The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1867-07-31

a. a. e
with the view of opening negotiations Tor
cessation of the war, and that he desired to
be allowed to,yisit Mr.. Stevens. got this
letter ia April and Immediately wrote to
Richmond, asked that he should he permit
| ted to come up and see me- In reply re-
ceived word that an officer would be sent to
ascertain what Caball had to say. But this
was never done, and in June received an
other letter from Caball, stating that he was
dying and begging intercession on his be-
half. sent an irdignat protest to Rich
mond, but heard nothing further OF the mat
ter till July, when got word from the COM
mandant of the post at Andersonville that
Caball was dead p
THE CoNFEDERACY DEsPOTIsM.
Ihad, in the course of our talk, many in
teresting revelations of the inner workings OF
the Richmond government, and OF Its civil
military polity. Its war measures, especial
ly, were animadyerted on most severely and
prominent among these CONSUMPTION, which
Stephens regarded as an enormus blunder, and
a fragrant violation of the very principle on
which the war was waged on the part of
the South. "The result was" he observed,
that as the war went on, desertion, absen-
teeism, assumed prodigious proportions.
Mr.. Davis, in his Macon speech, stated that
there were 10000 deserters from the army.
Now the men had not grown lukewarm In
the cause.n s,sl 49,
But they found a new cause z"
"They found new cause. They had Sc
coded for State Rights; they found q CEN
tralized despotism, aiming at dynasty.
Long before the end, thinking men began
to realize that there would have to be a rev.
olution within the revolution. AS for the
manner in which supplies were raised by
impressment, that was mere robbery, and
was attended with the most gigantic corrup-
ton the earth ever saw"
"And you had arbitrary arrests, too ?"
"Oh, of the most shameful, shocking kind.
Why, when came out to Georgia in 1868,
found 1,100 persons in prison up here in At
lanta, without shadow of law" Then recur-
ring to forced CONSUMPTION, he added: ut
was satire to see free citizens dragged in
chains to fight for liberty"
"Do you think, then, it would have been
possible to have conducted the war purely
on the voluntary, laisses aller principle ~
Most assuredly. If it was not free
will war it was crime. Before Caesar cross
ed the Rhine, when he was about to enter
the wilderness, he put to his soldiers wheth-
err they would follow him, and only wanted
such as were willing to 60. The result was
that though the great body of the army had
been proposed to the expedition, yet scarcely
one refused to go. 1t is one thing in such
enterprises to coerce and another while re-
ally commanding, to seem to follow the
popular impulse All statesmen understand
this; and war without craftsmanship and
diplomacy is mere stupidity"
A SCENE IN THE SENATE.
In December the proposition came up for
a second suspension of habeas corpus. At
ter a protracted debate in the Senate it
came to tie, and it remained with Mr. Ste
phens, who, as Vice President of the Confed-
eracy, was President of the Senate, to decide
the matter by giving the casting vote.
81 rose to announce my vote, and stated
that felt it to be my duty to explain the
reasons that influenced me in what was GO
ing to do, when Senator objected to my
speaking" .s
They all knew you were going to vote
against the bill
"Oh, yes! They had heard me hun
dred times speak in private against the sus-
pension of habeas corpus" The Senator
objected to BIr Stevens speaking because
he was Vlce-President, and, after some spar
ring. another Senator arose and declared his
desire to change his vote to the affirmative,
which would have carried the bill Ste
phcns ruled against his so doing, seeing that
the debate was concluded; but the men,
bers appealed from and overruled his decis-
ion and passed the bill.