, 1865-03-16
THE REBEL CONGRESS-,
Passage Of the Negro Soldier
Bill.
Speech Of Mr.. Hunter
Against It.
: SENATE

SENATE
The Senate uss called to order II eleven O'clock
in The morning, Hon. 3. II. T. Hunter Of Va, In
The special order being the House bill ito ,u-
creaEo the military force Of the Confederate
states: !" that bill WAS then takcn up and read.
MIR. Hunter said thai as he had been instructed
by the Virginia Legislature to vote against hiz
eopyictions. i " va ptopef that he should gre
right Of the Leglstsure to instruct; and upon that
body he desired 70 place The, responsibility OF the
pressing his riewe; but his friends had suggested
that }ustce to himself required that ha should do
the same ground as when kindred measure was
recently unde1 discussion in secre- session. When
We lei1 the old government he h,d thought that
that We were entering into new cpnfederac5
q homogeneous states where the agitation Of
ha ss ,eneson FL oa whsh bad
place. But to bis surprise, he finds that this gov
e1nment assumes the power to arm the slaves,
10 tbe agitation Of this Question, the assnnption
Of thln power. he dated the origin Of The gloom
which now Ioverspreads onr people. They knew
be done by the hearts and hands Of these men. 1t
also injured rs abroad. il was regarded as con-
fcesion Of despair and IN abandonment OF the
ground upon which we had seeded from the old
Union. Wc had inslstcd that Congress hsd no
right to interfere with slavery, anil upon the COM
Ing Rto s the who Is rs
We had also then contended that whenever the
two races were thrown together one must be mas
seives @ axan.t she ensatons u ths AboIiionIss
BY asserting that slavery vas The bsst and happi-
Eaeosdo s S IL st at t19s a9sS 6s
eminent put the elaves inlo the militia, and to
emancipate at teakt.:. so many as shall be
seal ea@ ahs Of he Genital IL
to ernaneipcte the Slaves. II wo are right In pass
ing this measure, we were wrong in denying 10
institution q rlAvery, and to enaneipafe fiayes.
| Besides, If we offer slaves their freedom
boon, We confess that VIE were insincere, were
1sst state for tho negoes themselves. m Me lad lad
been sincere in declaring that the central govern
st eea% od Be- e
negro. He now believed, as he had formerly said
| In discussion on the same subject, that arning
rid emancipattng the slaves was an abandonment
upon which 1t had been undertaken. If thlsis 20,
who Is to answer for the hundreds Of thousands
Of men who have been slain ~ the war. Who
WIS 10 answer for them before the bar of heaven!
! Not tbnse who had entered into the contest upon
p5insaple, and adhere TO tie P5inePe, bui those
roa IN caiosna would be baye mt liz as fo
such measure as this, unless obliged to do so by
instructions. As long as be was Hee to vote from
om Sn aanr sn sa
necessity Of freeing he negroes Il l6ey wsre
made eoldiere: There was tomethlng IN the hu
when thcycomo ont Scared nom thfs conflict they
| must be free. II VIC could make them soldiers,
to any other in society, ne could make them OH
| GERS perhaps, 70 command white men. Soma ta-
turc ambitious President might use the slaves to
seize the lit critics Of the country and put the
| white man under his fceI- The Government had
no power under the Constitution TO arm and
e1nancpate the Slaves and the Constitution grant
ed no snch great powers By implication. Mr..
Hunter then showed by STATISTICS that no constd
eIable body Of negro tfoops r. could BE- Fat;ed In
t1o,, without stripping the country Of the labor
absoluteaytnec caksary 70 produce food. he thought
there wss much better chance of getting the
/! large number of deserters back to the army Than
| Of getting the a1aves into It. The negro a6hored
| the profession Of soldier. The commandant OF
With suithoi TO- Impress twep
eea ees bat II !ee@ tsoussaa: I'D # .ss.s
hsa sss2sa saa
not ett them ss labore1s, how will We DO abss to.
viii 60 to the Yankees; Nwe depend upon theil
volunteering we can't get them. and those We do
st vii dess1 to he ThO can Offer them
them liberty, clolhins, and even farms at our *
pense- Negroes now we're deferred :tom going to
the enemy only b their fesE Of being PIT INTO ihe
In CONCLUSION, he considered that The meas
ure, when reviewed as to its cxpedieney,
1o .ea as e lat tassaea sols 81 Il PE9ps sF2
we're in fasor Of The measure. The army had been
told that the measure WIS necessary, and they had
Manassas, Fredericksburg md Coal narbor we.e
md saEe theu. ae id not beiieve lit our troops
tpire oar troops IN the hour Ct battle, when they
knew that their rank was beng held by negroes.
BE repeated that he would hive voted agatnst The
4xx1kr $n-k HfnH
cation upon him. lie should eudeasor 10 mould
tho bill 80 as to carry out the trne spirit OF these
Instructions. he belicyed 1t would pass, and
| hoped It would not have tho evil effects that he
apprehended.
Ar. Graham also opposed the bill. He meant to
ess nu ~ @ ssasa Ehsn
would feel cslled npon to consider whether such
IN ln1oad upon the Constitution did not call for
etrument. He considered the adoption OF the
measure as almost virtual abandonment Of the
principles Of the contest: Nj. Graham protested
stzuct Senators, after the mature deiber1tion
Of the Senate had disposed Of the measure, which
he So
Mr. Graham argued at length against the eonsti-
tuhonality and e1pediency of the measure.
sdvocst ted 1t necessity. 1t wns better to throw
over part Of The ergo than to lose the ship and
cargo togs,hs1 i w gFEssdd y Gen Ls and
be so bad 1a had been represented. lie hoped the
| bill would be 30 modified aa to conform to the
Instructions given by the State OF Vtrgtnla to her
i Senator's.
After farther debate the Senate adjourned, with
out taking vote On tho bill.
| HoUsE.
The upuec took up the bill putting negroesfnto
the nfmy, returned from the Seuata win the fol-
sowing amendment, inserted at the end Of the
fourth section OF the bill: Provided, that not
more than twenty 1--we per cent Of the male slaves
between ,he ages Of eighteen and forty-1ve In any
State, shall be called for under the .proVisions Of
this act
ment, the ayes and noes were ordered, and were
Ayfs-Mcasrs. Anderson, B.rksdale, Bataon,
Baylor, Blanford, Bradley, 2. ". Bruce, Carroll,
ther. goode, Gray, Hauley. Johnston, Keeple,
Lyon, Nschen. Marshall, McMullen, Menees. hiil-
ler, Moore, Murray, Perkins, Read. Russell, ,Sinp.
son, snead, stsp1es, T1plett and Vfilerd-40.
Ndys-Messrs. Atkins, Baldwin, Chambers, Col
yer, CruikBhank. Fuller, Gh0lson, Gilmer, Hlrt-
7. Leach, Logan, Mccallhm, kamsay, Rogers,
Sexton, ]. II. Smith, Turner, Wtckham, Wilkes,
1 Witherspoon, ard Nj. Speaker-75 Mr. Miles, Of
South carolins, asked 10 b e1cused from voting,
as he paired of with HI. Foster, Of Alabama, who,
# he had been present, would have voted for the
would vote again.t the bill. AZ the bill has now
passed both Houses OF Congress- Ind on;;V aa..s
The signature Of The P1es.oent TO become law,
we give below copy Of II as passed:
! 4 bill to {acrtase The military forces Of he Con-
| ttderate Sf1tf&.-The Congress Of tho Contede-
rate States OF America do enact that In order to
provide addft. nal forces 10 repel invasion, main
sttcs. secure their Independence and preserve
their institutions. the President be and Is hereby