Meanwhile the policy of forbearance was continued, giving,
as Mr. Sumner thought, moral strength to the Rebellion, and
postponing success. By General Orders from Head-Quarters at
Washington, July 17th, Slave-Masters obtained new security for
their pretended property, in the following terms.
“Fugitive slaves will under no pretext whatever be
permitted to reside, or in any way be harbored, in
the quarters and camps of the troops serving in this
department. Neither will such slaves be allowed to
accompany troops on the march. Commanders of troops will be
held responsible for a strict observance of the order.”[171]
In harmony with this military order was an opinion of the
Attorney-General, of July 23d, by which the marshals of
Missouri were reminded that the Fugitive Slave Act must be
executed.[172] Then came the correspondence between General
Butler and the War Department. The former, in a letter from
Head-Quarters, Fortress Monroe, July 30th, after speaking of
“the able-bodied negro fit to work in the trenches as property
liable to be used in aid of rebellion, _and so contraband of
war_,” and then with unanswerable force declaring our duty to
fugitive slaves, announced a definite policy as follows.
“In a state of rebellion I would confiscate that which
was used to oppose my arms, and take all that property
which constituted the wealth of that State and furnished
the means by which the war is prosecuted, beside being
the cause of the war; and if, in so doing, it should
be objected that human beings were brought to the free
enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
such objection might not require much consideration.[173]
To this annunciation Mr. Cameron, Secretary of War, replied,
under date of August 8th:--
“It is the desire of the President that all existing rights
in all the States be fully respected and maintained.”
And then, after forbidding troops to interfere “with the
servants of peaceable citizens in house or field,” it was
declared, as if to help the Fugitive Slave Act:--
“Nor will you, except in cases where the public good
may seem to require it, prevent the voluntary return
of any fugitive to the service from which he may have
escaped.”[174]
These various declarations were followed, August 16th, by a
speech of Hon. Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior, at
a social festival in Providence, R. I., which seemed to give
point to all. This Cabinet officer said:--
“The minds of the people of the South have been deceived by
the artful representations of demagogues, who have assured
them that the people of the North were determined to bring
the power of this Government to bear upon them, for the
purpose of crushing out this institution of Slavery.…
The Government of the United States has no more right to
interfere with the institution of Slavery in South Carolina
than it has to interfere with the peculiar institution of
Rhode Island, whose benefits I have enjoyed.”[175]
Then came the reversal by the President of General Fremont’s
Proclamation in Missouri, where, under date of August 30th,
this officer, commanding the Western Department, announced a
system of partial and local Emancipation as follows.
“The property, real and personal, of all persons in the
State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against the
United States, or who shall be directly proven to have
taken an active part with their enemies in the field,
is declared to be confiscated to the public use, and
their slaves, _if any they have, are hereby declared
freemen_.”[176]
The enthusiasm with which this provision was received by the
country could not save it from the judgment of the President.
These incidents, still showing in certain quarters a constant
tendency towards Emancipation, checked always by the Executive,
attested a policy of forbearance towards Slavery. Regarding
this condition of things as disastrous and of evil omen for the
future, Mr. Sumner earnestly strove to arrest it. His speech
was an appeal to the country.