Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-06-30

1890 v,ss done 4 what was said
S1TnW 1YM OH gHFffl
me TERMS OFFERED the SOUTH.


pared BY Mr.. 16sspheue, The late rebel Vice
Prcsidontx And enc Of the Southern COdn-
missscnersi Of the Fortress Mohres Confer
ence. II eivce an interesting INSIDE view Of
the negotiations there md confirms the sus-
,;c;ons that have been entertained Of the
had faith Of JEFF. Davis.
W. have before stated that Mr.. Davis,
,.,. President Of the States engaged in the
,.hellion. had not comm unicated to the peo-
,,le who had elected him, and trusted him,
r.. truth in regard TO the famed Fortress
Monroe Conference.
Now that the aforesaid Davis has no
longer power to arrest and contine persons
w,,hout the benefit Of h0beas corpus ; or his
organs TO i~nstigate m0bs Of soldiers, and ir-
responsible men to threaten destruction TO
life and private property OF for officials TO
arrest persons and suppress papers for pub
LEGATION without his s~anction-it may be as
well to let the people know the truth.
We will now give the history Of that Con-
yen,ion as nearly as we can remember 1t
from the statement Of Mr.. Stephens to US,
directly after his return.
Mr.. Davis sent for him to communicate
the information that Mr.. Blair desired a con
ference between the authorities of the United
States and The Southern State upon the
subject of peace, and Mr.. Stcphcns' advice
was asked. lie promptly replied that, fMr.
Blair spoke by authority Of Abraham Lin
coin, he most earnestly advised the confer
ence. But that, rs the term Of peace, il "a
yorablc to the South, would awaken angry
debate from tho radical men Of the North,
aud a failure to get terms but dlshearten
our own people, he recommend, first, that
the s~trictest sccrcsy be used second, that
the parties to the conference be President
Lincoln and Mr.. Davis, and that Gems.
Grant and Lee be the only ones to even
know Of the meeting. The advice wa taken
as usual in Acknowledgements alto
gcther-and by officially telegraphing the
news TO every corner Of the late so.called
Confectionery.
Two days later Mr.. Stephens was sur
prlsed by the information from Mr.. Bcnja-
num- that . committee Of three were TO go,
'""sisting Of Alexander a. stephens, wee
,resident; r. NJ. T. Hunter' Se,;a'o! from
Virginia and John A. uainPoel', ASSIST
ant Secretary Of War. MT. o'epneAs 50"
~ once tht to refuse TO go "ouiu su'yc,, -"
to unfricndlv remarks, and ,na' P'eco"s'y ne
would have the responsibility " '"'o !"
make peace thrown upon ks snoulucrs. 30
he went merely remark;np 10 Mr.. Campbell.
that the old story Of the monkey that TOOK
the paw Of the cat 70 pull his ches'huts out
Of the fire was not without some modern
illustrations :" TO which Mr.. Campoel SAID
that he thought so too, and did not likc 1t.
The flag o~ftrucc, und the loud ana prolong-
cd cheers Of both armies that gave the lie to
ifrt,o,
the statement of Southern ADMINISTRATOR
organs that that the veterans were opposed
to peace. and the two DAYS enjoyment Of he
hospitality Of that glorious Old soldier
Grant, al. history well known. Probably
but for the Endorsement Of the peace wishes
of Stephens and Hunter by Gen. Grant,
the interview would not nave been granted.
The reason why the General did not include
Mr.. Campbell in his Endorsement, was that
Mr.. G. was perfectly satisfied that the coun-
try was whipped then, and prepared to take
what he could get. and therefore did not
talk. While Mr.. Hunter. who was not
much for reconstruction talked the most.
The three Southern gentlemen met M.
Lincoln and Mr.. Seward as is known, and,
after some preliminary remarks, the sub
lect Of peace was opened. Mr.. Stephens
well aware that one who asks much, may
get more than he who confesscs too humble
wishes Mt the outset, urged the claims OF
his section with that skill and address, fol
which the Northern papers have given hin
credit. Mr.. Lincoln, holding the vantage
ground If conscious power, was, however
perfectly frank, and submitted his views al
most in the form Of an argument.
We can best give the facts by giving the
report Of the Commissioners, and the facts
in regard to each statement:
R%IcnMoNp, Feb. 6, 1865.
To the President Of the Confederate States:
SIR: Under your letter of appointment
rs Commissioners Of the 2Sth ult.. we pro-
cccdcd to seek an informal conference with
Abraham Lincoln. President Of the United
States, upon the subject mentioned in the
letter. Conference was granted, and took
place OH the 3Oth of December, on board a
steamer anchored in Hampton Roads. where
We net President Lincoln and the Hon. Mr..
Seward, Secretary of State for the United
States. II continued for several hours, and
was both full aud explicit.
The only statement Of moment in this
iirst paragraph is that the conference was
both lull and explicit.
We learned from them that the message
OF President Lincoln to the Congress Of the
United States, in December last, explains
clearly his sentiments as to the terms, con-
ditions aud mode Of procedure by which
peace can be secured to the people, and we
are not informed that they would be modi-
fled or altered to obtain that end. We un-
derstand from him that no terms or propo-
sails Of any treaty or agreement looking to
the ultimate settlement would be entertain
ed or made by him with tho authorities Of
the Confederate States, because that mouM
recognition Of their existence as a sepdr-
6ss pofer, which under no circumstances
mould 6t lone. And, for like reasons that
no such terms would be entertained by him
from stparats States; that no extended
truce or armistice, as at present advised,
would be granted or allowed. without salts
factory assurances, in advance, Of the com
plete restoration of the authority Of the Con-
s%titution and laws of the United States over
oil places within the States Of the Confcder
acy.
The first paragraph Of the above simply
means that reconstruction ofthe Union was
the only basis Of peace or Of conference !; and
no desire for peace would be allowed to
override that sine qua non. The words
which we have italicised were the principle
subject of discussion, for, as in Mr.. Davis
instructions to MIR. Stephens at the time of
his first attempt to reach Washington City.
Mr.. Davis insisted upon his rank, either as
Commander or President, and would have
no conference without that being recogniz-
ed.
Mr.. Lincoln stated fairly that the only
ercnd upon which he could rest the Justice
Of the war-either with his own people or
with foreign powers-was that it was not a
Mar for conquest. but that the States never
mad been separated from the Union. Con-
sequcntly, he could not recognize another
government inside Of the one Of which he
alone was President, nor admit the separate
Independence Of States that were vet q part
ofthe Union. That, said he, would be doing
what you have SO long asked Europe to do
in vain, and be resigning the only thing the
armies Of the Union are fighting for.
To that Mr.. Hunter replied at length, in
rather congressional style, urging that the
recognition Of Mr.. Davis power to make .
treaty vas the frst and indispensable step
70 peace, and rcferrine tn the enrrescond-