Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-09-28
MISSOURI SLAVE CERTIFICATES
Gen. Tuttle Explains low the southerners Ex-
pect 90 Get Pay for Their Former Slaves


Correspondence Of the Chicago Tribuney
DEs MONIES, Sept. 12.-Your COR
respondent meeting Gen. Tuttlc, in
quired what he had to say about that
portion of his famous speech in which
he stated that the State Of Missouri
had issued certificates for the value
of slaves emancipated by the war,
and which has been denied by the
Democratic papers. The General re-
piled:
| may have been in error in the
manner in which | made the state.
ment; but the facts are even worse
than | stated as ! have every reason
to believe, and before long | will
have tho evidence to prove it. [
knew what | was talking about. |
have been there and know the whole
of them. Why, those very certi6-
Gates have been offered for sale in
every town; they were in Van
Buren, County last winter, and they
have been offered all about the South
and in Missouri, up to the time of
my speech; but you can't get sight
of one now. | have received letters
from men who had them offered to
them for sale, and who read them;
but they say they can't find one now,
When the persons selling these certi-
ficates were asked, what about the
negroes, the answer was, "These GER
tificates are given for the payment
of property destroyed by them dur
ing the war. They are issued under
an act Of the Legislature, by Com
mission before whom statements are
filed by claimants of the property de-
stroyed. In those statements COVE,
horses, mules, etc., are named; and,
in fixing the value, the sum is fixed
to cover negroes at about 81, 900 per
head. This is we'll understood by all
the people down there, and there is
no doubt about it. Some of these
certificates call for sums larger than
it is known the parties ever owned
in property, unless the negroes are
counted. This fact is well known to
Democrats in Iowa-some of them
and they know that these fellows
gave us to understand that, in these
certificates, they were getting pay
for their negroes. And that is not
all. The Democratic leaders down
South-those who are in the ring of
leaders-do not hesitate to say that
they propose to get pay for their
negroes. They talk it in their meet
ings and among themselves and,
since they have got majority in the
lower House of Congress, they talk
it in public. Any Northern Demo.
crat can hear it if he will go there.
They say they have got two ways in
which they will succeed in this matter.
One is to get control of Congress by
the aid of Northern Democrats, and,
with Democrat as President, and a
sufficient number of Democratic State
Legislatures, repeal or nullify section
4 of article Ii OF the amendments to
the Constitution. They believe the
Northern Democrats, for the sake of
power, will join them i'll doing this.
They have their men selected, and
their programme marked out, North
and South, and they are in earnest.
The other plan is the most dangerous,
because it is the least likely TO attract
attention and this is urged by the
more intelligent and less noisy leaders
down there. They hold that the
United States supreme Court has
decided that slaves are property !;
that a contract made with regard TO
them is as binding as with regard to
any other property; that the Consti-
tuition declares that no law shall be
passed by Congress or any of the
states impairing the obligation of a
contract, and also that private prop
erty shall not be taken without just
compensation. If this is so, they
say, section 4 of article IA, which
says slaves shall not be paid for, is in
conflict with other sections of the
Constitution. They go on to argue
that, under all decisions of the courts,
and the rule of construction of stat
utes, where there is a conflict Of laws,
the new must give way to the old
therefore, this section 4 of article IA
is void. Now, they believe this; and
late speech made by Gov. Vance
in North Carolina proves what | say is
true; for he asserted it on the stump.
When you say to them that it was
war measure, and that, before it was
adopted, they had forfeited all rights
under the constitution, they reply
that a large number of Shareholders
were net ao in W sh9fn arlRSy war; wal and the
government had no right to take such
persons property any more than it
had the property of person in the
North. They have determined to get
majority in the government, and
then they propose to get a change in
the Supreme Court. 1t will not be
long, they say, before some of the
present judges must die or retire from
the Bench and, when their places
are filed with Southern men, it will
be very easy thing for the Supreme
Court to make such decisions az the
claim will DE just TO them.
That Csaid the GeneraD is the
scheme they are preparing to carry
out; and, startling as 1T may appear,
it is not bit more so thar the aser-
ton made few years ago that they
would have q hundred Rebel Gen.
erals in Congress before Grants sue
ccs-or was elected, and that the Dem.
ocratic party Of the North would
stand at their backs; yet this he's
come to be true, and they confident
ly expect to carry out these other
plans, one or the other-they don't
care which. AS to those whelps who
are making charges against me in the
st. Louis Republican and Times, |
know them-at least think | do. |
have seen them before, and they
know where and how, One of them
was kicked out of the army by Gen.
Sherman and myself as thief, rob-
har and a smuOpIar of cOntrabgnd