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December, 1861.      DOUGLASS' MONTHLY.      573
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hire or buy another few to labor for them.  A large majority belong to neither class——neither work for others nor have others work for them.

In most of the Southern States a majority of the whole people of all colors are neither slaves nor masters; while in the Northern States a large majority are neither hirers nor hired men.

With their families,——wives, servants and daughters——they work for themselves in their houses or in their shops, taking their productions to themselves, asking no favors from capital on the one hand, nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other.

It is not forgotten that a considerable number of person mingle their own labor with capital——that is, th y labor with their own hands, and also buy or hire others to labor for them; but this is not a distinct class.——No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of this mixed class.

Again, as has been observed, there is not of necessity any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed for that condition for life  Many independent men every where in these States a few years back in their lives were hired laborers.  The prudent penniless beggar in the world labors for wages and the while saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself——then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him.  This is the just, generous and prosperous system which opens the way to all; and consequently energy, progress and improvement are the conditions to all.  No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up, or on, from poverty; none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not honestly earned.  Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they, and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost.

From the first taking of our census to the last, there are seventy years, and we find our population at the end of the period eight times as great as it was in the beginning.  The increase of those which men deem desirable had been even greater.

We thus have at one view what the popular principle of government applied to the machinery of the States, and the Union, has produced in a given time, and also what it fairly maintained, it promises for the future.

[[illegible parts of following sections covered by a pasted-on note as follows: [[image: pointing hand]] You are indebted to us in the amount of $^[[1.50]], which we hope you will remit at once.  We are greatly in need of the money, and your promptness in paying this demand will considerably relieve our embarrassment. ^[[to date]] ]]
 
There are already [[illegible]] those who, if the [[illegible]] will live to see it [[illegible]] fifty millions.  [[illegible]] altogether for [[illegible]] also.

[[illegible]] Providence——all [[illegible]] in the great [[illegible]] upon us.  [[illegible]] LINCOLN, [[illegible]] 61.

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[[illegible]] ERNMENT.

Express the [[illegible]] the present [[illegible]] to slaves: [[illegible]] in the rebel [[illegible]] the heart of [[illegible]] embarrassing [[illegible]] undertakes to [[illegible]] negroes [[illegible]] recognized as [[illegible]] they ought to be subject to the law of confiscation.  That seems to be clear, and Gen. Butler, with his direct logic and practical sense, lost not a moment of time nor a particle of strength by discussing the matter.  His legal habits led him to adopt a fiction covered by the phrase 'contraband,' which, so long as it met the necessity for immediate action, and prevented wrong, was satisfactory.  Still, it makes embarrassment for the future.  The war concluded, and these thousands of 'contrabands' in the hands of the Government, what will it do with them?  Refusal to recognize human beings as slaves or property, seems to be the way to cut the Gordian knot.

Gen. Fremont, not being a lawyer, dealt with the matter in a soldierly way, and pronounced the slaves of rebels FREE.  That was
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a bold and unexpected stroke, but its decisiveness and conclusiveness commended the policy to the people of the North, who have so long prayed for the time when slavery shall be utterly abolished from the Republic.  But neither the policy of Gen. Butler nor that of Fremont has been sustained by the Government, which deals quite differently with the subject when it comes within the immediate reach of the Administration.  Gen. Halleck, in Missouri, reverses the Fremont policy, as will be seen by the following telegram from St. Louis:

'Gen. Halleck has issued orders that, in consequence of important information respecting the number and condition of our forces being conveyed to the enemy by fugitive slaves, no such persons shall hereafter be permitted to enter the lines of any camp, nor any forces on the march, and any now within such lines to be immediately excluded therefrom.'

What the country chiefly asks, is some clearly defined measure which shall be consistently carried out in all parts of the country.  Fully appreciating the difficulties which surround the vexed question, the people will be patient and kind toward the Government and reserve criticisms and rebukes for a future day, if they shall be demanded at all.  But it is due to the Administration that the same matter should be treated alike in all departments, which does not appear to be the case now.  Gen. Wool adheres to the plan of Gen. Butler, which the Secretary of War approved.  Gen. Halleck reverses that of Fremont, and Gen. Sherman appears to adopt no decided course in South Carolina.

The following example of Gen. Kelly's conduct in Kentucky looks like a still different and far worse line of policy in that state:

"At a late skirmish near Romney, Virginia, a party of our men were forced to retreat, leaving a corporal and two privates so hard pressed that they had to secrete themselves in the bushes to escape death or capture.  In this situation they were discovered by two slaves belonging to a violent secessionist in the vicinity.  Under cover of the night these faithful fellows managed to conduct our three men safely to our camp, where all were received with joy and surprise.  The Negroes were kindly treated, and duly fed and protected.  When, some time after, Brigadier-General Kelly, of Western Virginia, came to the camp and assumed command, the circumstances were related to him, and the Negroes commended to his notice.  Instead of treating them with honor and assuring them of his protection, he immediately handed them over to the tender mercies of the traitor-villain who claimed to own them."

The Tribune gives this statement on what it regards as good authority, and the Post endorses it upon reliable information.  It is a single instance of wrong, but one calculated to do great harm.

The Telegraph states, with a rather unusual degree of positiveness, that Secretary Cameron will urge upon Congress the adoption of the policy indicated in Col. Cochrane's speech, to not only liberate but ARM the slaves of rebels, keeping them, of course, under control of responsible officers.

What the President will advise, will probably not be known outside of his Cabinet until his Message is promulgated.  If the rebels' sentiment of hatred and fury is correctly indicated in Jeff. Davis' message, there can be no hope of settling the war by any half measures, and protracted delay only seem to help the other side.  And it will not do to overlook the fact, that in the Northern States there is a large and well-organized body of men whose design is to encourage a false policy, and then to break down the Administration in its attempt to carry it out.——Those who have noticed that some presses which were loudest in the hue and cry against Fremont, now turn round and accuse members of the Administration of removing him because he might stand in the way of their own political ambition, will need no stronger hint of the real designs of those who were lately so loud in their abuse of the President
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and his Cabinet, and who found it difficult to repress their sympathies for the Secessionists.  Let the Administration determine what, in its best judgment, is RIGHT, and then stand firmly by THE RIGHT, and the People will be found standing by the Administration.
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DEATH OF FRANCIS JACKSON.——Francis Jackson, a well-known citizen of Boston, died in that city on Thursday morning, Nov. 14th.  His death was sudden, at last, from an attack of acute disease, even though he has been an invalid for several years.  Mr. Jackson was best known to the public from his long and devoted adherence to the anti-slavery cause.  When, nearly 30 years ago, the 'broadcloth' mob of Boston undertook to suppress all expression of anti-slavery sentiment by an attempt to hang Mr. Garrison, Mr. Jackson, from pure love of fair play and free speech, threw open his house to the devoted women whose meeting was the immediate cause of the mob.  Since that day, his door has never been closed to those who suffered persecution, whether black or white, and especially has his home been a haven of refuge to those flying slaves whom neither man befriended nor the law protected; but though Mr. Jackson has been for so many years conspicuous among the advocates of more than one cause of reform, a very large circle has known him in quite other relations, where the tenderness of Christian sympathy and the generous openness of Christian charity were the qualities brought into action, rather than the sterner virtues of the reformer.  Mr. Jackson was a natural democrat, who was literally no respecter of persons, and saw no difference between man and man, but who possessed that large pity for human suffering of every nature that was never appealed to in vain.  Hunger and nakedness, whether of soul or of body, whether in the high or the low, found in him a ready helper, and his winning simplicity and kindliness, his wisdom and his benevolence, made him the centre of a circle who held him in such reverence and love as is given to not many men in a generation.  While all Boston will bear testimony——in spite of the fact that she has pointed her finger at him so often on the anti-slavery platform——that her honestest man has died, there will be a deep and silent sorrow among the very many people who will mourn a benefactor as wise and kind as he was unassuming.——N. Y. Tribune.
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AN INCIDENT.——A young Massachusetts volunteer got into a Broadway omnibus, the other day, and took a seat by the side of an aged man wearing the badge of mourning on his hat, who immediately asked him what regiment he belonged to, and what he was going for?

'I am going to fight.'

'And what are you going to fight for?'

'To liberate every SLAVE; and there are plenty beside me in our regiment who will do the same if they get the chance.'

'I am glad of it.  I lost two sons at Bull Run,' said the gentleman, 'and they went from the same motive.'

The volunteer was the son of one who died in a Baltimore prison, years back, for the cause of freedom.
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A Memphis paper states that several hundred stout negro men, members of the 'domestic institution,' recently marched through that city, in military order, under the command of Confederate officers.  They were well armed and equipped with shovels, axes, blankets, &c., and were brim full of patriotism, shouting for Jeff. Davis, and singing war songs, and each looked as if he only wanted the privilege of shooting an Abolitionist.
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Thirty-seven contraband negroes arrived in Philadelphia recently, having walked northward from Accomac County, on the peninsula, Virginia.  They were supplied with money by the Wisconsin troops.  A number of these people are constantly arriving, which has stimulated a public meeting to be held in Philadelphia soon to assist them.
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