The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-04-24
Compensation for Slares.

In answering q question, the Chicago
Tribune revives some interesting passages
of history. 1t shows that President Lin
coin made repeated efforts during the
war to bring about gradual emancipa-
ton, accompanied by Government COM
pensation to the owners of slaves for the
loss of their property. A year after his
Inauguration he recommended the pas
sage of resolution declaring that "the
United States ought to cooperate with
any State which may adopt gradual abol-
ishment of slavery, giving to such State
pecuniary aid, to be used by such State
in its discretion, to compensate for the
inconvenience, public and private, pro-
duced by such change Of system" He
said that the initiation of such q policy
would end the war itself by extinguish-
ing the cause and motive of the war.
The resolution was approved by both
branches of Congress, but the South, at
that time, was on the full tide of success
and paid no attention to the action of
the Federal Government. Her people
were then fully persuaded that they
would be able to build up separate ma
ton, and preserve the system of slavery
unimpaired. In April, 1862, the Presi-
dent gave his assent to bill abolishing
slavery in the District of Columbia, and
appropriating a million of dollars for the
compensation of the owners of slaves. A
few months later Mr.. Lincoln, seeing
that nothing could be done with the
purely Southern States, endeavored to
get the border States of Maryland, Mis-
souri, and Kentucky to consent to gradu-
al emancipation, accompanied by Gov
ernment compensation, not exceeding
three hundred dollars per slave. But
the people of those Commonwealths
could not see that this peculiar institu-
ton" was doomed and would not accept
three hundred dollars for property then
worth perhaps thousand. They de-
clined the proposition, and in the end
had to submit to immediate emancl-
patton without any compensation. 1t is
a little singular that the Southern States
which seeded from the Union because
they believed their slave property was in
danger, and that the Southern people
who waged long and bloody war in
order to set up Confederacy in which
slavery should be secure and who reject
ed an offer of gradual emancipation, ac'
companied by compensation with scorn,
should in the end witness the confisca'
ton of all their immense slave property
with scarcely pang or regret. Less
than twenty years ago the Southern peo'
ple were prepared to stake, and did stake
everything is defense of slavery, yet to-
day there is not one in thousand who
would not object TO return to the ole
system. They can see now that slavery
was curse instead of a blessing, and
they are glad that it has been forever
abolished. 1t is curious to note that MIR
Lincoln's first scheme contemplated the
deportation of slaves as rapidly as they
were emancipated and their colonization
in some tropical climate. Up to the
time Of his assassination he never dream
ed of making them citizens and voters
or of seeing ignorant negroes fresh from
bondage governing sovereign States ant
sitting in the highest councils of th,
Nation.-ChrOnicIe and Constitutional
isl.