the
war, except that it gathered at the wake of our armies in the south
a multitude of negroes called "contrabands," who willingly performed
manual labor, but were often an incumbrance and had to be fed and
protected.

The freedom of these "contrabands" was the result of the war, and
not of the confiscation act. In the later period of the war, they,
in common with the free negroes from the north, were organized into
regiments commanded by white men, and rendered valuable service to
the Union cause.

When the confiscation bill was pending, on the 23rd of April, 1862,
I made a speech in support of an amendment offered by me and in
substance adopted. A few extracts of my speech will show my opinions
on this subject:

"Confiscation is not only justified by the laws of war, by the
practice of many nations, but it is practiced by our enemies in
the most obnoxious way. They seize all kinds of property of loyal
citizens; they destroy contracts; confiscate debts. All the property
of citizens of loyal states which is within a disloyal state is
seized without exception, and that whether such citizen has aided
the government or not. They also seize the property of all citizens
in disloyal states who will not commit an act of treason by aiding
them. Yet they profess to be governed by a constitution similar
to the constitution of the United States, so far as it relates to
the rights of person and property. They draw the distinction
between the laws of war and the laws of peace. . . .

"Sir, it is time there was an end of this. We are at war. We must
destroy our enemies or they will destroy us. We must subdue their
armies and we must confiscate their property. The only question
with me is as to the best measure of confiscation. That some one
should be enacted, and that speedily, is not only my conviction of
duty, but it will be demanded by those who will have to bear the
burdens of the war. Now, it is the interest of every citizen in
a seceding state to be a rebel. If a patriot, his property is
destroyed. If a rebel, his property is protected alike by friend
and foe. Now, the burdens of war will fall, by heavy taxation,
upon loyal citizens, but rebels are beyond our reach. How long
can we conduct such a war? Sir, we have been moderate to excess.
War is a horrible remedy, but when we are compelled to resort to
it, we should make our enemies feel its severity as well as
ourselves. . . .

"If too much is attem