EMANCIPATION.

Press, Volume IV, Issue 489, 24 May 1864, Page 3

EMANCIPATION.

The following letter from the correspondent of the Times, •written from New-York, on January 15th, describes the effect which thc'proclamation ofeman-< eipation and the Abolitionist policy in general has hitherto had upon the negroes,— "While gold is rising in price to pay for the luxuries which Americans cannot produce, and which they are largely importing from Europe, while the active operations of war languish, or appear to languish, to be unexpectedly resumed in all probability at no distant day by a combined onslaught of Generals Lee and Longstreet upon the position of General Grant in Tcnncssco, the war of faction gathers sttength in preparation for th* Presidential election of November next. The forces of the Democratic party are to assemble at Chicago on the 4th of July to build their " platform," and to nominate their candidate. Where the Republicans are to assemble is not yet determined. Mr. Lincoln's friends will support him because he issued the proclamation of emancipation ; and General M'Clellan'e friends, and those of any other candidate that the Democrats may think it more desirable to bring forward, will support their nominee' Because of hie opposition to the Abolitionist policy". It is solely with a view to electioneering that at this moment the fervid orators of abolition, black and white, lay anrl clerical, malo and female, are more than unusually loud in the assertion that there is no hope of peace, no safety for the Republic, no chance even of the union of any considerable number of States, except in the vigorous prosecution of Negro emancipation. Not only mu3t the slaves of " rebels " be set free by the sword, but the slaves of " loyal" men must be liberated by the purse of the Federal Government. If there really is to be, what some ardent Republicans deny and some prudent ones doubt, another Presidential election by the old method of the ballet-box, the struggle between the Democrats and Republicans will be fought at the polls to this issue. Pending the preparations for the conflict, it h well to consider what progress the emancipation proclamation has already made, and what effect it hay had upon the white rate and what upon the black, in or.lcr that impartial Europe so deeply interested in the result, as well as the Americans themselves, may know whether Mr. Lincoln and the theorists and idealogues who have his mind and conduct in their keeping, are statesmen and philanthropists, or fools and dreamers who would deliberately ruin a great nation for the sake of an abstraction, and consign the darkekinned objects of their solicitude to the chances of gradual decay and demoralization, if not to violent extermination, rather than suffer them to live in a etato of involuntary servitude. It is but a few days more

than a twelvemonth since tho proclamation was issued, and ample timo and opportunity have been afforded to study the results', botli physical and moral, of an net that Mr Wendell Phillips, Mr Sutnner, Mr Victor Hugo, and a few English abolitionists, consider only second in grandeur nnd sublimity to the birth of Christ; but which tho whole people of tho Northern States, doom to bo an act of cruelty to tlie black, as well as of suicidal folly to the white race.

Considering its political effect upon the white people of the Federal nnd the Confederate States, it will scarcely be denied that it has divided the North and exasperated the South. It has drawn a broad line of demarcation botween Northern parties and embittered the strife by the introduction of a principle of social and political equality between white men and black, for the reception of which white men are not prepared, and which tho majority in the North will resist both actively and passively, and on any and every occasion.. It is equally clear that it has had all tho effect upon the Southern mind of an attempt to stir up a sorvile insurrection, and that so as it continues to be avowed and acted upon tho South can neither offer terms of peace nor accept them.

But extreme philanthropists, who believe that all great humanitarian measures must work some degree of evil and suffering, -who assert that the blessing in this case very far transcends tho bale, and that the white race will become reconciled to the fact of emancipation and its consopuencos as soon as it becomes persuaded by the lapso of time and the force of cirenmstanecs that tho fact is irrevocable, mutt excuse the practical millions if these latter ask what effect the measure has had upon the people which it was more particularly intended to benefit? The question cannot yet be thoroughly answered, but very considerable light has already been and will for the future be thrown upon it. In the first place, the proclamation was addressed to nearly four millions of slaves in the South, and according to tho census of 1860 to 429,401 slaves in the border States of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, inclusive of such as belonged to "loyal" owners. As in the last mentioned States, the slaves of Unionists were almost as numerous as the slaves of sympathisers with the Confederacy, it may be estimated in round numbers that 4,200,000 of'tho black race were invited by Mr. Lincoln to seek tho protection of the Federal armies, and thus sccuro thoir freedom, if not their subsistence. It is not pretended by any Abolitionist, however enthusiastic, that as many as a million of negroes of both sexes and all ages have avtJiled themselves jof the opportunity. Neither is it to bo believed that as many even as half a million have done so. Taking the lower estimate as nearly correct, there remain at least 3,700,000 negroes in the South to whom the proclamation has been a dead letter, and who, perhaps, have never even so much as heard of it. On inquiring what has become of the half million who have thus escaped from slavery into freedom it is fourd that a large nnmber— Mr. Lincoln in his message says 100,000 —havo procured employment, either s< teamsters, waggoners, and servants, in the Feder.il armies, or as soldiers regularly drilled and cquippod, but com manded by white officers j that another aggregation of possibly 100,000 and upwards, inclusive of women and cliildren, have been colonized at Fortress Monroe, or set to work on abandoned plantations on the banks of the Mississippi and elsewhere, under Federal military supervision; that large numbers havo congregated in the Federal capital ; and that the remainder, with their wives and families have spread themselves over the North and West in search of agricultural and other employment.

Dividing them into these four classes, let u> see what freedom has done for them. Aβ teamsters and soldiers they receive a somewhat lower rate of pay than their white competitors, but in other respects 4he Government does what it can to make their condition comfortable But the negroes by no moans make good soldiers. The fact is openly admitted by nil who have come into contact with them. So much doubt, luuige over their bravery, and their power to restrain either their rage or their fear, when excited by the perils of battle, that they are systematically placed in positions of the greatest danger, in order to test alike their discipline and their valour. It is considered desirable to "make the experiment on "the vile body," and to trust the negroes under hotter fire than it would bo thought humane or Christian to drive a white regiment into—all for the sake of ascertaining the military value of what was once thought mere refuse And the white soldiers, so far from looking upon these desperate adventures, as acts of barbarity, applaud them, with as littlo sympathy for the sufferings of the negroes as the monkey felt for the anguish of the cat when he thrust her paws within the burning ban of the grate to get out the chesmit for the use of the superior animal.' In default of white volunteers for the work of Southern extermination the aid of the black is thankfully accepted, If 50,000 black men could be enrolled for the war in tho State of New York they would diminish the liability of white men ia a conscription to the samo amount; and would be received with satisfaction both by Democrats and by Republicans, though for different reasons. It should, how- ' ever, be remembered, in estimating the real value of negro armies, that no one has yet presumed to advocate that they should be commanded by negro gene* rals, or led even by negro lieutenants and captains. Hitherto all the officers appointed over them have been white men, and often white men of the lowest and most brutal character. As a specimen of the class, Colonel Montgomery, famous for his wanton destruction of towns and villages in Florida and South Carolina, will serves as well, or better, than any other. Thia person addressed his negro troops a few days ago - on the enormity of the offence of which they had dared to be guilty, in demanding the same amount of pay as white men. " Scoundrels!" he said, " you have been deluded by the noisy Abolitionists. Youought to be glad to pay for the privilege of fighting, instead of squabbling about money. Tou are a race of slaves. A few years ago your fathers worshipped snakes and crocodiles in Africa. Your features par* tnke of a beastly character. Your religious exercises in this camp are a mixture of barbarism and Christianity. Your features cannot be improved. Your yellow fttces are evidenceof rascality. You should get rid of this bad blood. My ndvice to you—the ligheat of you most marry the blackest woman," and so on. It is possible that negro soldiers may not object to being addressed in this ruffianly style ; but it is evident that they do object to receiving less pay than Irishmen and Germans, and very doubtful, if this cause of dissatisfaction be not removed, whether the existing black armies of the Federal Government wiil not very speedily be diminished by other chances than those of the hospital and the battle field.

The condition of the second-class—that of colonized negroes —and of freedmen or fugitives set to work by the lessees of the Federal Government on the abandoned sugar and cotton plantations on the Mississippi is even more important in its bearings on the future history of the American negro. The numbers of this class are not exactly known; but they are great enough to havo compelled Mr. Lincoln, in a special Message to Congress, to confess his inability to deal with so difficult a problem as their subsistence. Upon one part of the subject some painful disclosures hare just been made by a witness whoso animus no Abolitionist can complain of, and whose opportunities and capacity for forming a correct judgment are not to be denied, Mr Yeatman, President of the Western Sanitary Commission, charged with the duty of reporting to the Federal Government on the condition of the freed Africans who have escaped from Southern slavery and been I employed to cultivate for Northern account the abandoned plantations between Cairo and Natehex, states that there are about 25,000 of these unfortunates in his district. He visited 21 farms, plantations, and camps, in which the negroes were either employed by Northern taskmasters, who had leased the estates from the Federal Government, or were huddjed for such protection and support as the Fedc+al authorities could afford them. Mr. Teatrutin's report is uniformly unfavourable. Within the city of Memphis the white employers of their labour

mmmm «iii§i wmmm to" Mr. Yeatman relates many facts in corrobo'ration, all of the same character, and at all of the ™.a^ Stely ceU and & is turned adrift to starve w£ch was not the case when he was m a state of SJery. He furthermore proves by a variety of mthat the truck system in its most odious form hTbeen introduced, and that the free black labourer is forced to buy from his white employer every article he requires at exorbitant prices, winch are deducted from his wages-shoes worth a dollar a pat at-two dollareand a-half; calico, worth 24Ta' yard, at 75c; and other articles in the Uke prWrtion. At a place called Youngs Bend E?Yeatmnn saw an encampment of coloured rdVTchar^^^^ E he ever before 'witnessed, The sickness and deaths among them were most frightful. During the Bummer from 30 to 40 died in a day, and as many as 75 on an average daily during the latter ludfof Aucust. At Natchez another camp of about 2,000 people was in the eamc condition; and hundreds ot freedmen had escaped from it to return to their former masters. The camp originally contained 4,000 persons but had been reduced by deaths and voluntary withdrawal to the smaller number; death, however, and not desertion being the prime agent of diminution, as mi»ht be seen by the graves stretched along the river for miles between Millikon's Bend and De Soto. In conclusion, Mr. Yeatman states as the re•ult of his experience, that the negroes who cannot obtain work are dying oif, and that those who do obtain it are in a state of involuntary servitude (i.e., elaTery) far worse than that from which they laive escaped. This is a deplorable picture. But perhaps one equally hideous is to be exhibited in the condition of the fugitives and freedmen who, with their wives and femiUes, have the national capital to ask tlie aid of that paternal Government which loved them ao much as to emancipate them from bondage, and from which they expect not only a barren blessing, but bread. There is no employment for a tithe of them in Washington, and -they are huddled together like vermin in camps and hospitals beyond the boundaries of the city,—men, women, and children indiscriminately, where they are fed at the expense of the Government, Smallpox has broken out among them, and in so virulent a form that they die off at the rate of hundreds in a day. It is no uncommon thing to see the poor creatures lying in the snow in the public streets in the last agonies of death, and still more common to see them wandering about with the unhealed and still purulent marks of the disease visible all over their hands and faces. So prevalent is the disease that the life of the President himself was nearly sacrificed a month ago, and within the last week one member of the Senate and one member of the House of Representatives have fallen victims to it. In consequence of the dread of contagion the, New Year's reception at the White House was more than usually scanty, such persons as were compelled to pay their respects to the President hurrying through the rooms and out into the open air as fast as possible, and without even exchanging the compliments customary on the occasion. Some timid persons sacrificed their courtesy to their fear, and shook hands with Mr. Lincoln without taking off their gloves; while others, instead of the usually boisterous salutation of American good-will were content with holding out the tip of the forefinger for a hurried touch, and an equally hurried *' Happy new year to you, Mr. President!" Nobody will go to Washington who can stop away, and those whom business or duty calls within its infected precincts take care to be vaccinated before they go. It is calculated that there are to-day at least ten thousand cases of small-pox in the city and neighbourhood, all among or derived from the negroes, and great fears are entertained that the disease will spread to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. The Government knows not what to do. The emancipation proclamation has brought the black swarm to Washington, and Mr. Lincoln cannot be guilty of the inhumanity of refusing them admittance, and food, if they cannot find work, and has not yet been able to devise the means for maintaining them—in idleness, comfort, cleanlinees, and health in their city of refuge. The case is all but hopeless. The only remedy appears to be that which fete is supplying—the death of the unhappy fugitives. This is but a sad. result of a great philanthropic effort; hut it ought to teach the professional and pulpit philanthropists caution, if it teach them notfaiqfelse. Xiiere remains only to be considered of the negroes who have emigrated to the' Northern cities in search of employment. Their case may be summed up in a few words. There were no vacancies in the labor market which they were competent to supply. Formerly the negroes found occupation in the North as waiters, barbers, porters, and white-! washers. But now the Irish and Germans have nearly driven them out of all these trades, except the last mentioned; and there is nothing else to which the poor negro can turn his hand; or at which, if he could, he would be allowed to work in the same room, workshop, or factory as the white. What is he to do under such circumstances ? Mr. Frederick Douglass, the orator, and foremost man of tl:o race, stated in an eloquent lecture on Tuesday evemng last at the Cooper Institute, that, co far from iinmigratin" , from the South to compete with white men in the labour market, the Southern negroes would remain where they were, and that the great bulk of the Northern negroes would join them as soon as emancipation was complete, by the crushing out of the " rebellion," and the parcelling out of the plantations of the ' rebels' among new owners. This may or may not prove to be a true prediction, but it will be a lonw time before it can be realized, if ever; and it may happen that the Southern people, forbidden to use the labor of the negroes in the way to which they have been accustomed, may visit upon the unhappy black race the penalty which both North and South', East and West, have inflicted upon that red race which they could not enslave, and with wliich they would not amalgamate.