So much for the expense
of this system. There is no money-bounty, and the "family-aid" is but
one-fifth of that we pay in the case of our own brothers. The figures in
General Saxton's district are as gratifying. We have not the Louisiana
statistics at hand. And we have not learned that anybody has attempted
any statistics in the District of Columbia, or on the Mississippi River.
But this illustration, in two districts where the enlistment of colored
troops has been pushed to the very edge of its development, is enough to
make out another point in the policy of victory, which is, that the
colored soldier is the cheapest soldier whom we have in our lines,
though we pay him, as of course we should do, full pay.
How is this cheapness of administration gained? The answer is in the
second great principle which belongs to the policy of using our
victories. Change the homes of the people as little as possible. The
families of negroes in the Virginia district are put upon separate farms
as far as possible,--on land, and for crops, as nearly as possible, the
same as they were used to. These people are conservative. They are fond
of home. They are used to work; and they can take care of themselves.
Every inducement is given them, therefore, to establish themselves.
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