The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1868-09-16
Gen. Lees Letter to Gen. Roseerans.
WHITE sULpHER sp1NGs. WEST YIRa1N1


August 26, 1868. (
General have had the honor to receive your let
ter of this date, and in accordance with YOUR s1cces
ton, i have conferred with number of oentlCmer
from the South IN whose judgment have eonfdcd
and who are well acquainted with the public sentiment
Of their respective States.
They have kindly consented to unite with me in re
plying to your communication, and their names will be
found with my own appended to this answer With
this explanation, we proceed to give -youa candid
statement of what we believe to be the sentiment o
the Southern people regard to the subject which yo,
refer. - ~
/ Whatever opinions may have prevailed in the pas
in regard TO African slavery, the right of State
seeede from the Union, believe we express the al
most unanimous Judgment of the Southern people
when declare that they consider that those qucs
tons decided by the war, and that it is their in
tention in good faith to abide by that decision A
the close of the war the Southern people laid dowr
their arms and sought to their former relations
with the United States Government Through THEN
State Conventions they abolished slavery and annulled
their ordinances Of secession, and they returned
their peaceful pursuits With sincere purpose to iu
al their duties under the Constitution of the United
States which they had to support If their ac
ton in these particulars had been met in spirit oil
irankuess and cordiality, we believe that ere this old
irritatlons would have passed away, and the wounds
inflicted by the war would have been in great meas
ute healed.
p AS far as are advised the people of the South en-
tertain no unriendly feeling toward the government
of the United States, but they complain that THEN
rights under the Constitution are withheld from them
in the administration thereof The idea that the South
ern people are hostile 10 the negroes, and would op
press them if it IN their power to do So is en
ly nnfounded They have grown up in our midst, and
we have been accustomed from childhood to look
upon them'with kindness. The change in the rea-
tons OF the two races has wrought change III our
feeling toward them. They still constitute the mpor-
tant part of our laborng population. Without their
labor the lands of the South would be comparatively
unproduetive. Without the employment which South
agriculture Affords they would be destitute Of the
of subsistence, and become paupers dependent
public bounty. Selfinterest, even if there were
higher motives, would therefore prompt the whites
Of the South to extend the negroes and protec
ton. The important fact the two races are, under
existing circumstances, necessary to each other is
gradually becoming apparent both, and we believe
but for the Influences exerted to stir up the passions
of the negroes the relations of the races would
soon adjust themselves on basis of mutual kindness
and advantage. ..a.-. --g~-.-
1t is true that the people of the South, together
with the people of the North and West are for obvi-
Gus reasons, opposed to any system of laws which
would place the political power Of the country in the
hands of the negro race. But this opposition springs
from feeling of enmty but from deep seated con-
vstion that at present the negroes have neither the
intelligence nor other qualifications that necessary
to make them safe Repositories of political power.
They would inevitably become the victims Of dema-
gogues who, for selfish purposes. would misead them,
to the serious injury of public. The great want of
the South is peace. The people earnestly desire
guilty and the restoration of the Union They depre.
cate disorder and excitement the most serious OBJ