Hunter then showed
from statistics that no considerabie body OF
negro troops could b raised. in the States
over which the Government had control,
without esz1pping the country OF the labor
absolutely necessary to produce food. He
thought there was . much better chance Of
getting the large number Of desertsrs back
70 the army, than OF getting the slaves into
it. The negro abhorred the profession of .
soldier. The commandant Of concsripts,
Win autnonty 70 impress twenty thousand
aavee, hsd, oetweeor last september and
the present time, .oeen able TO get but four
tnoosano; ana OF toese, tolrty. nve hundred
6ad been obtained IN Virginia and North
CaroNna, ana nve nundfed rom Alabama.
nne, armed Win AZ me powers Of lmpreee-
ment, could not get them - laborers, how