Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-06-15
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

MOlA AANC OCCA ACd0 ny Tic GultOE Ol
the Augusta COnStitutiOnGList. The
following extracts from that paper
show the scope Of this remarkable
contribution to the history Of the war:
The initial colloquy is taken up
with a distinction as to our form Of
government. The federative princi-
pie is held to be a discovery in politi-
cal science. We are a confederate ma
tiOn-a nation ofnations, in which the
power of sovereignty is Invisible, but
not the sovereignty itself. The MARIA
tive then proceeds to the causes of
conflict arising from misinterpretatiOn
of the governmental principle enun-
Gated. The passage of personal lit
erty bills by several of the Northern
States, preventive of the rendition Of
fugitives from service, Is shown to
have been violative ofthe federal COM
pact; since, without ample
pledges on the part Of the
North, there never would have
been any Union. The agitation aris-
ing from this breach of contract, bad
as it was, became intensified by the
declaratien of Salmon p. Chase that
| the Northern States would never e
peal their acts. Hence the secession
Ofthe South was principally brought
about by the peridy of the North, and
her declared determination to con-
tinue in perfidy. Mr.. Stephens COM
! pletely exOnerates the South from in
auguratiOn of the war. The first gun
at sumter was not the Overltact; since
the aggressor in war is not the first
who uses force, but the first who rem
ders force necessary. 1t is clearly
shown, too, that the South exhausted
every known means of preventing
Strife, but was met at every turn by
the matchless duplicity and dishon-
| esty of William H. Seward. The his
tory of the formation of the Confeder-
ate government is deliberately drawn.
/ Jefferson Davis was looked
upon by all as an eminently
conservative man. Toombs was
to have been chosen President,
but failed through a singular misap-
prehensiOn on the part of representa-
tiVes of other States, who had under
stood that he refused to have his
name put forward. There was some
misunderstanding likewise concern
ing Howell Cobb being the choice of
Georgia. By accidental c0mplica-
tiOns Mississippi had the first choice,
and chose Jefferson Davis, leaving
Georgia the second, which resulted in
the Nice-Presidency of Nj. Stephens.
The Montgomery constitution is q
monument of the wisdom, forecast,
and craftsmanship of its trainers and
an everlasting r~efutation of the
charges brought against the South OF
disloyalty to the federative principle.
Coercion was unconstitutional and
only defended on the plea o~fnecessity,
the plea of the tyrantin all ages of the
world. A convention of the States
called by Congress would have pre-
vented war and restored the Union
or, in case the South refused to 90 into
such a convention, the North would
have had a better cause for battle. II
is a misnOmer to call the war a ''re-
belIion" or ''civil war" 1t was q
"war between the States" One Of
the most remarkable and vigorous
portions of Mr.. Stephens book is his
statement of the treatment of prison
ers ff war by both beligerents. The
cruelty and torture charged upon the
South is fixed upon Stanton and the
Washington authorities, and upon
them and their policy will forever rest
the blood and the suffering of the
brave on either side.
The responsibility for the failure to
advance after the battle of Manassas
is referred to President Davis. Mr..
Stephens afirms that there never was
any personal feud between him and
Nj. Davis, though they differed wide
ly on many questions of public policy.
MI. Davis is alluded to throughout in
the kindnest manner, and warmly
defended against the aspersiOns of his
enemies al home and abroad. Mr..
Stephens believed that diplomacy
could h~onorably stop the war in 1868.
He proposed a mission to Washing.
ton for that purpose, when the mill
tary status was most favorable to both
parties. Mr.. Davis did not concur
until too late, until, in fact, the mill.
tary status had rendered such a course
impossible. Lees invasion of the
North was a great.blunder political
ly and in a military sense,
but ~chargeable, in the main, to the
Richmond Cabinet. Gettysburg and
Vicksburg turned the tide in favor Of
the North. But the vital blow struck
at Southern success was in the mis-
taken politely of finance and cOnscrip-
ton, the latter especially. The peO-
pies spirit was broken bya it, and if
was as unconstitutional as unneces-
sary. The people were willing to
fight for liberty, but were not willing
to be compelled to do so. If compui-
sion had been necessary, the wal
/ Arlnht 70 hnwrn han, ,L,-I-z r.
no people are worthy of liberty, OF
capable OF preserving it, who have to
be driven into~battle. Even in the
early part of 1865 Mr.. Stephens had
hopes, in case the policy Of the
administration changed. 1t did
not change, and so CONSUMPTION, i'm.
pressment, the suspension of hd6eus
corpus, and prOdigal waste of lives
and property, were the causes O
Southern despair and defeat. Much
light is thrown upon the Hampton
Roads conference. There seems to be
little doubt that a scheme was con
cOcted to terminate the war by a Of
version of the question to another
channel and a joint movement of the
two armies against the French in
Mexico. To have been successful, the
preliminaries to a military convention
demanded the utmost secresy. Mr..
Stephens proposed that Mr.. Davis
should meet Nj. Lincoln. He refused,
and suggested three commissioners.
Mr.. Stephens advised that three able
men should be appointed whose alb
sence would not be detected or OBJ
served. Mr.. Davis, however, insisted
upon appointing just the very trio
whose absence from Richmond would
have been remarked at once. In con-
sequence, the matter became a COM
mon public rumor, and the whole
business was thus defeated from the
start. Nobody was more disappoint-
ed at this result than Mr.. Davis, who
subsequently seemed to lose his good
Judgment, but never his ardent deyo-
ton to liberty. Mr. Stephens des-
cants upon the future destiny of
the United States. He holds that
the South lis powerless at this
time to shape or control events.
The Judiciary department, though
sadly brow-beaten, may still be a bull
Wark of liberty. So far, however,
the cause lost at Appomattox was not
the Federal principle, but the main
tenance OF that principle by arms.
The point reached by the Centralists
is an attempt by duress to induce Ger
tain States, as sovereign States, to
conform to their action under the sem-
blance of voluntary consent. The
battle is still to be fought, in the To-
run of reason, on the validity or In
validity of their acts. To the last,
Mr.. Stephens fingers wistfulIy over
his beloved South and their cause.
He declares that we are not a
conquered peoples" at all events,