The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-05-22
Jefferson Davis.

Pierce's cabinet and the Mexican war,
Davis was led to express himself upon
the late rebellion, saying; "It is gen
orally believed at the North that l am
responsible for that great calamity. l
was but one Of the vast body Of the
South and no more responsible than
thousands of others. The war would
have taken place without me as newt
ably as it did with me. It WAS one Of
those things which are sure to some in
the progress of events and in solving
the great problems of government upon
this continent"
He conceded expressly that the aboli-
ton of slavery would prove al ultimate
good to the country, that it was a mani
fest advantage to the white race for it
would lead to the development of the
South and multiply her manufacturing
and mechanical industries From the
advantage of climate alone the future Of
the South was more promising than
that of any other section of the country.
But the condition Of the present genera
ton of the black race is all the worse by
reason of the abolition of slavery.
Mr.. Davis doubts very much the wis
dom of the attempt to educate the
negro, and utterly disbelieves in giving
him the ballot. 1t was his opinion that
wherever the negro race was found it
must be as an inferior and servile race,
and in the long run must give way to
the superior race under any and all cir
cumstances. Davis acknowledged, how
ever, that he had changed his mind en-
tirely upon the question, viz, that the
great staples of the South, cotton and
sugar, could be produced with greater
economy and in greater abundance by
paid labor rather than by the labor of
the slaves. This has already been
demonstrated, and the fact alone goes
far to prove the advantage which the
abolition of slavery has been to the
whites.
Referring to the political status of the
negro, Davis said the freedman had
naturally been misled by politicians,
thinking Northern men their truest
friends, but Of late years they seemed
to have reached an opposite conclusion,
and in the long run, it would be found
that the negro, having but little real
self-independence, would vote in accord
ance with the wishes and the sentiments
of those who employed him. For this,
Davis reasoned that the negro vote
would be less important factor in the
politics of the future than the Northern
men supposed. Referring to the oftre-
iterated charges of coercion and bull-dos-
ing of negro voters, Davis said he had
10 doubt that there were individual
instances Of cruelty and coercion on the
part of lawless men in some sections, but
he believed that the prevailing sentiment
among the Southern men was one of
greatest kindness and good will toward
their former slaves.
Speaking of national affairs, he said
that he accepted the situation as de-
cided by the arbitrament of the sword,
and that he was very hopeful of the fu-
ture of the country. He did not be
lieve that there was any existing cause
for sectional enlargement or that there
could be any hereafter. One of the re-
suits of the war already apparent was
that the South was less dependent on
the North than heretofore for while
she would supply the great staples as
before, the people had begun to produce
a greater variety of crops for their own
use than ever before, and they would
eventually compete with other sections
in manufactures and mechanics arts.
In this connection he remarked that
while the South was destitute of money
and the value of real estate was greatly
in very short time the
price of landed property would advance
because of it's intrinsic value in the pro-
duction of staple articles of commerce
He remarked that the only disturbing
elements to be discerned now were the
efforts of extremists upon both sides to
keep alive the animosities and hatreds
Of the past. If Congress would pursue
a moderate course and attend to its le-
G innate duties of general legislation for
ii q good of the whole country, all the
great social and industrial questions
which were now the source OF so much