General Lane, of Kansas, was in Chicago on Wednesday last,
and was called on at his hotel by an immense throng of citizens who clamored
for a speech until he responded.
The uppermost fact in every loyal man’s mind was that this
rebellion must be crushed in some way.
He knew there was not a loyal man present who was unwilling to lay down
his own life and sacrifice even his own family to accomplish this result. There was no resolution so strong among all
true patriots as that demanding that the rebellion must be put down so as to
stay down. The curse of slavery has been
agitated long enough and it must now be radically cured. For eight long months the North has been
contending against the rebels, and what have we got to show for it? What results have been accomplished – what advantage
obtained? For eight long months the
Government has been prosecuting this war so as to hurt nobody. It is time some one was hurt. We were willing enough to kill white men in
the South and to allow them to be killed in the North but we were afraid of
committing sacrilege if we touched the sacred negro. [Cries of “that’s so”] – Yes, afraid to touch
the sacred negro who has caused the whole of this trouble. But let me tell you the government has got
over it and I think I can certify that this crowd have got over it. – [Applause
and cries of “yes we have”] We have been
permitted to discuss all questions human and divine, all questions of society
of morals and religion to canvass the character of God and the nature of his
laws, but have been forbidden to say a word about the viper which has stung us
in our bosoms.
It is no time for talking now, but for action. We have consumed eight months in inactivity,
have wasted three hundred millions of dollars and sacrificed twenty five
thousand lives, and turned this country upside down in our insane endeavors to
put down this infernal rebellion and to save slavery. I tell you it can’t be done and the
Government has come to that conclusion.
Let me tell you confidentially that on Monday last, they opened a new
set of books and came to the conclusion that if the Union can’t be saved and
slavery saved then down goes slavery.
The rebels have either got to submit to die or to run away. I tell you the time has come when play must
stop. The rebels must submit or be sent
down forthwith to that hell already yawning to receive them.
The desirable consummation was effected by compromise. The radical men agreed the conservative men
should carry on the war according to their notions for eight months provided
they were allowed the next eight. The time
is up for the conservatives and they now hand the war and its conduct over to
the radicals and every conservative man should now extend the same
encouragement and support which we gave to them in the prosecution of their
method.
There are in the South 600,000 strong and loyal male slaves
who have fed and clothed the rebel army and have as good as fought upon their
side. Government now proposes that these
loyal slaves shall feed and clothe our army and fight upon our side. The other day while I was talking with the
President, Old Abe said to me, “Lane, how many black men do you want to have to
take care of your army?” I told him as
my army would number 34,000, I proposed to have thirty four thousand
contrabands in addition to my teamsters and wagon masters. I consider every one of my soldiers engaged
in this glorious Crusade of Freedom a night errant and entitled to his esquire
to prepare his food, black his boots, load his gun and take of his drudgery. Vanity and pride are necessary adjuncts of
the soldier and I do not propose to lower him by menial offices nor compel him
to perform the duties of the slave. So
while I shall elevate the slave by giving him his freedom and making a man of
him I shall also elevate the soldier and leave him no work to do but fighting. [A voice in the crowd – “What are you going
to do with the niggers?]
The General, singing out to the owner of the voice and
pointing his finger at him replied –
“Ah, my friend, you are just the man I have been looking
for. I will tell you what I am going to
do with them. I am going to plant them
on the soil of the gulf coast, after we have got through this war, let
them stay there and cultivate the land,
have Government extend a protection to them as it does to the Indians, and send
superintendents and governors among them and pay them wages for their
labor. There could be no competition
between black and white labor.” He
believed whether the rebels killed the idea or not that the blacks at no
distant day would have possession of that Gulf country to which they were
acclimated and physically conditioned.
He proposed to establish free State governments as he went along and he
could promise his hearers that either he or the rebels would be cleaned out.
After urging the benefit of a vigorous prosecution of the
war, the General closed by again thanking the crowd for the handsome reception
and retired to the parlors amid almost enthusiastic applause.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye,
Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, February 1, 1862, p. 3
