The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-20
UNHAPPY REBELS.

q
Examine the Public Archives-He Is
Refused.
The following correspondence explains it
seli:-
To the Secretary of war;-NEw YORK, Nov. 2,
1S6S.-Sir:-I had applied to the State Depart
ment for permission to examine 1.-The Rebel
Archives" in Washington City, to verify a his
torcal work l AN now cOmposlng:-"Life of
Jefferson Davis" Understanding these archives
are within the control OF your Department., lnoH
direct nay application to you; begging to call your
attention To the considerations that desire TO
examine these archives purely in toe way or a
historical inquiry; tnat the object OF their
collection at the public expense is supposed to
have been for historical aid, and thus consists
with and supports my positions; and that they
have already been eX imineu, as | understand,
through permission OF the Government, by
writer's on the Northern side, among them
biographer OF General Grant. ln view Of these
considerations, ! hope you will grant me the
permission sought; especially as can conceive
no ground for distinction as between didereut
writer's, If the object and value OF these archives
is historical-and what other object or value
they can have am al a loss TO imagine.
have the honor to be your obedient servant,
EDWARD A. POLLARD.
WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-G ENRRAL's
OFFICE, WASHINGTON, Nov. IA, ls6S.-Edwa
A. Pollard, Esq.-Sir: Y GU are respectfully
informed that your application of the 2i INST.
for pernllssIon to examine certain archives III
possession of this Deparlment, has not been
iayorsbly considered by the secretary OF War.
very .IcspcOsiuiy, Joui ooOulSne eSifouN,
L. d. TowksEsD,
Assistant AdjutantGeneral.
The above correspondence iounos an appeal
TO pubic opinion, Despotlsm is not less repre-
hensibie because the occasion is small aud tae
immed diate application is but to a single person;
for it is the prmciple and hot the width OF cir-
cumstances that is TO be considered. Ii may,
in some sense, be but small matter that a
Southern writer has been refused access to a
bureau of intoI nation; and, indeed, it ls OF bat
little practical consequences, since L may say,
without presumption, that possess more OF the
secret history OF the Southern Contederacy pro.
tected from legal processes than the Government
at Washington, should ii scour the laud ior
witnesses. will ever be able to obtain, and
may furthermore explain that wished 10
examine the "Rebel Archives" not to acquire
facts, but to obtain some formal vouchers
which would have been useful as references IN
my book. So far, the matter Is OF but little im-
poriance. But IT is matter OF great conse-
QuenCe-one that interests every citizen III the
land-lhat writer should have been deo Jared
from bureau having The same relation to the
public as government Library or museum-it
can certainly have none other, simply aud
solely on me ground that he was II SoulheVner,
or that he mtcnded 10 write on the Southei2
side OF historical question.
Briefly, decisvelY, there Is no other ground,
because 1t ia known Thar q Northern, writer, q
biogTapher or eulogist OF General Grdut, was
recently allowed unlimited access 10 these
archives.
There is thus no escape from the conclusion
that was denied because was a Soitherner
or because my pen happened to be dlstastelui to
the powers that be.
Now, am citizen of the United States
accepting all obligations as such, bound TO the
Government by every oath ana ceremony II ha
imposed since the war, and 1 demand the
same rights as any other citizen, no matte
what his nativity or his opinions or his pursuits
do not understand the meaning of au inerio
citizenship, aid if such anomaly is to be apple'
TO Southern men, then Opr Goverpment is
despolism, for it is the inequality OF rights
Iath, than the srigor OF common laws, whicI
makes the dtspotism.
The bureau which contains the papers re
feTred to was established at the public expense
and for public objects. IL was designed as
treasury OF history, rot as curiosity shop {
old papers 10 support sinecures ard cob webs.
The next step may be 10 exclude 'unbapp
Rpbelsn from the Congressional Library. .tn
Smithsonian Institute, aud indeed IRON all th
public boUnties of literature and art.
THIS we repeat, NAV be snail matter In th
estimation OF some. Any how, IL has been aro
enough 10 detaIn the Secretary OF War In lneI
baton for several weeks. But, indeed IT
smolt in some respects, and the paltrlness of ri
occasion IL axes it quite as contemplate as II
magnitude OF the principle renders l5 cIimna