011 899 246 5 Conservation Resources E 453 .S55 Copy 1 SLAVES AND SLAVERY: HOW AFFECTED BY THE WAR. *' REMARKS OF HON. JOHN SHERMAN, OF OHIO, IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED S.T±3Ej:S, April 2, 18G2. fif The Senate having under consideration the following joint resolution — " Resolv&J, Thsit the United States ought to co-operate with any State which uiiiy adopt gradual abohshment of slavery, ■giving to siioh St.Tio pecuniary aid, to be used by such State ifi its discretion, to compensate for tho inconveniences, pub- lic and private, produced by such change of system " — Mr, SHERMAN said : Mr. President : I have not heretofore deemed it my duty to discuss any of the pending pro- positions relating to slaves or slavery. It is a difiScult question, the bane of American politics, the most troublesome subject that has ever excited the attention of Congress. The war hj»s thrown upon us the necessity of passing a variety of bills of the most important charac- ter, the details of which it was necessary to carefully consider. I have deemed it my duty to pay attention, so far as I could, to the details of those measures, avoiding all political discus- sion. But, sir, I am called upon to vote; and representing a constituency of two millions and a half of people, who have deep and abiding convictions upon the subject of slavery and its relations to the General Government, I probably should not do my duty to them, did I not improve a proper occasion to express my views, and, 80 far as I know, the views of the great body of the people of Ohio. I shall therefore take this occasion to state, as briefly and as distinct- ly as I can, my opinions upon the several prop- ositions pending in this body on the subject of slaves and slavery. They are so intimately connected together that I may as well discuss the whole in discussing one. Slavery jy district of Columbia. The first practical question that comes be- fore us is the question of slavery in the District Of Columbia. It is proposed to emancipate the slaves of this District. Two years ago, when the census was taken, there were 11,107 free negroes, 3,181 slaves, and 60,788 white people in this District. Since that time I am informed by very credible authority that the number of h:ee negroes has been increased to something like fifteen thousand — some of them brought from the States as servants by officers of the Army; some of them belonging to that class of persons known as "contrabands," running away from disloyal masters in Virginia and Maryland, seeking safety in our lines, and find- ing employment in this District, and probably some coming here for temporary employment- so that the number of free negroes now in this District is about fifteen thousand. I am also informed by equally credible au- thority that the number of the slaves in the District now is less than fifteen hundred. Many of the most healthy, active, valuable slaves were removed by their masters before the difficulties occurred; some have been re- moved since. Many of those hired here by mas- ters living in Virginia and Maryland have been taken away, and have either gone South or re- turned to their homes. The number of slaves in this District probably does not now exceed fifteen hundred, and may not be over one thou- sand. It is apparent, therefore, that this ques- tion is an unimportant one, if we look only to the number of persons affected by it. To add one thousand to the number of free negroes in this District is a matter of very Siipall impor- tance; and to take from the owners of these one thousand negroes their property, is also a mat- ter of less importance, as tho bill provides all over the country, North and South, have here a better opportunity to develop their ca- pacity for freedom than anywhere else in the United States. Here they perform many of the duties necessary to be performed in all civ. ilized society. Here they are the laborers, the hackmen, the servants, and do a great deal of good, and are of great service. I have never examined the criminal statistics here ; but so far as my observation has gone, I feel bound to say that the free negroes of this District have behaved themselves very well. They are useful, good citizens ; all of them, so far as I know, loyal, faithful, willing and ready to do the duties that devolve on them in their callings and business. I am willing to give the free negroes here the highest possible development. Here they do not interfere with the peculiar prejudices that will always mark them as a de- graded caste in other communities. In States they must always be held on a lower level. Here they can have righfs, and those rights are more respected than in any portion of the Uni- ted States. I am willing to give them the ad- vantage of their position. CONSENT OF MARYLAND. Mr. President, until within . the last year or wo, if the question had been put to me, are you in favor of the abolition of slavery in the Dis- trict of Columbia ? I should have answered, and perhaps did answer in the other House, that I was opposed to it for the present. And why ? Because I believed that the abolition of slavery here would be injurious to Maryland; that as this territory was received from Maryland as a free gift for the seat of Government, I thought ■we ought not to interfere with slavery in this District without the consent of Maryland. But, sir, it seems to me the course of events has changed that position. Maryland herself, as her Senator has proclaimed upon this floor, must look to emancipation. It is a matter of social necessity. She will look to emancipa- tion ; and if she adopts that policy with or with- out the aid of the General Government, I have no doubt the resources of Maryland will be largely increased. I know that there is a strong disposition in Maryland to try the experiment of emancipation. It would be lor her interest to try it. The addition of a small number to the free negroes of this District and the reliev- ing of a few slaves from their bondage cannot operate injuriously to the Slate of Maryland, and therefore I feel relieved from all obligation to respect the wishes of the people of Mary- land exclusively on this matter, but take a broader view of the subj ect, and look at its effect throughout the United States. If the State of Maryland will but try the ex- periment that has been tried in other States, they will find the benefits of the policy of eman- cipation. There was in the State of Ohio a very large portion of the State set aside for Virginians, called the Virginia Military District. Nearly all of the people of that portion of the State of OhiD are the descendants of Virginians. They have gone there with their slaves. I have often heard from the earlier settlers of Ohio about large families from Virginia and Mary- land coming to the State to settle on the lands granted to them for services in the revolution- ary war, and bringing their slaves with them. Their slaves became free under the operation of the laws of Ohio. They have settled upon their lands, divided accor ding to the laws of Virginia, and the lands alone are worth three- fold what they would have been if they had held the negroes still as slaves. That part of Ohio is now among the most intelligent, en- lightened, and enterprising portions of the State, rich in all resources. It embraces the Sciota valley and some of the very best lands in our State, held under Virginia titles, under Virgin- ia laws. Some of the negroes carried by Vir- ginians into Ohio are still there, entitled to the rights of freedom. I believe that if Maryland and Virginia this day would proclaim emanci- pation by some gradual system that would not break too much on the prejudices of their people, the mere value of their lands would be enhanced twice the amount of all the nominal vjvlue of their slaves. These reasons are sufficient to induce me to vote for any bill providing for the abolition of slavery in this District. MODE OF EMANCIPATION. The question now occurs, what is the best mode of emancipation ? If the duty had been imposed upon me to frame a bill for the aboli- tion of slavery in this District, I should have provided for gradual emancipation. I should have taken that famous law of the State of Pennsylvania referred to yesterday, framed by Franklin and his associates. I should have declared that all children born after the 12tk day of April, 18G1 — the day when the rebels fired upon the'flag at Fort Sumter — should be [ then there would be no inducement for the free. I would establish it as a permanent rec- ord on the statute-books of my country that the first sound of the cannon against the flag of our country was the signal of the emancipation of the slaves in this District. I think there would have been a poetic justice in it. Then I should have provided by some general pro- visions similar to the statute of Pennsylvania for the guardianship and apprenticeship of minor children, and also for the liberation of slaves who are now under the age of twenty- one, when they arrive at the age of twenty- eight, or some provision of that kind. I would have given no compensation, because, as the legislative power of this District, we have the right to make this system of gradual emancipa- tion without compensation. It was not granted by any of the States ; and I think whenever you have a precedent to follow, it is always safer and wiser to follow that precedent. If the Senator from Indiana could so modify his bill as to meet the condition of the times in this District. I would vote for it as an amend- ment. The bill introduced by him'is imperfect. I have read it with great care. It was written some fifteen years ago, and intended for a dif- ferent state of facts from what exist now. He will see, if he examines it carefully, that it would not do to pass his bill without modification. But whetlxer that proposition is adopted by the Sen- ate or not, I am willing to vote for any other measure which will emancipate the slaves in this District, and provide a reasonable and lim- ited compensation to the owners. The objections to gradual emancipation ought not to be overlooked, although they are not insuperable. One objection is, that it would continue the agitation of this question for a short time. It probably might induce efforts to repeal or modify the law before it took effect on all the slaves in the District. It would be difficult to guard against evasions of the law. The children now growing up, a few years hence might be smuggled out of the District, and it would be very difficult to follow them aud trace them, or enable them to assert their freedom. There would be no inducement in that case to the owners to educate them. There would be no legal guardians for their children. Their mothers being slaves, as a matter of course, they could not have legal guardians, unless you should make the masters their guardians ; and masters to educate them. These are practical objections against gradual emancipation ; but still, as I said before, if I were framing a bill, I would provide for gradual instead of imme- diate emancipation, and without compensation. VOTE OF PEOPLE IN THE DISTRICT. A proposition was made yesterday by the Senator from Virginia [Mr. Willey,] to sub- mit this matter to the people. I think it would have been unwise to have adopted that sugges- tion. The people in this District are now in a chrysalis state ; they are changing. You could not submit this question to the people without at once bringing up the question of suffrage. Who shall vote upon the proposition ? Shall those residents who have come here within the last six months, in view of the present difficul- ties, vote ? Mr. WILLEY. The amendment provided who should vote — all over twenty-one years of age, who had been residents of the city for one year. Mr. SHERMAN. That would have been clearly unjust. You limit the right of suffrage to the people who have been residing here one year. How many of them are there? How many of them are directly interested in the question on which they would be called to vote ? How many of them would be the owners of slaves, or the relatives of the owners of slaves ? You do not allow a man to sit upon a jury who is interested to the amount of one cent in the matter in controversy. You do not allow a man to sit as judge who has a relative a party in a suit. And yet nearly all those who have been here one year are either interested in slaves themselves or have relatives who are interested in slaves. Besides, if you submitted this question to the people, you would stir up strife and contention in this District. I think it would be far better for us to take the respon- sibility. The Constitution invests in Congress the exclusive power over this subject, aud, for one, I am not willing to transfer that responsi- bility to the people of the District, but would rather take it myself than submit it to the peo- ple, and thereby create contention and strife among them. CHOICE OF BILLS. I have read carefully all the bills on this subject, and I will state frankly to the Senator 6 from Maine [Mr. Morrill] one or two objec- ] tions that occurred to me in regard to his bill, that induced me to think that the bill framed by the Senator from New Hampshire [Mr. Clark] was the preferable one. The bill of the Sena- tor from Maine does not define loyalty, or did not when I read it some days ago. Perhaps he has modified it iu that particular. It did not sufficiently define loyalty, a word of such vari- ous meaning that I think it ought not to be adopted in a statute without a definition limit' ing and confining the meaning. Perhaps that has bees modified. Mr. MORRILL. You will find the terms used in the two bills are now equivalent. Mr. SHERMAN. Another objection to the bill is, that it establishes new courts. It pro- vides for commissioners, when the Court of Claims is the very tribunal, of all others, to try the question. I am willing to trust this matter to the Court of Claims, thus saving the creation of a new tribunal. I can see no reason for the appointment of commissioners, whom we do not know in advance, who are not ofBcers of the Government, but" who have to be made of- ficers of the Government, at a considerable ad- ditional expense. I, therefore, think it would be much wiser to leave this question of the as- sessment of compensation to the Court of Claims, a court already constituted for the investigation of this class of business. COLONIZATION. There is another objection to the bill of the Senator from Maine which I hope will be obvi- ated ; and that is, it does not provide for colo- nization. If it is our duty to emancipate these slaves, it is equally our duty to give the negroes of this District, and, indeed, of the whole coun- try, the right of choice whether they will live here in a land where they will always be held as a subordinate race, or try the experiment of freedom in another and a more favorable clime. I think it is a just and politic idea that if we, as a nation, owe these people freedom, we also are under a further obligation to allow them to develop their freedom, and their capacity to govern themselves, in a country where they will not be Inet at every step with caste and preju- dice, hate and contumely ; where they can ex- ercise no political rights ; where they cannot vote •, where they cannot serve as jurors ; where they cannot exercise any of the rights of free- men. When you give negroes freedom in this country you give them freedom Gripped of every- thing but the name. You make them freemen without the right to govern themselves. There- fore, sir, I hold that in this bill, and in every bill which looks to emancipation, there ought to be some provision which will enable any person affected by it to seek freedom elsewhere, where he may have all the benefits of free society of his own color, of his own. kind ; where he will not have to meet the prej udices of caste all the days of his life. Although the proposition of the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Doolittle] was voted down by a tie vote, I yet hope that he will see that that provision is ingrafted in the bill, and then I shall vote for it much more readily. THE position OF THE REPTTBLICAN PARTY AS TO SLAVERY IN STATES. Mr. President, I have now said all I designed to say on the subject of slavery in this District ; and if I were speaking alone to that bill I might here end my remarks. But the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Davis] sees in this bill a dis- position in Congress to interfere with slavery in the States. He thinks this is an entering wedge, , a part of a system of policy which will lead to interference by Congress with slavery in the States. That is his theory. He did not re- gard the bill in itself as of so much moment ; for I have already shown that it can operate upon comparatively few persons and cannot do any injury ; but he fears that it is part of the policy of the dominant party, now controlling all the organs of the Government, to violate their pledges and interfere with slavery in the •States. Let us see whether there is any ground for that fear. If the Republican party. has been distin- guished for anything at all, it has been for its moderation, almost its timidity. It has never assumed an affirmative policy on this question of slavery since its organization to this hour — never. It has always been defensive. It never affirmed a single proposition of a legislative character until this proposition to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia was brought forward, per- haps as a Republican measure, or will be voted for by the great body of Republicans. In the whole contest in regard to Kansas, It was simply defensive. In the Lecomptou contro- versy, and in all the controversies that have oc- curred iu regard to slaves and slavery since the organization of the Republican party, it has been purely and simply a defensive organiza- tion. I think tlie Senator will find great diffi- culty in framing the allegations for his indict- ment to show that this party ever proposed any offensive or aggressive measure in regard to slavery in the States. I have had the honor of holding a seat in Congress since the organization of the Repub- lican party, aiid I know from observation here that this party, as a political organization, has never proposed any aggresive measure. It has always been defensive. It has stood here, with the prejudices of the people of this District against it, with a powerful Defcocratic organi- zation against it, with a strong caste in the southern States against it, always on the de- fensive, endeavoring to prevent the extension of slavery, and to prevent the practical over- throw of a prohibition which had been framed by our fathers against the extension of slavery north and west of Missouri. I do not know any measure on which it has taken an aggressive position. Mr. DAVIS. Will the gentleman allow me to make a disclaimer? I did not intend to im- pute against the Republican party that line of policy. I only intended to make that imputa tion against the Abolition party. I trust that there is now a line of separation between the Republican party and the Abolition party. Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. President, I know it is easy to state distinctions of this kind ; but in my experience our opponents have generally denounced us under whatever name they chose to call us, and put us all in the same category. They do not draw very nice distinctions. As, for example, the Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. SuMXER,] as he has a perfect right to do, introduced a series of resolutions giving his idea about the effect of the war upon the polit- ical status of the States, and at once those res- olutions are seized upon as the dogmas of the Republican party, and we are denounced for them, although candid men must know that they are but the emanation of a single indi- vidual who has decided convictions on this subject, and who is far in advance of any polit- ical organization in this country. MEASURES OF CONCILIATION. Now, Mr. President, in the platform of the Republican party, at Chicage, we adopted a resolution which declared in the most emphatic language the rights of tha States. After Mr. Lincoln's election, it was manifest that we were in the face of a civil war ; the plot of these se- ceding traitors had begun to be developed. They had aided us in the election of Mr. Lin- coln. Such men as Keitt and that class of seceding conspirators in the southern States, for the purpose of exciting the prejudices of the southern people, misrepresented the Repub- lican party, making it a bugbear in the south- ern States, and then aided the Republican party in gaining a political victory. After having accomplished that purpose they sought to overthrow the Government because the Re- publican party had succeeded. All this was foreseen. It was the anxious desire of nearly every man in Congress at the last regular ses- sion to avoid this civil war. We in the north- ern States thought it was inevitable, because we knew that no concession which we would dare to yield to them would be satisfactory to this class of people ; that they intended to pre- cipitate this country into a civil war. We did all we could to prevent it. We yielded and yielded, until yielding was a humiliation and a shame. When I look over the Journals of the last Congress and see how far I went myself in this policy of conciliation, I am almost sur- prised. Yet, sir, no sooner was Mr. Lincoln elected than South Carolina commenced acts of hostility against the Government of the Uni- ted States. The first matter of complaint against the people of the northern States was that they had passed personal liberty bills. In order to set them at rest on that point, a pre- amble and resolution were introduced into the House on the lYth of December, 18G0, which I will read : " WUcreas tho CousUtution of the United States is the su- preme law of the land, and its ready and faithful observance tho duty of ail good and law-abiding citizens : Therefore, "Kesolued, That wu deprecate the spirit of disobedience to that Constitution wherever manifested, and that we earnestly recommend tho repeal of all statutes, including personal liberty bills, so-called, enacted by State Legislatures, con- flicting with, and in violation of that sacred mstrumeut, and tho laws of Congress made in pursuance thereof." This resolution, calling upon all the States to repeal their personal liberty bills, was passed by a unanimous vote ; and the States, acting in the same spirit, did proceed to reconsider them, and, in some cases, repeal them, although they were shown to be totally ineffective ; and for ten years they had never caused the escape of a single fugitive slave. Then, when that was done, they complained that Congress would interfere with slavery in 8 the States. We had placed it in our platform 1 that such was not our purpose. We had told them iu all our speeches that such was not our purpose. Still they pretended not to believe us. The conspirators did believe us; but they wanted to agitate their people. In order to put an end to that complaint, a resolution was introduced into the other House of Congress by me, as follows : " Resolved, That noitlier Congress nor tho people or gov- ernmeuts of the uou-slaveholding States have the right to legislate upon or interfere with slavery in any of tho slave- holding States in the Union." That resolution was adopted by a unanimous vote, and these men knew it^ A committee was appointed to see if further measures of conciliation could. not be adopted in order to avert civil war, and Mr. .Corwin, a distinguished citizen of my own State, reported various propositions. All the Territories of the United States were organized on laws passed by Congress, which, I believe, received the.unan- imous vote of both Houses. These laws were framed by Mr. Green, of Missouri, and by Mr. Grow, one a Democrat and the other a Repub- lican, and were passed by the unanimous vote of both Houses ; and therefore that question •was- out of the way. Then it was said that although Congress now disclaimed its purpose to interfere with slavery? yet at some time in the dim future, when the number of free States should become very large. Congress would then interfere. We knew that was an idle fear, expressed for the purpose of agitating the southern mind ; but to appease it, both Houses of Congress, after several States had seceded, passed an amendment to the Con- stitution, declaring that the Constitution never should be so altered as to allow Congress or any non-slaveholding State to interfere with slavery in the slave States. After Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated — after he had proclaimed the same doctrine iu words familiar to the Senate — after he had made every pledge and promise — after this party, then assuming for the first time the functions of the Government, had made every pledge and pro- mise, these conspirators commenced a civil war. Even then the Republican party evinced every disposition to conciliate. Even then the Administration did what I never approved — negotiated with South Carolina for leave to feed our soldiers in Fort Sumter. They even submitted to that humiliation. So anxious were the northern people and the Republicans of this country to avoid a civil war, that I be- lieve they would have done anything iu reason to convince their southern brethren that it was not their purpose to oppress them or injure them in the slightest degree. That was the feeling in the House ; I know it was my own. It was the feeling of the people of my State, The anti-slavery sentiment of this country would have been satisfied by the defensive vic- tory of the Republican party, for that is all it was, and this country would have made rapid advances to prosperity, unparalleled in ancient or in modern times. But the conspira,tors, who, losing the fruits of office, sought to drag their country into civil war, would not let it be so, and the loyal people of the country were com- pelled to appeal to God and the arms that God gave them. THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR BY REPUBLICAN PARTY. Not only did we do everything to avoid this trouble, but even after it came upon us the lib- erality of the Republican party has been mani- fested on this subject of slavery. When a res'©- lution was introduced at the last session of Congress, by Mr. Crittenden, declaring the purposes of the war, that it was not the purpose to interfere with slavery, that resolution was voted for by all. Every one voted for it ; and this v/as after our brothers' blood had been shed, and after the heat of the contest had com- menced. Not only that ; all our'generals, Hal- leek, Buell, Sherman, McClellan — all the gene- rals who were at the head of departments and divisions — proclaimed t&e same doctrine wher- ever they went. The flag of our country never entered into a slave State unless it was pro- claimed by the general commanding, by the political authorities, and by the President, that it was not the purpose to interfere with slavery in the States. Not only that ; but we have now the testimony of a remarkable document, which I will ask the Secretary to read, in which the conspirators confess that they led their people to war and revolution by false pretences, in which they stamp themselves with the stain of dishonor. I refer to the communication of Yancey, Rost, and others, to Earl Russell, dated the 14th of August, 1861. , The Secretary read, as follows : " It was from no fear that tho slaves would be liberated that secession took place. The very party in power has 9 proposed to guaranty slavery forever in the States if the South would but rcmiiin iu tUo Union. Mr. Lincoln's mes- sage proposes no Ir^iCilnm to the slave, but auuonnces sub- jectiou of his owner to the will of the Union ; iu other words, to the will of the North. Even after the battle of Bull Run, both branches of the Congress at Washington passed rcso- hltions that the war is only waged in order to uphold that [pro-.«iaveryl Constitution, and to ouforeo the laws, [many of tbi.-m pro-slavory,] and out of one hundred and seventy- two votes in t he lower House they received all but two, and in the Senate all but one vote. As the Army com- menced its march, the commanding general issued an order that no slaves should be received into or allowed to follow the camp. The great object of the war, therefore, as now ofiBcially announced, is not to free the slave, but to keep him in subjection to his owner, and to control his labor through the legislative channels which th« Lincoln Govern- ment designs to force upon the master. The undersigned, therefore, submit with confldencc that, as £;ir as the anti- slavery sentimoDt of England is concerned, it can have no sympa'thy with the North ; nay, it will probably become disgusted witha canting hypocrisy which would oalist those sympathies on false xiretoucos." ENFORCEMENT OF OBNOXIOUS LAW3. Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. President, as a fur- ther evidence, and a very peculiar evidence, to show that on this subject of slavery the Repub- lican party has not forgot its promise to respect and obey the laws, I will refer to a case iu my own State. The president of one of the col- leges of our State, a man of learning and char- acter, is now held in the jail in the city of Cleveland, convicted — convicted under your fu- gitive-slave law, in the Western Reserve — con- victed at Cleveland — of aiding a fugitive to escape. That conviction was rendered long after this war commenced ; and a judge sitting in Cleveland sentenced him to six months' im- prisonment and to a fine of $300. This edu- cated clergyman is now suffering the penalty of hia conviction in the jail of the city of Cleve- land. So careful have been the people of Ohio to respect the laws in favor of slavery, that they have done what at least appears to be, if it is not, gross injustice. The Rev. George Gordon is now there, and has suffered four months in that jail ; and although hundreds and thousands of people have petitioned for his pardon, al- though the general sense of the community in which he lives was against the conviction, al- though he took no part in the crime, but simply stood by and did not raise his hand to prevent it, yet so careful have been the Administration to protect the rights of the South, and the duties and the obligations of the free States to the slave States, that that clergyman, the head of a college, a man of high character, now suffers as a felon in your jail. If ever a free people in the world gave an evidence of their obedi- ence to law, and if ever an Administration showed its regard for law in enforcing it in a hard case, this has. I cannot but think, and I do not utter it in any complaining spirit, that when clemency his been dealt out so liberally to men who have taken up arms against the Government, when open traitors have been treated with marked distinction, that this person, who committed his offence from his excess of conscience, ought to be pardoned. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. We have shown our forbearance on all these questions to our open enemies. We have treated the prisoners captured in this war with the most marked distinction. An extraordinary and un- justifiable case has occurred in Ohio, which now excites a great deal of feeling there, and which illustrates the mode and manner in which prisoners are treated. It seems that some thir- teen or fourteen hundred of the Fort Donelson prisoners were sent to Columbus, Ohio, under the authority of the United States, and put in charge at Camp Chase. In order to illustrate the strange liberality of our Government in dealing with slaves and slavery, I desire to have a portion of the report made to the Senate of the State of Ohio on the subject read. It is a remarkable document. The Secretary read as follows : *' Subseijuently your committee visited Camp Chase, and by the worthy commandant of the post. Colonel Granville Moody, were shown through the three prisons, and kindly allowed all the liberties necessary to further the object of their visit. " Tour committee found some thirteen hundred persons conflned in the three prisons, mostly from Tennessee, Ken- tuck.y, Missouri, and Mississippi. Their quarters were in all ret^pects as good, and in soine a little better, than those of the soldiers outside, and your committee were assured that the rations distributed were the same iu quantity and quality as those given to our own men. No complaint was made as to any of these thiugs, but there was a general ex- pression of satisfaction therewith. " Your committee fouud seventy -four negroes in the pris- ons, mostly taken at Fort Donelson. Of these, from what they could learn, a few ware free when taken, having been hired by olhcers as cooks and servants. The remainder, perhaps fifty in number, were slaves in attendance upon ilK'ir masters, and while so employed, were taken along with their masters. None of them were in arms ; all of them having been ret^iined for menial service merely. Since their capture they have traveled with their masters, attending and serving them as before. On their arrival at Columbus they took charge of and carried the baggage of their former masters from the depot to Camp Chase, the men, having no servants, being compelled to carry tboir own, as our sol- diers do on similar occasions. Arrived at the camp, tho privates were, as far as possible, separated from the officers, and for obvious reasons placed in dill'erent prisons ; but the negroes were placed in the same prisons with the officers, who were their former masters. Why ? unless that they might continue to attend and serve their former masters ; and they have ever since done so — cooking, washing, wait^ ing upon and servihg them just as before their capture — the relation of master and slave being as rigorously maintained by the master, and as fully recognised by the negroes and the other inmates of the prison, as it ever was in the State of Tennessee. " But why were these slaves taken at all? They were not, aud had not been iu arras against the Government.— their presence at Fort Donelson was not even voluntary. Why are they retained in prison? They have done no wrong — they deserve no punishment. Is it to furnish rebel officers with servants? And was it for this, they were 10 transnorteJ at the expense of the Government and are now subsisted at her cost? Is our constitutional provision tlius to be made a nullity, and slavery practically established in Ohio? And this under the protection and at the expense ol' the Federal Government. " As to the rebel officers released on parole, your com- mittee could not g(-tmuch definite information, other than that, with few exceptions, these paroles were granted by or- der of General Halloclc. That the clemency so shown was mistaken, thd following facts as to the conduct of these offi- cers while at Columbus will show. They came wearing their side-arms ; stopped at the princii^al hotels, registered their names as " Col.," " Maj.," or " Capt. ," with the significant letters " C. S. A." added ; appearing from day to day in rebel uniforms [some of them gaudy — all of them noticea- ble] in the offices and parlors and at the public taibles of these hotels, and in the streets and drives of the city ; fre- quenting the theatre and other places of public amusement, and visiting tlio Senate and House chambers, where, with marked consideration, they have been invited to privileged seats within the bar ; at all these places, and on all these occasions, giving expression to sentiments of continued ad- herence to the rebel cause, and of bitter hostility to the Government and the people of the United States.'-' ^: it ■*■ * * li * " But who is to blame ? Your committee is satisfied that Colonel Moody has done his whole duty in the premises. They are equally satisfied that the Governor has endeavor- ed to discharge his duties honestly, faithfully, and impar- tially. His position has been one of great delicacy ; his control over the camp and prisons being by courtesy of the Federal authorities, and not by any right as Governor of Ohio. He has probably done all he well could in the prem- ises. The responsibility, then, rests with the Federal au- thorities, and our only remedy is by protest to the Presi- dent." Mr. SHERM A.N. Sir, that report shows that the fears of my friend from Kentucky of this Administration, or of the Republican party, under their present leadership, are groundless, when even in Ohio, where our laws and our Constitution forbid slaves and slavery, where the public sentiment of our people is all against slavery, where there is not one in ten thousand who believes that any man ought to be intrusted with the ownership of another man ; that there, under the authority of the Federal Government, slaves are held to wait on rebel officers taken in arms against the Government, and are fed and have been transported at the expense of the Government. If that does not evince liber- ality, I do not know what will. Why, sir, con- trast the conduct of our Government in this war with the barbarity shown by the rebels. Think of the scenes that have occurred in this war — of skulls taken as drinking cups — carry- ing us back to the barbaric ages. Think of the burning of the beautiful village of Guyandotte and the murder of its citizens, women as well as men. Think of the injuries done in the State of Kentucky by the hordes that have overrun that State under Hindman and Buckner and others, burning and ravaging. Sir, contrast the conduct of these rebel authorities seeking to overthrow our Government, with the conduct of this Government stretching forth its hand with mighty power, and yet as gently and as mildly as any Government ever conducted war> always with marked respect to the peculiar in- stitutions of every community in which its army marches, everywhere respecting the local law, and even carrying the local law into other States. I tell my friend from Kentucky that as long as this Administration is in power he need not fear any injury to his State or its institutions. If any have a right to complain — and I think they have — it is the people of the free States, whose sentiments are outraged by such a case as that in Columbus, a transaction that will not be tolerated if it can be avoided ; although we will not secede, even if rebel masters of Ten- nessee should still hold the slaves of Tennessee to serve rebel masters in Ohio. LIBERALITY TO POLITICAL ADVERSARIES. Not only that, sir ; this Republican part/, which is the bugbear of all the southern peo- ple, is the most liberal of all to political adver- saries. Who is at the head of your Army, dis- pensing patronage with a lordly hand and a lavish profusion ? A Democrat, appointed by a Republican administration. Who receive that patronage ? Who hold the high offices in your Government ? Who fill the offices in your various Departments here? The majority of them Democrats, men who hissed Republicans here over and over again in the other House. Was there ever such forbearance ? What Re- publicans dispense your patronage ? Certainly _ not the young, active, zealous spirits of the party, who in the heat and turmoil of political strife won a victory. These men stand aside lest their names might frighten timid conservative Union men of the border States, while the mid- dle men, who watch the varying chances of the contest, new converts, old politicians or patri- otic Democrats, fill the offices and dispense the patronage. Why, sir, so anxious was the Repub- lican party to conciliate the conservative senti- ment of the northern States and the Union sen- timent of the southern States, that we chose as standard-bearer a gentleman who had but little experience in public life, who had given no cause of prejudice, who was himself a Ken- tuckian by birth, who was but two years in Congress, who had no record against slavery ; and he, following the same policy, has revived many gentlemen of the past generation, and placed them in power around him. We do not complain of that. I simply introduce it to show that there never was a party more magnani- 11 mous, more liberal, and more generous to everybody but its own personal and partisan friends. BEORGiNlZATION OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY. What did tliis party ^et Tor all this ? I no- ticed in the papers the other day a remarkable thing. It v/aa this : " A Democratic conference was hold lastnight, continuing In session until a late hour. The call was sigi'cil hy all, ex- ooptiug four or five, of the members of Congress who were ciected as Democrats." I also notice in the papers, much to iny re- gret, that " A paper has been circulate.l, and signed by nearly all the Democratic monihers of Congress, and by Senator Car- LiLE, having in view the rallying of the Dvniooratic party, and a convention in this city at an early day, to give direc- tion to its future movements." In the meeting I have just mentioned, " Reprcsent-itive Corning presided, and Representatives I'BNTJLSTO.v and Shiel acted as secretaries." Resolutions were introduced by my colleague in the other House, Mr. Vallandigham Mr. CARLILE. If my friend will allow me, so far as I had any connection with that meet- ing, I am ready to explain it. I signed a paper here at my desk, handed to me by some one, without looking at it further than to see that its object was for some gentlemen to meet at the roooi of a member of Congress at a hotel in this city for the purpose of conference ; I went there. No action looking to a party organiza- tion as a party was had, so far as my knowl- edge extends. There was a free interchange of opinions among gentlemen who were there ; and I was glad to see, so far as I could ascer- tain, a determination to support the Adminis- tration in all proper efforts to suppress this re- bellion, maintain the Constitution, and restore the Union. If there was anything concluded upon, I think that was the conclusion at which that conference arrived. Resolutions, I believe, had been prepared — or, when I went in I under- stood they were in course of preparation — but I know of no resolution having been adopted and sent forth by that meeting to the country. I do not think it is justly chargeable with being an effort to organize a party movement in op- position to the constitutional efforts now being made to restore the Union. Mr. LATHAM. Will the Senator allow me to say a word ? Mr. SHERMAN. Certainly. Mr. LATHAM. I was called upon, and I believe both my colleague and myself signed the call referred to by the honorable Senator from Ohio, but so little impression did it make on either of us as to its being a party organi- zation, that, I believe, neither of us attended. I CBrtainly did not ; and I believe he did not either. Mr. SHERMAN. As a matter of course I have only the public prints for what I say. I find in a Philadelphia paper that resolutions were introduced by Mr. Vallandigham from a committee of which he was chairman, declar- ing in substance " that the restoration of the Union and maintenance of the Constitution re- quire that the organization and principles of the Democratic party of the United States should be fully and faithfully adhered to, and inviting all citizens, without distinctions of sec- tions or party, to co-operate with the Democ- racy in supporting the Constitution and restor- ing the old Union." Now, sir, I have no right to complain of the reorganization of the Democratic party, or any- thing thatjbelongs to it. It is very well known that I never belonged to the Democratic party, and have no sympathy with it. Although some of its members are my personal friends, yet I have no faith in it. All the disunionists of the country were opposed to the Republican party. The great body of the men who are now fight- ing against the Government were Democrats. I do not know that a single member of the Republican party — the organization to which I am proud to belong — ever took up arms against his Government, or ever threatened to take np arms against his Government. I have shown you, sir, by facts that no man can controvert, that there never was a party more liberal and generous to open enemies and manly foes, or to political adversaries. Indeed we have surren- dered them everything ; we have given them otlices, honor, power, patronage, in a self sacri- ficing spirit without example. I do not care how soon they reorganize the old Democratic party. But does it not show to us. Republican Senators, that it is necessary that we should have a party organization ; that instead of wan- dering some here, some there, some every- where, we should say what we will stand upon, and what we ought to do on the various ques- tions growing out of the prosecution of this war? REPUBLICANS MUST HAVE A DEFINITE POLICY. I say, then, Mr. President, that it Is impor- tant that the party controlling the action of this 12 Government should have a definite policy. We cannot avoid the responsibility, and we ought not to do ao if we could. We are in the major- ity in this body. We are in the majority in the other House. We have a Republican Ad- ministration. If we do not show to the people oi the United States that we have a defiuite policy, and have manhood to stand by it, and intelligence enough to administer it, we ought to be overthrown. I would not weep over the grave of a party that will not stand by its friends and by its principles. I would not be- long to a party that has not the manhood to proclaim all that it intends to do, all that it aeeks to accomplish, and to use its power to accomplish that purpose. Parties can only be justified when they are used as instruments to accomplish some great purpose ; and unless we use ours to accomplish some noble and great purpose, the Republican party will melt away like a storm of snow on a bright April day. We ought to adopt a policy, and adhere to it. Let me state some few simple propositions that we ought to adopt, and then I shall not trespass further on the Senate. We ought nov/ to abolish slavery in this Dis- trict. We have the right, and it is our duty to do it ; aud if we had wasted less time in doing it, it would probably be just as well. We ought, then, religiously to adhere to the promises we made to the people of this country when Mr. Lincoln was elected President. We ought re- ligiously to abstain from all interference with the domestic institutions of the slave or the free States. We ought to stand by the Consti- tution as it is, by the Union as it is. Whether rebels are in arms or not, our duty is to stand by our pledges, to stand by our manhood ; and I, for one, will do it. No temptation shall swerve me from that straight and narrow path. Our recorded promise is not only a bond of po- litical faith, but it is the word of honor, binding on us as honorable men to each other and to our country. We must not be driven to inter- fere with the relation of master and slave, or with any other local institution of any State, one step further than the Constitution gives us the just authority and power to do. EMANCIPATION BY STATES AIDED BY UNITED STATES. But it is said that the resolution of the Presi- dent now before us looks to an interference with slavery in the States. I do not so construe it. It does not assert the power or advise us to in- terfere with slavery in the States. On the con- trary, it by necessary implication, as strong as express denial, denies the power. The language is that the United States ought to cooperate with any State which may adopt gradual abolish- ment of slavery. If the State of Maryland should, in its wisdom, see fit to commence a system of gradual emancipation of slaves, would they not have the right to call upon us for aid and assistance ? We here announce before- hand that we will give them pecuniary aid, but not until they call for it. It is right that we should announce that doctrine. It is right that they should inaugurate that system ; and I be- lieve that in the providence of Almighty God the system will be inaugurated more rapidly even than we now hope for. If I were a citizen of the State of Maryland, or any of the border States, with my present convictions, I would raise the banner of emancipation full high ex- tended, and never lower it until there was not a slave in the State. But as a citizen of the State of Ohio, as a member of the Senate of the United States, I have no power over this sub- ject; aud I will not be dragged or induced to interfere with that relation until the States themselves, by their own voluntary action, abolish slavery, or propose to abolish it, and call upon us for aid. Why should we not give them aid ? By giv- ing them aid we accomplish great purposes. If by aiding these border States to remove sla- very, we get rid of it, we banish from the Halls of Congress a disturbing element which in some form or other will permeate this body and every political organization in this country. It is for the peace and quiet and comfort of our people we should aid any State desiring to emancipate their slaves. Besides, the policy of emancipation would tend to develop the resources of the States in a wonderful degree. Sir, I visited, the other day, the Chesapeake bay, James river, and York river. It surprises me beyond expression that that magnificent region, with resources unrivalled in this country, is not now peopled by a million of men. When I look upon those deep bays, those fertile fields, requiring only energetic labor to develop them, when I see those marts of commerce in the very centre of our Atlantic coast, I wonder in amazement that a million of men are not now crowded 13 there, delvlug and striking and working with honest toil for an honest reward. I never was impressed with it until I saw it. I could not comprehend how Virginia had lost all the na tural advantages that her position, her climate, her beautiful coasts, her beautiful rivers and bays, gave her. But, sir, there is no other cause except that labor, upon which all civili- zation depends — labor, upon which everything depends, which has built up New York, New England, p.nd the West, is there degraded by the presence of slaves, so that the master must live on the labor of the slaves, and the slaves must work for the master without hope of reward. Why, sir, as my friend from Maine [Mr. Fes- sknden] said vei"y eloquently yesterday, if the State of Virginia could be relieved from this burden she would grow like a giant. Sixty years ago Ohio was a wilderness ; now she has two and a half millions of people. I believe that if Virginia was a free State now, in thirty years from this time she would ^contain three or four millions of people. Therefore, I say that, if I were a citizen of a border State, I would at once raise the banner of gradual eman- cipation ; I would be just to the owner of slaves and treat him fairly. I would then call on the General Government for aid ; and for one, if I should happen to be a member of this body, or of any politieal body in this Government, I will give that aid cordially and freely. But it is said that Congress by giving this aid would imerfere with slavery. The resolu- tion of the President does not say that Congress shall render this aid, but that the United States ought to co-operate. It does not say Congress, nor the Senate, nor the President. It may be necessary to call upon the States ; and I think I can say in advance that if Kentucky should free her slaves, Ohio would gladly respond to anything that Kentucky would ask. She would gladly pay the debt she owes from the war of 1812 by any aid that Kentucky might ask of her. Whether Congress has the power or not ia a question that I do not now discuss, beeause it is not yet matured ; but that the United States 86 a Government, this aggregate of States, this great Government, ought to aid in the gradual abolition of slavery in the States when the States themselves call for it, I have not a parti- cle of doubt. But, sir, there is another reason why this Government ought to aid the border States, whenever they desire it, in emancipating slaves. It is a reason that stands higher than any other merely pecuniary reason. It is one which ia implanted in the minds of the civilized world. Slavery is wrong. That is a reason that stands back of all others ; one which would induce me as a member of a Christian civilized commu- nity to extend the aid when it is asked, not be- fore ; because I have no power to do it before. Slavery is wrong. That is the moral conviction of our people. It is the moral conviction of the civilized world. England, France, and all the countries whose commercial sympathies are with the South, dislike to aid the South because they would thereby aid slavery. Wherever you find that sentiment pervading all classes of so- ciety, there must be some foundation for it. There is no class of people in the world who defend slavery except the southern slaveholders. I heard my friend from Kentucky the other day speak of slavery. His very speech would convince me that what he was speaking of was the exception and not the rule. He spoke of his own kindness to the slaves, of the relations that existed between him and his slaves — a pa- triarchal and kindly relation. That would not be interfered with in the slightest degree, if these slaves had the right to their own persons, to their own families, and their own children Slavery in Kentucky to my certain knowledge is in the mildest form in which it can exist in any community ; but still there is that legal right of the master to sell the slave, to tear asunder the domestic relations, to banish for- ever the husband from the wife, the parent from the child, the child from the mother. There is the absolute subjection of the slave to the will of the master. These things are not justified by the moral sentiment of the civilized world. They are not justified by the sentiment of any of the people of the northern States. I do not think they are justified by the sentiment of all the people of the southern States. But however that may be, I stand here upon my recorded promise, upon my recorded oath. Whatever I may think of this institution, I am bound in honor, by every obligation which can rest upon a man, not to interfere with it in the slightest degree in the States, but .leave it to the action of the States unless they themselves call for our aid, and then that aid shall be freely given, to the extent of my ability. /p. LB Ag '\2 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 899 246 5 011 899 246 Conservation Resources Lig-Free® Type I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 899 246 5