Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-06-14


controlled by the question of future power
and plumber for party. The interests Of
the country are forgotten. The interests
of the Union are left out of view.
''The absurdities which our present
course exhibits are disgrace to us. An
example is visible in the twaddle OF Radi'
cal men about treason. Among the inhab-
itants of the Southern States there is not
one man in a hundred, black or white, that
has not been an enemy of the government.
The most ardent aiders and abettors of the
rebellion were to be found among the non
combatants, the females and the negroes.
The negro population was deeply imbued
with the spirit of hatred to the North and
in thousands of instances this spirit led
them to the verge of the battlefield and
where they could overcome their innate
cowardice, it led into the heat of battle
The Southern army was attended by large
numbers of negroes who, from choice, CON
tinued in the field and who were as ardent
enemies of the yankees " us any of their
masters.
"Here we have, then, Il population of
some millions scattered through the South
ern States, who have come under the do
minion of the law, and are now subject to
such punishment rs the government may
administer. But no one dreams of punish
ing them. Why not ? Because it is said
they were slaves, and their acts were to be
regarded as compulsory. 1t is then conce-
ded by the most enthusiast devotecs of
the blood blood doctrine, that Il nomi-
nal compulsion is sufficient reason for ex-
cusing the great crime. That the compul-
sion was only nominal, no one can doubt.
At every moment, from 1861 to 1865, the
held possession Of the homes and
the base of supplies of the Southern army.
There was never an instruction, never a
dream among them of casting off the nomi-
nal yoke of servitudc. They were willing
servants, and their masters had implicit
confidence in their fidelity, both 20 them
and the Confederate cause. Emissaries
were among them all this time, seeking to
arouse them into action on the side of the
Union, but they refused the temptations.
Looking at these facts, will the gentle
men who have never yet seen battle field,
but who desire to add the terrors of legal
executions to the slaughters of these years
past, explain on what principle they draw
a distinction between the white man and
the negro in questions relating to confsca-
ton, treason, and the like ?
cit is agreed on all hands that even the
negro who, with rife in hand, on the rebel
side, helped in the awful bloodshed of Cold
Harbor, should not be tried as q traitor
It is even agreed that the free negro who
took shot now and then for the fun of
the thing over the deadly works in front of
ought not to be punished as a
traitor But who will define the distinc-
ton ? The pressure at the South which
drove young and old into the ranks was
tenfold more visible and tangible than the
pressure on the negro. Why not have
some sympathy for the white man ? Why
this fundamental distinction which tends to
a conflict of races Certainly the day of
wisdom and of calmcr thought and wiser
action must be before us. It is impossible
that Il nation should go laundering on in
this blind inconsistent manner forever
Our present policy at the South, dis
as it does white from black,
to the depreciation of the white and
the elevation of the black over him,
is a disgrace to civilization. There
is no satisfactory explanation of the
conduct of some of the generals now in
command at the South, nor is it improper
to attribute to them desire to provoke ha-
tired and perpetuate discord, since there is
no choice between charging them with this
desire and with the grossest stupidity
They are none of them stupid, and there
fore it is beyond reasonable doubt that they
work with intent to accomplish that result
which their course does accomplish. Riot,
and more and more bloodshed, follow their
tracks. The generals to whom we allude
have thus far succeeded in keeping their
in q state of turmoil, and in
giving their Northern radical friends album
dant material for abuse of the South
With such generals the condition OF the
South may be fairly regarded as hopeless.
SO long as they remain in command the
prospect will grow darker and darker. Up
to the present moment careful estimate
of the work done in the Southern States
by the military officers convinces us that it
to this, namely, from condition
of comparative quiet and hopefulness for
white and black, they have brought things
into much worse state for both, and
whereas the relations of the two races wele
peaceful and mutually satisfactory, they are
now becoming dangerously disturbed by
the acts of the generals and the men they
employ. All this reacts with terrible force
on us at the North. There has not been in
many years more serious state of feeling
than now pervades our business circles
Ruin stares men in the face. and its APP
proach is FASTENED by the folly, the mad
ness with which politicians are using the
military position to accomplish their nefa