Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1865-01-04
Aurtb~Caruliua 6touaarh
SPEECH OF JOHN POOL. ESQ.

I, the Senate of North Carolina. Tuesday Goth De-
cember 1864 on the following resolutions, in.
troduced by him on the 25th November, 1864
70 Areid Formal Objections Hithe,ta Raised and
hsVectuaHy open Negotiations for tho 7srsaina-
ton Of this most Unfortunate end Destruetivs
Var.
hesotred, That live Commissioners be elected by
this General Assembly, to act with commissioners
from the other States of the Confederacy, as q
medium for negotiating peace with the United
States
ResO1ued, That eac', Of the other States of the
Coniederacy be respectfully requested to create
similar commission, with little delay as practical
tie, and to cooperate with North Carolina in re-
Testing Oh President Davis, in the name of these
sovereign Sates that he tender to the United States
conference for negotiating a peace through the
lnedi I'm OF these commissioners.
fesotccd, That the Governor make known to
each of the other States of the Confederacy this
action of the General Assembly of North Carolina,
and endeavor to secure their co operation.
Resotrcd, That whenever any five of the States
shall have responded by the appointment of COM
,nlssioners, the Governor communicate the pro-
feeding officially, to President Davis and request
lis prompt action upon the proposition.
On the motion of Mr.. Arcndell to take these res
outons from the table, Mr.. Pool said:-
MIR. SPEAKER These resolutions were not in
troauced as the mere expression of opiniea. They
contemplate sction-action of an important char
acter, upon most important subject They were
introduced early in the sessinn-were ordered to
be printed and then the Senate acknowledged its
scase OF their Importance, by sending message to
the House OF Commons proposing the very unusual
and extraordinary course of raising Joint select
committee of the two Houses, to consider them,
while they were pending before the Senate only.
AS Chairman of that cpmmittee, | delayed the re-
port until full time WIS allowed Senators to inves
II cate and consider the matter. majority and q
III nority report were made and ordered to be print
ed, and the whole subject made the special
order Tor certain hour on a certain day. From
all this it vas reasonable to suppose that when the
day arrived, the subject would be discussed and
ac ed upon. But it proved otherwise The Sena-
Tor from Greene (Ir. SpeighD moved to lay on the
Va ie--a motion precludlng all debate-made be-
foe word had been said either sde 1t be-
came Immediately apparent that concerted action
had been agreed on to stife discussion and SHRINK
from the responsibility of direct vote upon the
resolutions. The motion carried by meagls
majority, regardless of its marked Improperly anu
vi no very nice regard to the courtesy usually
incident to the desefdm of deli5eratlse pouies'
Alter q reasonable delay, u motioB is now pehoihs
u take the resolutions from the table and cons,ef
item But is objected that il is late in the ses
sitn ana this objection comes from those who re-
fused 10 consider them at the appointed time. This
reason ior avoiding the responsibility of direct
H. " ~io"eu: Boomer or later there NUS
oe direct vote upon this Question Senators must
'seo TINS SUBJECT, squarely. 1t was canvassed in
tha suinmer elections, and there is general desire
ana expectation that some movement be made by
thiS legislature looking to peace by some other
means than the sole arbitranent of arms. The
great majority by which President:I.incoln was re-
elected has cast o gloom over the people at home
and over the soldiers in camp, because it presents
- prospect of determined continuation of the
It. There may be no shrinking from the con-
Al. G. H.
ever eharacterlzes the efforts Of the brave and free.
i'hl men are lnquirinS everywhere, if there is to
tie no end OF this carnival of b.ood-no effort of
d'romacy-no attempt at negotiation The Legis-
iat'lre oil sovereign State is here assembled fresh
from its constituency. The crude and indefinite
desires for peace that come from the people upon
every breeze that reeches the capitol are given
body and form in these resolutions. Can we
fuse to consider then2 There many .Rreposi-
tio;is to strengthen the military cstabshsnent-to
tax still further the overburdened strength and pa
thence OF the people-to drain still further their
~ t,caaty means and their de1opulated districts
1t may be necessary. Admit that it must be done.
But human endurance has Its limits. While we
make these burdensome and distressing demands
for war, it is surely wise to accompany them with
display of every effort to secure just and hoa-
orlble peace by all other, means This dreadful
clash of arms and flow OF blood seem to bring us
no nearer the end we SEEK 1t looks only to DESC
sten and war. But efforts st negotiation, especial
ly new plan, will raise new hopes, and do much
90 lispel the gloom that arises from every repeated
drain upon the resources Of the country.
Wnen we compare the position assumed by the
President Of the United States with that assumed
by the President of the Confederate States it be-
comes at once apparent that peace cannot be ex-
pected until some modification Of these positions is
agreed on. But the difference between them is at
the very Threshold of negotiation, forbiddlng the
intiaory steps necessary to any agreeentwhasever.
1t arises upon the refusal to receive or to meet COM
.slissioners appointed by President Davis, upon the
ground that such action would imply O recognition
OF The Confederate States and preliminary yield
Tag of the main point in dispute. On the other
hard, 1t is distinctly cisi.ned that such recognition
must be made and accepted as the only basis for
,,eg,tiations All questions IN dispute are thus
placed beyond the reach Of diplomacy and referred
entirely to the fortunes of war. From the very ma
sure of these respective POSITIONS negotiation Is i'm
sble and hastilities must continue until one or
The other of the belligerents is totally subdued-
The usual, humane custom of civilized nations, to
negotiate even while contending in arms, is neces-
sarly abandoned and the strife partakes of the na-
turs of that barbarous warfare which looks only to
* ermjnation and run. That the opening of ne
goiations is desired by President Davis is attested
by the fact that he has made attempts in that d.
-cc.on which have failed. 1t is now proposed to
inaugnate renewal OF those attempts by the ten
der Of commissioners appointed by the States,
whose civil authority is not denied, and thus to
asoid the formal objection hitherto raised that the
reception of the commissioners rendered would i'm
ply recognition of the confsderaey, as prehmin.
ary step. Apart from other considerations Of much
moment, believe that the interest of the Confed-
crate States requires that this course should be
.d,pted with as little delay Is practicable: ,.:..a
We have no ground 70 expect that the United
States VIII recede from the position it has taken,
nor does it appear to me at all important that it
should do so. Should negotiations be opened, the
Independence of the Confederacy would be insisted
Gil IS one of the stipulatons in the treaty OF peace
ans it would be quite az we'll to attain it by the
usual mode of treaty stipulation as upon ass n.gn
= mode it NAV nov he within our reach; from the
-. thora docs NOT NOW appear any hope of sue