Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1865-02-28
private property impressed without just compen-

private property impressed without just compen-
sation
T. No. Our property was as secure as the Jewels
OF your Queen, and so complete was our enjoyment
OF it that not one man in fifty knew that he ever
paid a tax TO the government for its protection.
r Surely you were fortunate people, and en-
joyed the manifold blessings of English liberty
You certainly did not destroy such government
without some great cause? Deal frankly with ME
and tell the great secret which has not vet been
discovered by the world.
e Our government denied US tho right of peace
a6le secession! -
P This is certainly new doctrine wholly I'M
known to English statesmen. | have seen it set
forth By some of your members of Congress, but
regarded t as mere political cLgp-trdp. As I'M
derstand 1t, it is the right to break up govern
ment at will and without cause. This is as bad as
the red-republcansm of the French revolutionists,
and statesmen who desire the stability and perpe-
tuity oil government can have no sympathy or conE
nection with such political jacobinism. -.
Such would be about the result of our diplomatic
intercourse with the nations of Europe and it
would at least free US from delusivs hopes of for
egn Intervention -.
Mr.. Speaker, our rulers cannot conduct this war
TO successful termination if they give up the vital
princlPle upon which thereyolution was common:
cea BY SO doing, they will stu,tify themselves,
sit tee respect Of other nations, and lose the
ets6aence Of tAeff oWr3 ptople If HEY fleetrox
the foundation stones &c tbs Coafedesafs govern
ment, they can hut expect that the ediice win
tumble into ruins r.-
Mr.. Speaker, have hastily considered the power
OF the Confederate government to control the slave
property of its citizens 1 now propose to exam.
Inc the practical operations of the measures propo
sed by the Executive and his peculiar friends and
see if they are consistent with wise military poll
cy and with the well established laws of political
economy.
1t is proposed by the President to take forty
thousand slaves from the industrial pursuits of the
country and put them in the military service as
cooks teamsters, &c. Will this benefit our cause
and add to our chances of winning independence
We are engaged in long and wasting war which
has severely taxed the whole energies of our peo.
pie 1t IS conceded that We need more men and sup
pines to meet the emergencies of the times. We
must have brave and patriotic men in the field to
keep back the public enemy, and it is equally nec-
essary that we should have efficient labor at home
to produce supplies. Can these wants be met by
putting forty thousand negroes in the military SER
vice! The Executive does not propose to use them
as fighting men, but as cooks transfers, &C. The
practical question is, can they in such employments
| render more service than in the corn6elds of the
countryF Ii abundant ra.ions are furnished, our
soldiers will cheerfully cook for themselves, as
! they have been doing for three years. If it
should be necessary at any time to have detailed
cooks, there will always be found men enough for
this duty, who are incapable of active service
This necessity might also be supplied by the free
| negroes who have been conscripted. / have but
little knowledge of military operations, bnt it seems
to me that it would not be prudent safe to trust
our valuable wagon trains to the custody of negro
| teamsters. These trains are constantly in danger
| from raids of the enemy ard the teamsters ought
to be capable and ready to assist in their defense
Negroes would do all they could to assist their
| friends, the Yankees In nay opinion. slave cooks
and teamsters would not earn their rations and
! clothes, but be positive nuisance to the army
clog its efficient operations; consume its scanty
supplies; and they will pillage and plumber the
! country through which the army may pass. They
will also constitute an immense body Of spies who
will be constantly escaping to the enemy with i'm
portant information. In no way can the strength
and efficiency of our noble and gallant army Of free
born and patriotic white men, be increased by the
| employment of slaves in the military service
Slaves might be employed with advantage in work
ing upon the Qualifications Of cities and other i'm
portant military posts; but this demand for labor
can be supplied by acquisitions on the States II
4 would be cheerfully and promptly furnished. dc
| not object to the government taking negroes for
military purposes, because it might interfere with
my personal interests. would gladly give up eve
| ry negro | own to secure the peace and liberty Of
! the country. love the freedom of the white mar
more than the slavery of the negro object to the
empoymento slaves in any capacity in the army be
cause believe that they will be element of weak
ness, and not of strength; and moreover, they art
| all needed at home to produce the necessary sup
plies for the army and the country. These forty
thousand slaves now required by the President i
left at home under judlcious management can BY
their labors on the farms, support army of al
hundred thousand men for year. Is it wise, there
FORE to destroy this certain Of supply by thu
uncertain experiment of making negroes efficient il
| the army?
Mr.. Speaker, aproposition has been made by ont
of the leading newspaper organs of the administra
ton, to enancipate the entire slave population o
the country for the purpose of securing the sympa
| thy and aid of foreign nations The novelty OF thu
proposition for time startled the country, but it:
absurdty is manifest that it hardly requires Sc
rious discussion. If foreign nations desire suct
| emancipation, their wishes can be accomplished by
the success of the United States and they vel
know that their unnecessary interference in thi:
| matter will involve them in bloody and expensive
war, and subject their now prosperous commerce. Il
the depredations of the most gigantic military ma
rine that ever sailed upon the ocean. Foreign ma
tons will never become parties to this contest un
| less it becomes their interest to do so,-and how
can the emancipation of slavery in the Confederate
States benefit them? The philanthropy of TIT
question may excite the raving defamation o
the fanatic but it will not influence the action o
statesmen. The emancipation Of our slaves would al
most entirely prevent the production of our grea
staples of cotton and tobacco, and that certainly
would not win us favor with the manufacturing ant
commercial classes of England and France. w
can buy the good will and assistance of thes
nations by an act which would destroy our grea
labor system and involve US in financial ruin an
social debasement There are some men, who ar
so anxious to obtain foreign assistance, that the
willing to make any sacrifice to effect that pun
pose They even go so far as to say that the
would prefer to divide our country between Eng
land and France rather than make any terms wit
the North. I entertain no such feelings. I wi
never consent for North Carolina to become q coli
ny of Great Britain, the enemy and oppressor
our forefathers ! honor still the memory of GU
glorious ancestors, and will never assist IN rive
ing the chains which were broken by their wisdol
end valor. What can we hope for in the future
our country, if we join her destiny with blood
and revolutionary France?
Mr.. Speaker the sudden emancipation Of SLAYER
would be very disastrous to the South. / will Ell
deayor briefly to enumerate some of the most prom
inent evils that would ensue. Negroes conStitu
one third of our population and as industrious az
A.