The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-08-17

speech of Gen. T. N. Harris, OF West
Virginia, to the People of Fred.
eFtcISburE, Where he is i'm Com.
mand.
AT the general meeting Mt Spottsylva-
MIA Court House, Va, on Monday of
last week, Gen. T. NJ. Harris, U. S. a.,
delivered speech, of which the fol-
lowing are the main points, AS given in
the fredericksburg Register. He said {:
II IS not the purpose of the govern
ment to hold your people under mill
tary restraint any longer than it will
| be necessary to do so in order to secure
the great results of the unfortunate
war through which we have just passed.
But the government would be recreant
to its high trusts if it failed to secure
the results of the contest. will point
out to you, said the general, the rocks
that lie in your course, and on which
You may, if ignorant, dash your bark.
There are some who will tell you that
the contest Will be again transferred to
the field of politics. This, said the
general, cannot be allowed. Where
any contest has been submitted to the
arbitrament of arms, that decision
should be final, because there is no
other tribunal to which it can be adj
IJourned. And II would be wrong if the
government should again allow the
contest to be transferred back to the
field of politics, with the probability
that, after many years of varying re-
suits, 1t would again lead to bloodshed
and strife.
I am, said Gen. H., Virginian, and
went with the government of the United
Stntes i'll this struggle in obedience TO
the dictates of my conscience; but now
that the war is over, yeHrn over you,
and pray that you may be restored to
peace and prosperity; but it is due to
candor that l should tell YOU TINT the
n
States and the whole northern people
nrc upon You. They suspect you. Now
If you can SntiSfy them that this uucs-
ton of slavery will never again be
transferred back to the field of politics,
you will be we'll treated and restored
to all your rights. This, l am sure, is
the sentiment of the government and
people. The men on both sides, who
have fought each other, know how to |
appreciate each other, and tell You, |
said the general, there is nothing in the |
sentiments of the masses, north or |
SOUTH south to hinder the restoration of fra
ternnl intercourse. =,
will briefly point out the course which
You should adopt ; but don't under
stand me as debating to you. In the |
beginning of the summer I was two
months in Washington, and had the OPP !
of fcOnversing with the leading
men from all sections, and / know what 1
they want and fear. If you will elect
men who will go to Richmond this win
ter and vote for the adoption of the con-
amendment abolishing sln-
very, and then alter your code in keep
ing with it, and elect she right kind of
men Il. G., those not responsible for the
war and its prOsecutiOn) to Congress,
you will get along well; but if YOU
should elect men to office who, though
acknowledging secession to be dead and
themselves tired of the war, yet cling to
their old notions, and are unwilling to
giveup slavery, no orepresentativestrO from
Virginia will, am sure, be admitted
to Congress. This will be terrible
thing, and urge you to elect men to /
Congress against whom there can lao no |
objection. If you do this, the military |
VIII bo yVltIE,lrIwTl--and 1 nm sure yoT.s
are anxious to see this done, Men of
this character, if elected, will have the
confidence of the Government, and the |
election of such men will give the Gov
crnment and the people of the North |
confidence i'll the honest purpose of the |
Southern people. The heGoVernment. YOU
no doubt think, might take the soldiers |
nway-perhaps it might do ii, and miss |
it.
Gen. II. said he had applied to the
agent of the Freedmen's Bureau for an
agent to manage freedmen's affairs. As
soon as one is appointed, his Office will
be at Fredericksburg, and all cases be-
tween whites and negroes will be refer
red to him. He Will be able TO take
care of negro children. l cannot.
Now that your justices are qualified,
shall turn all civil matters over to |
them and the courts where they proper
ly belong.