The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1865-06-01

he cons,incy, determination aud powsr
OF the North. The members of congrrss
were not disposed to accent, as pospcl
this cheerful manifesto, and accordingly
a resolution was offered by Mr.. Capertnn,
| for tint commitiec TO look into the
condition Of public affairs. The ncccs.
sary effect Of this was to compel the ad
minis,raiion to look into its own hand,
and this motion NJ Davis regarded nnd
resented MS hostile proceeding. This
! investigation lasted month or more.
and the resolutions il provoked produced
a marked effect upon the temper aud
/ spirit of the Southern copgrcss. which.
some weeks after the informal conference
at Fortress Monroe, ripcned into action
\ movement was organized, Of which
Senators Hunter, OF Virginia, Graham. OF
North Carolina, aud Orr, Of South Caro-
lima, were the lciding sp'rita, TO induce
/ the President to negotiate for peace, and
secure the best terms possible for the
South. Judge Campbell, the Assistant
Secretary OF War laborcd earnestly and
Consistently 10 this end, and It IA under
stood that Mallory, of the cabinet. was
anxious for the adoption of this policy.
mon Of the coutcdNrncy that to contnun
the contest for Independence was hope,
less parsuil--thW when the spring
weather permitted. the immense masses
Of Grant and Shcrman to be precipitated
upon them, th" Southern armies would
be utterly insufficient to resist th shock
To 60 on was simply TO cause a useless
tilusion or rbluod, only to be followed in
the end by ruin aud subjugation. 1t was
. believed that while the Souihcrncrs had
two largo armies in the field, possession
Of their capital aud an organized gov.
crnmcnt, they could, with this show of
strength, secure liberal terms upon the
basis of restoration Of the Union. II
was believed that Nj. Lincoln and MIR.
Seward would ihvor policy OF concili =
ton. In n word, these men held that re.
construction was infinitely preferable Ia
, subiugntion. Continue the contest, and
the upshot would bc that no terms, what
ever, could be obtained.
! Views of the sort were pressed by Mr.
, Hunter, aud others, upon Mr.. Davis, and
for long while il seemed with some
prospect of securing his assent. But the
Richmond Enquirer, Sentinel and Wing
were furious in their dcnu1ciations OF any
reconstruction. In little while, Mr..
! Davis began to be jealous of Iluntcr, and
he, his clique aud organs, spared no pains
To break him down. Feeling that his ef-
fort to save his State from fresh calam.
'ty, was unavailinI, Mr.. Hunter, at the
close OF the session, retired To his home
In Essex County. The breach between
him aud President Davis was complete
: aud final. The majority Of boh houses
, o' the confederate congress were ready
Tor peace negotiations, hut nothing could
be done without the cooperation Of the
executive. The ultra war men md pus.
ses, denounced all who thought there
was danger ahead, a. "croakcrs" and
"~hipped mem" The masses of the
Ipeople knew little OF the actual situation,
aud were ready aud anxious TO fight ns
long as there was reasonable prospect
of success. There can bo no doubt, how
ever, that they were greatly exhausted
and wcaricd of the war, aud il their rulers
had sought an honorable qualification they
would have sustained them.
One of the men whose hatred to Davis
wns most intense and bitter was Wigfnll
of Texas. H. declared that success with
Jefferson Davis at their head was impos
sible-lhat his incnpncity aud ubstina cy
woul ruin any cause it, the world, and he
favored counter revolution t. dcpose
hun. lie proposed publicly to coercc
Dayis aud Stephens to resign, and, II is
probably that the Presidents jealousy of
Hunter, who would thus have succeeded,
excited by this project, had no smal!
share in defeating the scheme of the lat.
ter to open negotiations for peace.
II Mr.. Davis ware to succeed in max
ing his way to Europe, he would then
pass into history as an incompetent, who
had brought ruin on the cause he had us'
pired to lead. Hardly any of the public
, men Of the South have any liking for him
and every one would have his story L
tell Of blunders aud mismanagemcnt. -
As il is, howe,s', Mr.. Davis is hUnte,
fugitive, fleeing for life, with price sc
: on his hend. The Southerners all fee
that the North desires to punish him, be
cause he was their chosen leader ant
representative, and, as such, they desire
his escape. At this moment, Mr.. DIvi;
rallies around him the symputhes oi
every Southern man and woman, and
l nowhere more than in this city, where
thousands have been bcggared by the in
cendiary proceedings which attended his
departure. The Southerners say that
, there Is 10 more reason why Mr.. Davis
should be punished than themselves for
rebellion. They pu, him in his position
aud kept him, and approved his opposition
to the National authority.
Again, while oil Southernors look with
horror aud detestation upon the crime by
which Mr.. Lincoln lost his life, they all
Irepudiate the idea that their government
had any thing to do with IL. Even those
among them most bitter upon Mr.. Davis
affirm that he would never for one mo.
ment have countenanced so Infamous u
resort as assn sSinntiop. II is not believ-
ed that Mr.. Davis cherished any special
personal hostility for the late President
or for the members of the Cabinet. His
1 hatreds were for the leaders of the South,
those whom he feared might outstriF him
in popularity, Or who venlured to ques-
ton his infallibility. lie huted Joe John
ston and Bcaurogard. lie was jealous OF
Hunter aud Ice, out those in tho South
who most appreciated aud suffered by his
rescnlments would be the first to ucquit
him Of an imputati6n Ofa thirst for blood.
Like Mr.. Lincoln, il was almost impossi-
Bile to obtain his consent to an execution
aud thus the discipline OF this Southern
armies was los;, never aflerward to be
regained.
AT one time, throughout the South
/ there was a clamor for retaliation for al
legged outrOges by the Union armies. 'Mr
Davis, General Lee, Mr.. Hunter, and
/ others, steadily resisted this demand, and
, no light saere OF blame fell, in conse
quence, upon tho confederate govern.
Imcnt. Even General Lee, tho idol OF
tho South during this war, did not efcaPe
....I L.Au,n In IL phmOnd