The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-06-05

Inhabitants of the Southern States
there is not one man in hundred,
black or white, who has not been an
enemy Of the Government. The most
ardent aidefs and abettors of the robel-
hon were to be found among the nom
cOmbatants, the females and the ne
groes. 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
battle field; and where they could over
come their innate cowardiee it led some
into the heat of battle. The Southern
army was attended by large numbers
of negroes, who from choice continued
in the field, and who were Us ardent
enemies of the yankees" as any of
their white masters. E" =.
Here we have then population of
some millions scattered through the
Southern States, who have come under
the dominion of the law, aid who are
subject to such punishment as the e'Gev-,
ernment may administer. But no one.
dreams Of Furnishing them. Why not
Because it is said they were slaves, and
their acts were to be regarded as COM
pulsory. 1t is then conceded by the
most enthusiastic devotees of the
blOOd-fOr-blOOd doctrine that nominal
compulsion is sufficient reason for ex- :
cusing the great crime. That the COM
pulsion was only nominal, DO one can
doubt. At every moment, from 1861 to
1865, the negroes held possession of the
homes and base ofsupplies of the South
ern army. There was never an insur
rectiOn, never dream among them of
casting of the nominal yoke of seryi-.
tude. They were willing servants, and
their masters had implicit confidence in
their fidelity, both to them and the Con.
federate cause. Emissaries were among
them into action on the side of the
Union, but they refused the tempta-
ti0ns.
Lookil1 at these facts, will the gen.
tlefien Who have never yet seen bat
tle-field, but who desire to add ts the
terrors of legal executions the slaugh-
ters Of these years past, explain, on
what principle they draw distinction
between the white man and the negro
in questions relating to confiscatiOn,
treason, and the likei -.. AN. 80,
1t is agreed on all hands that even
the negro, who, with rifle in hand, on
the rebel eide, helped in the awful
blOodshed of Cold Harbor, should not
be tried as traitor. 1t 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 Petersburg
ought not to be punished as traitor.
But who will define the distinction
The pressure at the South which drove
young and old into the ranks was ten
fold 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 conflict of racesf Ger
tainly the day of wisdom and of calner
thought and wiser action must be be-
! fore us.
1t is impossible that nation should
90 laundering on in this blind, incon-
sistent manner forever. Our present
policy at the Sonth, distinguishing as it
does white from black, to the deprecia
tion of the white and the elevation of
the black over him, is disgrace to civ
ilizatiOn. There is no satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION of the conduct of some of the
Generals now in command a. the South,
nor is il improper to attribute to them
a desire to provoke hatred and perpetu-
ate discord, since there is no choice be-
tween charging them with this desire
and with the grossest stupidity. They
are none of them stupid, and therefore
| it is beyond reasonable doubt that they
work with intent to accomplish that re-
suit which their course does accomplish.
Riot and more and more blOodshed fol-
low their tracks. -
The Generals to whom we allude have
thu far succeeded in keeping their de-
partments in \ state of turmoil, and in
giving their Northern Radical friends
abundant material for abuse of the
South. With such Generals the cOndi-
ton of the South may fairly be regarded
as hopeless. So long as they remain in
command the prospect will grow dark
er aud darker. Up to the present mo-
mcnta careful estimate of the work
done in the Southern States by the mil
itary officers convinces us that it
amounts 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 were 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 ter
rible force on us at the North. There
has not been in many years n more
serious state of feeling than now per-
vades our business circles. Ruin stares
men in the face, and its approach is
hastened by the folly, the madness with
which politicians are using the military
position to accomplish their ncfarious
pu rposes at the South.