Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1864-08-20
3 vigorous prosecution Of the

rw ar 4 &
1t is so, sir Whoever tells you otherwise
deceives you. think know northern sentt
ment, and 1 assure you It is so You Know
we have system Of eum.lecturing in onr
large towns. At the close Of the lectures n ia
the custem OF the people TO come upon ths
platform and talk with the lecturer. This
gives him an excellent opportunity OF learn
ing public sentiment. Last winter l lectured
all over the north-from Dubuque to Bangor
and took pains to ascertain the feeling OF The
people. found a unanimous determination
10 crush the rebeillon and save the Union at
every sacrifice. The majority are in favor of
Mr.. Lincoln, and nearly all of those opposed
to him are opposed to him because they think
ne does not night you with enough vigor The
ana thorough confiscatfon are those who will
aeieat MIN, If he is to be defeated But IL he is
a nean before the people the House will elect
more radcae SaeNd ,h.I mean worse for you. Itris
NJ ashrt sa, tnAn heis-you can see that from
InI. AsnIey,s Reconstruction BlIl-and the
Ptpnsn Peopoe are more more radical than the House Mr..
more men, and can't see how Won .sn rsssss
mach longer but If you do you viii onIv deens
IN en- the radical , feeling Of the northern people.
erous terms; but let them suffer mnch ,cra sSn,
let there be dead man In every house. as Isar,,
IS now in every village, they will give Won NO
terms-they will insist on hanging every rebel
south Of -. Pardon my terms. mean no
offence"
"You give no offence" he replied, smiling
very pleasantly. ! wouldn't have you pick
your words. This is a frank, free talk, and /
Go on"
81 was merely going to say that, let the
do not feel it yet-and they will insist en- hang
ing every one Of your leaders"
Wen, admitting all you say, I can't see how
it affects our position. There are some things
worse than hanging or extermination. We
reckon giving up the right OF self government
one of those things"
"By self government you mean disunion-
southern independencef'
"ies."
sa, and Ell slavery you say' is no longer an ele-
"Nc, 1t is not, it never was an essential ele-
ment. 1t was only means Of bringing other
conf1icting elements to an earlier elimination.
1tfired the musket which was already capped
and loaded. There are essential differences
between the North and the South that Will,
however this war may end, make them two
"You ask me to say what I think. Will
you allow me to say that 1 know the South
pretty well, and never observed those differ
ences %
"Then you fave not used your ewes. NV
sight is poorer than yours but have seen them
for years"
The laugh was upon me, and Mr.. Benjamin
"Well, sir, be that as it may, if I understand
you, the dispute between your governments and
ours is narrowed down to this: Union or dis
union.'
dence or subjugation."
"Then the two governments are irreconciIa-
bly, apart They have no alternative but to
fight 1t out But it is not so with the people.
They are tired of fighting and want peace;
and as they bear all the burden and suffer-
ing Of the war, is 1t not right they should
have 1. II peace and have it on such terms as they
81 don't understand you. Be a little more
explicit"
MR.. DAVIS REFUSES AN ARMIsTTCR.
Unll
agree to something like this:-To go I'd the peo-
pie with two propositions; say. peace, with
disunion and Southern independence as your
patton, no conf1scation, and universal amnes-
ty, as ours. Let the citizens OF all the United
States (as they existed before the war; vote
special election within sixty days. If ma
jority votes disunion, our government to be
bound by it. and to let you 60 in peace. If a.
majority votes Union, yours TO be bound by it,
can contract in this way, and the people,
though constitutionally unable to decide on
peace or war, can elect which Of the two prop
Ositiens shall govern their rulers. Let Lee and
Grant, meanwhile, agree to an aImistice. This
would sheathe the sword; and if once sheathed,
1t would never again be drawn by this gener-
alton"
"The plan is altogether impractlcable If
the South were only one state 1t might work;
but as it is, If one southern state objected to
emancipation, 1t would nullify the whole thing;
for you are aware the people of Virginia can
not vote slavery out of South Carolina, nor
the people of South Carolina vote it ont Of
Virginia
But three. fourths of the States can amend
the Constitution, Let it be done in that way
in any way, SO that it is done by the people. 1
am not a statesman or politician, and do
not know just how such q plan could be car
ried out; but you get the idea-that the people
shall decide the question"
"That the majority shall decide 1t, you mean,
We seeded to rid ourselves of the rule OF the
majority, and this would subject us to it again.,
- But me majority must rule finally, either
liam not SO sure of that Neither current
events nor history shows that the majority
rules, or ever did rule. The contrary, think,
is true Why, sir, the man who should 60 be-
fore the Southern people with such a propo-
sition, with any proposition which implied
that the North was to have voice in deter
mining the domestic relations Of the South,
could not live here day. He would be hanged
to the first tree, without Judge or jury"
"Allow me to doubt that think 1t more
likely he would be hanged, If he let the South
ern people know the majority couldn't rule"
81 have no tear Of that" rejoined Mr.. Davis,
also smiling most good huhoredly. "I give
yoG leave % 10 proclaim it from every house-top
eBut, seriously, SIR you let the majority rule
in single State; why not let it rule in the
sBecause the States are independent and
sovereign. The country is not. It Is only a
confederation Of States; or rather it was it is
now TWO cOnleOerduOns"
.sThen we are not a people-we are only q
political partnership %
"That Is ALL"
"Your very name, sir, United States i'm.
plies that" said Mr.. Benjamin. "But tell me,
are the terms you have Observation-Disclosures,
no confiscation, and universal amnesty-the
terms which Mr.. Lincoln authorized you to
offer MS :"
"No, sir; Mr.. Lincoln did not authorize me
to offer you any terms. But / think both he
and the Northern people, for the sake Of peace,
would assent to some such conditions"
"They are very generous" replied Mr..
Davis, for the first time during the interview
showing some angry feeling "But, amnesty,
sir, applies to criminals. We have committed
no crime. Confiscation is of no account unless
you can enforce it. And emancipation! You
have already emancipated nearly two millions
of our slaves-and If you will take care Of them
you may emapcipate the rest. had few
when the war began. was OF some use to
them; they never were OF any to me. Against
their will you semancipated' them, and you
may semancipate every negro In the Confede-
racy, but we will be free! We will govern
ourselyes We Will do it II we have to see
eyery Southern plantation sacked and every