The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1868-09-18
and take such steps to meet yours as
will insure a lasting peace with all
its countless blessings.
Very truly, your friend,

GENERAL l. IL. T.. LEX, w mite sulphur
! Springs, West Virginia.
| WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, w. Va,
| August 26, 1868.
/ GENERAL: | have had the honor to
receive your letter of this date, and i'm
accordance with your suggestion, /
have consulted with number of gen
| tlemen from the South, in whose iudg-
ment l have confided, and who are
well acquainted with the public senti-
ments Of their respectiveStates. They
/ have kindly consented to unite with
/ me inreplying to your communication,
! and their names will be found with
/ my own appended 10 this answer
! With this explanation, we proceed to
/ give you candid statement of what
/ we believe TO be the sentiment of the
/ Southern people in regard to the sub
/ ject to which you refer.
! Whatever opinion may have pre-
} vailed in the past in regard to African
! slavery, or the right of a State 10 Sc
/ cede from the Union, we believe we
! express the almost unanimous judg-
/ ment of the Southern people when we
| declare that they consider that those
| questions were decided by the war,
I anu tIttlS IL 10 ltittI litN1HtAOlI. Ia AOpu
faith, to abide dy that decision. At
the close of the war the Southern peo-
pie laid down their arms and sought
to resume their former relations with
the United States Government.
Through their State conventions they
abolished slavery and annulled their or
dinances of secession, and they returned
to their peaceful pursuits with sincere
mn So II I,,+ hn
Constitution of the United States which
they had sworn TO support. If their
action in these particular. had been
met in a spirit of frankness and cOrdi-
ality, we believe that ere this old irri-
tatiOnS would have passed away and
the wounds inflicted by the war would
in a great measure have been healed.
As far as we are advised, the people Of
the South entertain no unfriendly feel
ing toward the Government of the T.
nited States, but they complain that
their rights under the Constitution are
withheld from them in the admins
tration thereof.
The idea that the Southern people
are hostile to the negroes, and would
oppress them if it were in their power
to do so, is entirely unfounded hey
AiEtNC up liE Jul llll0Cbs anu We
have been accustomed from our child
hood to look upon them with kindness.
The change in the relations of the two
races has wrought no change in our
feeling toward them. They still con-
stitute the important part of our labor
ing population. Without their labor
the lands of the South would be COM
paratively unproductive. Without the
employment which Southern agricul-
ture affords they would be destitute of
the means OF subsistence, and be-
come paupers, dependent upon public
bounty.
Selfinterest, even if their were no
higher motives, would therefore
prompt the whites of the South to ex-
tend to the negroes care and protection.
The important fact that the two races
are, under existing circumstances, ne
cessary to each other, is gradually be-
coming apparant to both; and we be-
lieve, but for influences eXerted to stir
up the passions of the negroes, the re-
lations Of the two races would soon adj
ust themselves on basis of kindness
and advantage.
1t is true that the people Of the South,
together with the people OF the North
and West, are, for obvious reasons, OPP
posed to any system OF laws which
would place the political power of the
country in the hands of the negro race.
But the opposition springs from no
feeling of enmity, but from deep
seated conviction that at present the
negroes have neither the intelligence
nor the qualifications which are neces-
sary to make them safe depositaries of
political power. They would inevita-
bly, become the victims ofdemagOgues,
who for selfish purposes, would mis-
lead them to the serious injury of the
public.
The great want of the South is peace.
The people earnestly desire tranquility
and the restoration of the Union.-
They deprecate disorder and excite
ment as the most serious obstacle to
their prosperity.
They ask a restoration of their rights
under the Constitution. They desire
relief from oppressive misrule. Above
all they would appeal to their country
men for the establishment in the
Southern States of that which has just
ly been regarded as the birthright of
every American, the right of self-gov-
ernment. Establish these on firm ba-
sis, and we can safely promise on be-
half of the southern people that they
will faithfully obey the Constitution
and laws of the United States, treat the
negro with kindness and humanity,
and fulfill every duty incumbent on
peaceful citizens loyal to the Constitu-
tion of their country.
We believe the above contains sue
cinct reply to the general topics en-
braced in your letter, and we venture
to say, on behalf Of the Southern pcO-
pie and of officers and soldiers of the
late confederate army, that they will
concur in all the Sentimnts which we
have expressed.
Approaching the patriotic motives
which have prompted your letter, and
reciprOcating your expressions of kind
regard, we have the honor to be
Very respectfully and truly,
r f Lee, Va.
q L Beauregard, La.
Alexander III Stephens, Ga.
Alexander III III Stuart, Va.
c NJ Conrad, La.
Linton Stephens, Ga.
\ L Caperton, w. Va.
John Echols, Va.
f S Stockdale, Texas.
+ w Pickens, S. C.
VIM J Robinson, Va.
Joseph r Anderson, Va.
VIM T Turner, w. Va.
G. II Subee, S. c.
f Fontaine, Va.
John Letcher, Va.
B G. Adams, Miss.
Wm J Green, n. G..
Lewis Z Harvie, Va.
P B Daniels, Jr., Va.
w t Sutherlin Va.
A B James, La.
Toutant Beauregard, Texas.
NJ o III Norton, La.
L p Brance, Ga.
II T Russell, Ga.
Samuel T DOuolasS Fla