654 



MISSOURI. 



I think, who is not an advocate of emancipation ; radi- 

 cals and conservatives all agree in this. 



The slave owner would gladly exchange property 

 held by a tenure so precarious, and so little vendible at 

 the present time, for anything of half of the market 

 value it bore before the war broke out. And so, in fact, I 

 was assured by a gentleman of high military position, 

 a member of the last Legislature and of the present 

 convention; be stated that the last State Legislature 

 (which was hopelessly and about equally divided, 

 triangularly, between conservative and radical eman- 

 cipationists and the opponents of any emancipation) 

 would instantlv have found a majority for immediate 

 emancipation, "if Congress had appropriated either of 

 the sums named for promoting emancipation in Mis- 

 souri. This gentleman himself was an advocate ot a 

 gradual system. They say that Missouri herself is too 

 poor to do anything, and her paper too much depre- 

 ciated. . , 



The class of men who oppose any interference with 

 slaverv, are probably that very considerable class of 

 slave owners, of doubtful loyalty, who sit at home and 

 sulk, under the double restraint of the oath of allegiance 

 and a very stringent bond to compel its enforcement. 

 I talked with one of this class, a very friendly and 

 sensible man, but perfectly unreasonable upon this 

 subject, who thought the Government had no right to 

 touch the negroes of the rebels, even in the cotton 

 States. This same man had just lost two capital ne- 

 groes, and had been up to Lexington, fruitlessly, to 

 Bunt them up ; he was much incensed at the unre- 

 sponsive attitude of the military authorities there; he 

 could get no satisfaction. 



There were eighteen regiments of mounted State 

 militia posted at various points about the State when 

 I was there, and these were mainly on the side of the 

 negroes. A lieutenant told me that he met a party of 

 seventy or eighty negroes near Chapel Hill, on their 

 way to Kansas, piloted by two of the State militia. 

 He and his party were on a scout, and hearing that 

 bushwhackers were after the negroes, they went after 

 the bushwhackers. But, at the same time, I found 

 the greatest contempt for the capacity of the negroes 

 expressed on all hands. 



The loyal men, for the most part, oppose slavery, or 

 assent to the opposition, for other reasons than that of 

 justice to the negro or a favorable opinion of his natu- 

 ral rights or capabilities. They say he vill not fight. 

 " I will agree," said cue very intelligent and very loyal 

 slave owner, " to take five hundred white men and 

 disperse twenty-five hundred of them anywhere. Go 

 up to them and glare at them," said he, with a vigor- 

 ous gesture, " and they will knuckle, sir, you may de- 

 pend upon it." People out here did not object to en- 

 listing black troops on any other ground. 



I should give you but a poor idea of Missouri, if I 

 omitted to speak of the guerillas, who infest the 

 central and western parts or the State, and occupy the 

 thoughts of everybody. The block houses, and the 

 guard at every bridge on every railroad, even so far 

 north as the Hannibal and St. Joseph line, remind one 

 of them constantly. Along the Missouri river coun- 

 ties, and generally on the south of that river, a traveller 

 passes no day without a reasonable apprehension of 

 being shot or robbed by them. The soldiers are con- 

 stantly hunting them, but they bring perpetual anxiety 

 and danger to every loyal household, outside of the 

 large towns where soldiers are permanently stationed. 

 Much of this fear is pauic, it is true ; but much of it 

 is reasonable. 



There is no loyalty so seasoned and thoroughly trust- 

 worthy as that of the original Union men in these 

 regions. The distinction of "conservative" and 

 "radical" touches only their State politics. Theloyal 

 people present a solid front to the rebels. 



On the 15th of Juno tho State Convention 

 reassembled. Gov. Gamble sent in a message 

 expressing his views on the subject of emanci- 

 pation, asserting that the enrolled militia were 



adequate to preserve peace within the State, &c. 

 Several plans of emancipation were immediate- 

 ly proposed, looking to the emancipation of all 

 slaves within a few months, perpetually pro- 

 hibiting slavery in the State, and proposing a 

 system of apprenticeship for the slaves so 

 emancipated for such period as might be^suffi- 

 cient to avoid any inconvenience to the inter- 

 ests connected with slave labor, and to prepare 

 the emancipated blacks for complete freedom. 

 They were referred to a committee on emanci- 

 pation. On the 23d, the majority of the com- 

 mittee reported the following ordinance of 

 emancipation : 



SEC. 1. The first and second clauses of the twenty- 

 sixth section of the third article of the constitution 

 are hereby abrogated. 



SEC. 2. That slavery or involuntary servitude, except 

 in punishment of crime, shall cease to exist in Mis- 

 souri on the 4th of July, 1870, and all slaves within 

 the State on that day are hereby declared to be free : 

 Provided, however, That all persons emancipated by 

 this ordinance shall remain under the control and bs 

 subject to their late owners, or their legal representa- 

 tives, as servants during the following period, to wit : 

 Those over forty years of age, for and during their 

 lives; those under twelve, until they arrive at the age 

 of twenty-three ; and those of all other ages, until the 

 4th of July, 1870. The persons or their legal repre- 

 sentatives, who, up to the moment of emancipation, 

 were owners of slaves hereby freed, shall, during the 

 period for which the services of such freedmen are re- 

 served to them, have the same authority and control 

 over the said freedmen for the purpose of receiving 

 the possessions and services of the same that are now 

 held by the master in respect of his slaves : Provided, 

 however, That after the said 4th of July, 1870, no per- 

 son so held to service shall be sold to non-residents or 

 removed from the State by authority of his late owner 

 or his legal representative. 



SEC. 3. All slaves hereafter brought into the State 

 and not now belonging to citizens of the State shall 

 thereupon be free. 



SEC. 4. All slaves removed by consent of their own- 

 ers to any seceded State after the passage by such 

 State of an act or ordinance of secession, and thereaf- 

 ter brought into the State by their owners, shall there- 

 upon be free. 



SEC. 5. The general assembly shall have no power 

 to pass laws to emancipate slaves without the consent 

 of their owners. 



SEC. 6. After the passage of this ordinance no slave 

 in this State shall be subject to State, county, or mu- 

 nicipal taxes. 



A minority report was also submitted which 

 proposed to abrogate the same clauses of the 

 State Constitution as the above ordinance 

 and declaring slavery to be abolished on the 

 1st of July ensuing. It provided that _tl e 

 slaves and their issue should bo apprenticed 

 to their former owners until the 4th of July, 

 1870, and required the Legislature to pass 

 laws regulating the relation between said 

 apprentices and their masters, to secure to 

 them humane treatment and necessary educa- 

 tion ; and provided against the importation or 

 immigration of any negro or mulatto into the 

 State, &c. The ordinance was laid over until 

 the next day. 



Gov. Gamble in his message to the conven- 

 tion tendered his resignation as governor. A 

 resolution was now offered providing for an 

 election of tho State officers by the people. 



