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600 DOUGLASS' MONTHLY. February, 1862 [[line]] [[3 columns]] [[column 1]] GENERAL JAMES H. LANE OF KANSAS. [[short line]] Our readers will be pleased to learn that he gallant Gen. JIM LANE'S right to a seat in the Untied States Senate has been finally affirmed by that body. He has been invested with full power by the President to carry on the war in Kansas in his own way. The National Republican says: It is understand that Gen. Lane will proceed to Kansas before many days, and that if nothing occurs to change the present prospect that he may be useful to the country in the field, he will resign his Senatorship, and accept the commission of a Brigadier General, of which he has the tender from the President and Senate. The appointment of General Lane, with his well known views, to an independent military command, is a most decisive and significant fact in itself. And the sequel will show, that he will be sustained in the field, by the continued and cordial support of the President. We have reason to believe, also, that the course resolved upon in this case by the President, from his personal knowledge, both of General Lane and of the wishes of the people of the West, is heartily concurred in by Gen. McClellan and by the new Secretary of War. There will thus be no "fire in the rear" to divert the attention of Gen. Lane from the enemies of the country. The Chicago Tribune recommends the Administration to "Send Jim Lane to South Carolina, and recall that lamentable failure, Sherman," and says: THERE is a field that would suit Lane's genius exactly. He would there be in his glory. His presence at the head of our troops would spread terror and dismay among the rattlesnake traitors of Palmettodom. The twenty thousand Northern soldiers at Port Royal, into whom Lane would infuse his magnetism, would become endowed with the fighting power of 50,000 men, led by such an officer as Sherman, and the rebels would rather encounter 100,000 men under Sherman than 20,000 under Jim Lane. AN INTERESTING DECLARATION--THE PRESIDENT ON CATCHING NEGROES. Correspondence of the N.Y. Tribune. WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 1862. At the leave-taking of Gen. James H Lane at the White House, on Friday afternoon, a conversation occurred so remarkable and important in its scope, and so evidently designed for the public eye, that I feel at liberty to record it for the readers of the Tribune. There were present at the time President Lincoln, Gen. Lane, Senator Pomeroy, Commissioner Doyle, a few members of the House, and a group of officers and clerks from the different departments of Government. On turning to leave, General Lane said:-- "Well, Mr. Lincoln, you know my way; I shall pursue the policy with which I began, and somebody will get hurt." To which the President replied: "Yes, General, I understand you. And the only difference between you and me is, that you are willing to surrender fugitives to loyal owners in case they are willing to rereturn; while I do not believe the U. S. Government has any right to give them up in any one case. And if it had, the People would not permit us to exercise it." Gen. Lane rejoined: "That remark, Mr. President, makes me happier than anything that has transpired since the commencement of the war. And if you will announce that as the active policy of the Administration, and let us win one victory on it, you will be the most popular man ever on this continent!" Mr. Lincoln returned a nod of earnest acknowledgement, and another prominent officer present added: "I have been aching to ask you, Mr. President, why you do not, without asking the consent of Congress, or anybody else, [[/column 1]] [[column 2]] acquire or set apart some territory somewhere in the South, and say to the negroes in the rebel States, 'Here! come out and go over there, and we will protect you in its possession and your own freedom.'" After some other general remarks, the General and his friends withdrew. The General, with his staff, leaves the city this afternoon for the field of his service in Kansas, and, having won the contested seat in the U. S. Senate, he now avows his intention to go before the Legislature of the State which elected him, and return the honor to their hands. I know the above narration of the conversation of the Chief Magistrate will cause a thrill of gratitude and hopeful confidence in the breasts of thousands and hundreds of thousands whose solicitude and patriotic impatience have shaken their faith in the clearness of the Executive head, and in the courage of the hand that is at the helm. May god speed the right. W. A. CROFFUT. A NEW SET OF BOOKS TO BE OPENED. We take the following extract from a speech which Mr. Lane delivered the other day in Chicago, on the occasion of his passing through that city for Kansas: 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 advantages obtained? For eight long months the Government has been prosecuting this war so as to hurt nobody. It is time someone was hurt. We are 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 this notion, the people have 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 humane 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 who has stung us in our bosoms--* * * 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, than 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 affected by a compromise. The radical men agreed that 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 680,000 strong and loyal male slaves who had 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 34,000 contrabands in addition to my teamsters and wagon-masters--I consider every one of my soldiers engaged in this glorious crusade of freedom a knight errant, and entitled to his squire to prepare his food, black his boots, load his gun and take off his drudgery. Vanity and pride are necessary adjuncts of the soldier, and I do not propose to lower him by menial offices, nor [[/column 2]] [[column 3]] 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 Washington dispatch states that Secretary Stanton has dispatched written instructions to Gen. Lane, authorizing him as a final resort to arm the slaves and employ them in military operations against the enemy. HIS BLACK BRIGADE. In our last number, we printed a short extract from a letter written by the Rev. Mr. Fisher respecting the negroes liberated in connection with the march of Gen. Lane's brigade into Missouri. To show that these people are able to support themselves, we print the following facts from a letter written from Fort Scott, Kansas, by a correspondent of the N. Y. World--a paper whom the Tribune characterizes as 'one of the most pertinacious of our pro-slavery journals:' I propose to state the present condition of the 2,000 liberated by the march of the Kansas army. These negroes were owned principally by secessionists, but where the question was of freedom or slavery for themselves, the negroes failed to make any such distinction; and when they sought our camp they were protected, and no questions were asked as to the political status of their former masters. Families came in--sometimes three generations in a single wagon; sometimes a man or woman fled away, leaving all family ties to secure personal liberty, daring untold dangers, enduring fatigue, starvation, perils by night and greater dread by day, never feeling safe till they knew they were in the Kansas camp. One day, as we marched from Osceola, we saw three men riding at full speed across the prairie. As they approached, we saw that one was a negro and the others white men in pursuit. First came the slave, but the whites steadily gained, and one was in the act of catching the fugitive, when a borderer dashed out from the column and raised his Sharp's rifle. 'About face' went the slave-catchers, and a rifle ball sang an ominous warning in their ears as they made off. But night is their great time. Sixty came to camp in one evening, and, as General Lane observed, 'It wasn't much of a night for niggers either.' We put the able men to work immediately driving teams, cooking, grooming the horses, and doing all the extra duties of the brigade. Each officer engaged one as a body-servant, instead of taking a soldier from his duty. In this manner they earned from $8 to $10 a month. Parsons Moore, Fisher and Fish, Chaplains of the Brigade, started last month with a train of negroes, to establish them on Kansas farms. After three weeks, these gentlemen returned to headquarters, having found comfortable situations for every man, woman and child under their charge. Many were hired as farm hands, house servants, &c., at wages from $8 to $12 per month; and the least effective secured places for the winter, where they will be sure of food and clothing, with good chances for lucrative employment when spring opens. The fugitives are generally shrewd and industrious, and the farmers of Kansas gladly avail themselves of this supply of laborers. This is an assertion utterly at variance with the general impression. It is nevertheless literally true. In slavery, one can hardly imagine a more shiftless, indolent being than a Missouri negro. But the change from slavery to freedom effects an instantaneous and complete revolution in his character. With the consciousness of liberty comes the necessity for exertion, and effort is born of necessity. The slave who worked carelessly felt that he had no interest in the result of his labor; no amount of industry would benefit him, and he naturally did as little as he could consistent with safety. But when he is a free man, he rises equal to the emergency.-- This has been the case wherever my experience [[/column 3]]
