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THE COUNTRYMAN.
9
Negro Soldiers of the North.— ]
In awarding apparent equality of pay i
between white and black troops, the I
administration, however, goes beyond,
in fact, and gives to the negro sol
diers a much greater rate of compen
sation. It assumes the support of his
family, and, for every negro soldier
enlisted, it finds from five to eigtit
women, or children, or invalid, and
decrepid old men, thrown absolutely
upon it, for daily food. The negro
troops, therefore, will, under the sys
tem of equality, be the highest paid
troops in the. world.
Wencfel Phillips spoke of them as
our nobles, to whom the lands of the
south were to be awarded, as William
the Conqueror divided England
among his Norman chiefs. They are
already upon the pension list, to an
extent that few realize, and which the
heaps of departments refuse to reveal.
But even this vast expenditure gives
no relief to this fated class. They
suffer, and perish in their new condi
tion.
We have published some evidence,
of abolition sources, upon this point.
A letter from (’apt. Fisk, to the
Springfield (Mass.) Republican, pre
sents some tacts which are new. He
says :
There are, between Memphis, and
Natchez, not less than fifty thousand
blacks—from among whom have been
called all the able-bodied men, for
the military service. Thirty-five
thousand of these, viz., those in camp
between Helena, and Natchez, are
furnished the shelter of old tents, and
subsistence of cheap rations by the
government, but are, m all other
things, in extreme destitution. Their
clothing, in perhaps the case of a
fourth of this number, is but or.e sin
gle worn, and scanty garment. The
children are wrapped, night and day,
in tattered blankets, as their sole ap
parel. But few of all these people
have bad any change of raiment since,
in midsummer, or earlier, they came
from the abandoned plantations of
their masters.
Multitudes of them have no. beds,
or bedding—the clayey earth being
the resting place of women and babes,
through these stormy winter months.
They live, of necessity, in extreme
filthiness, and are afflicted with all fa
tal diseases. Medical attendance,
and supplies, are very inadequate.
They cannot, during the winter, be
disposed to labor, and sffll-support,
and compensated labor cafl&iot be pro
cured for them in the camps. They
cannot, in their present condition, sui-
yive the winter. It is iny conviction, I
j that, unrelieved, the half of them
j will perish before the spring. Last
! winter, (hiring the months of Februa
ry, March, and April, I buried, at
Memphis alone, out of an average of
about four thousand, twelve hundred
of these people, or from twelve to
twenty a day. One day T we buried
thirty-five. Those who have been
gathered into camp, this wintfer, are
quite as destitute as those who were
on our bands, last winter.— Albany
Argus.
Unwilling Passengers.— A. fe
male can.ei, with her young one, ar
rived in Southampton on Wednesday,
to be sent out in the Bremen mail
steamer New York, to the United
States. They were accompanied by
an Arab keeper. By no contrivance
could the elder camel be induced to
cross the gang-way' from the deck to
the ship, although the Arab tried, bv
blows, and by coaxing with a bag of
.oats, to get her on boaid. The young
camel, about the size of a pony, and
covered with soft, silky hair, stuck to
bis dam. As the tide was about to
ebb, the pilot aboard the ship became
impatient, and called out ‘Have the
animals shipped.’ A number of the
German passengers on board the New
York, rushed on shore, and, amid
shouts of laughter, took the young
camel up in their arms, and carried
him bodily on the steamer, and the
ship was obliged to leave the side of
the, dock immediately, leaving the
camel behind. The y’oung camel be
gan to cry, in the most pit'ful man
ner, on being separated from bis darn,
and the latter, bearing the cries, moan
ed distressingly 7 , looking for her young
one. At length she was put into a
horse box, and slung on board a
steam tug, and taken out to the New
York, which waited in the stream for
her.—Lon. Times, Oct. 14th.
Minister Webb’s Letter.—“The
London Times discourses as follows
on Minister Webb’s letter to the Bra
zilian Secretary.
It is fortunate, fo* the peace of the
world, that the English nation is not
easily moved, by unseemly language,
but, content with resistance to acts of
wiong, allows words, however offen
sive, to pass by without regard. Hap
pily, our steady resolve to abstain
from interference in the affairs of an
agitated continent, will never be
weakened by any taunts, or invectives
coming from Americans, however
highly placed. Foi this reason, may
we regard the answer ol Mr. Watson
I Webb, the United States minister at
Rio Jeneiro to the Brazilian govern
ment, in the matter of the Florida, as
a matter of not the slightest political
importance, and as only showing the
temper in which certain men, repre
senting the most powerful section of
Americans, are accustomed to think
and talk of us. The capture of the
Florida, in the harbor of Bahia, was
an outrage for which no ability could
find a justification. The wrong was
so gross, and palpable, that Mr. Webb
could not repudiate complicity in it.
He says, with great propriety, that he
has heard of the affair w«ill regret,
and be takes upon himself to assure
the Brazilian government, that every
reparation will be offered to it that
honor, and justice require. But the
zealous diplomatist, dieading proba
bly the effect of these concessions on
his own popularity at home, cannot
stop here. He chooses to add, ‘more
promptly, and friendly, than if the
same act bad been perpetrated in a
harbor of the most powerful maritime
nation in the world.’ Why a just,
and well meaning government should
regulate its promptness,and frankness
in doing justice for an obvious wrong,
by any considerations of the relative
strength of foieign governments, Mr.
\Vebb does not explain, for the sen
tence is only introduced to allow the
writer to digress, at once, into a mat
ter with which Brazil has nothing to
do, and to give utterance to the bit
terness which he feels toward the
English nation.’’
A Richmond Opinion.— “ The
Richmond Examiner comes to the
conclusion that Sherman can reach
the coast, and that our concentration
ot troops, though sufficient to protect
the inland cities, is not adequate to
attack and destroy him, or prevei t
his escape from Georgia. But ti e
same journal adds: ‘But after all,
what has beeu the worth ot his great
march ? He lias destroyed farm
houses, and villages, ou the direct lii e
of his inarch, and ruined Some unfor
tunate larnilies. But he has done
nothing of niilitary importance, and
evacuates Georgia. If he should sue.
ceed in taking the closed ports of Sa
vannah, or Charleston, he will Le
magnified by the mob of New Yoik
buthe will not diminish the strength
of the confederacy one iota. The
only serious consequence of his whole
movement, would follow the addition
of his army to that of Grant; tut
that could he nullified by a propor
tional addition to that of Lee. Ti e
confederacy will not die of Sher
man.”