Year: 1863

wish that all men could be free, while you,
l suppose do not. Yet have neither
adopted nor proposed any measure which
is not consistent with even your view, pro-
vided you are for the Union. suggested
compensated emancipation, to which you
replied that you wished not to be taxed to
buy negroes. But had not asked you to
be taxed to buy negroes, except in such
way as to save you from greater taxation
to save the Union exclusively by other
means You dislike the emancipation
proclamation, and perhaps would have re-
tracted it. You say it is unconstitutional
l think differently. l think the constitu-
ton invests the Commander Chief with
law of war in times of war.


The most that can be said, if so much,
is that slaves are property. Is there, has
there ever been, any question that by the
law of war, property, both of enemies
and friends. may be taken when needed ?
and is it not needed whenever taking it
helps us and hurts the enemy? Armies,
the world over, destroy enemies property
when they cannot use it, and even destroy
their own to keep it from the enemy. Civ
ilized beligerents do all in their power to
help themselves and hurt the enemy, ex-
cept few things regarded as barbarous
or cruel Among the exceptions are the
massacre of vanquished foes and noncom-
battants male and female. But the pro-
clamation as law is valid or is not valid /;
if it is not valid it needs no rctraction !;
if it is valid it cannot be retracted any
more than the dead can be brought to life,


Some of you profess to think that its
retraction would operate favorably for the
Union. Why bettcrSfter the retraction
than before the issue? There was more
than year and half trial to suppress
the rebellion before the proclamation was
issued, the last one hundred days of which
passed under the explicit notice that it
was coming unless arrested by those in
revolt returning to their allegiance. The
war has certainly progressed as favorably
for US since the issue of the proclamation
as before / know as fully as.one can
know the opinions of others, that some of
the commanders of our armies in the field
who have given US our most important
victories, belieue the cmanci patton policy
and the aid of colored troops constitute
the heaviest blows yet dealt to the rebel
lion, and that at least one of those i'm
portant successes could not have been
achieved when it was but for the aid of
black soldiers. Among some of the COM
manders holding these views are some
who have never had any affinity with
what is called abolitionism, or with Re-
publican party politics, but who hold them
purely as military opinions. | submit
their opinions as being entitled to some
weight against the objections often urged,
that emancipation and arming the blacks
are unwise as military measures, and were
not adopted as such in good faith.


You say you will not fight to free me-
groes. Some of them seem willing
to fight for you; but no matter, fight
you, then, exclusively to save this Union.
issued the proclamation on purpose to
aid you in saving the Union. Whenever
you shall have conquered all resistance
to the Union, if shall urge you to con-
tinue fighting it will be an apt time then
for you to declare that you will not fight
to free negroes | thought that in your
struggle to save the Union, to whatever
extent the negroes should cease helping the
enemy, to that extent it weakened the en-
cmy in his resistance to you. Do you
think differently? | thought that what
ever negroes can be got to do as soldiers
leaves just so much less for white soldiers
to do in saving the Union. Does it ap-
, pear otherwise to you? But negroes like
other people, act upon motives; why
should they do any thing for us if we dc
nothing for them? If they stake their
, lives for us they must be prompted by the
strongest motives even the promise oi
: freedom, and the promise being made must
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