American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-04-05

Hon. .JeHey-pn Dsvfs-
BOsFON, March Z9.-The Herald
/ of tomorrow wAf contain al inter>
esting interview VIZ h Mr.. Davis.
After speaking OF his experiences
i'm Pierce's Calumet and the Mexi>
can war, he was led TO express him
self on the late retwlliOn, saying:
at is generally believed in the
North that am chiefly responsible
for that great calamity. l WAS but
one of a vast body of the South,
and no more responsible than thou
sands of others. The war would
have taken place without me as in
| evitably a. it did with me. 1t was
one of those things which was sure
to come in the progress of events,
and In solving great problems of
government upon this continent"
He conceded expressly that the
abolition of slavery would prove an
ultimate good to the country; that it
was q manifest advantage to the
white race, for it would lead to the
development Of the s ,uth, and mul.
tipIy her manufacturing and me-
chanical Industries. From the adj
vantages of climate alone, the fu>
ture of the South is more promising
than that of any other section Of
the country, but the condition of
the present generation of the black
race ia all the worse by reason OF
the abolition of slavery.
He very much doubts the wisdom
of attempting to educate the. pegro,
and utterly disapproves of giving
him the ballot. 1t was his opinion
that wherever the negro race was
found, it must he as an inferior and
servile race, and in the lOnH run
would give way to the superior race
under any and all circumstance.
Mr.. Davis acknowledge, however,
that he had changed his mind en-.
tirely on one question, VIZ: That
the great staples of the South, cot
ton and sugar, could be produced
with greater economy and in great
er abundance by paid labor than by
the labor of slaves. This has al.
ready been demonstrated, and that
fact alone goes tar to prove the
advantage which the abolition Of
slavery has been to the Whites.
Referring to the political status
Of the negro, Mr.. Davis said tho ne
gIO hail naturally been misled by
politicians, thinking Northern men
were their best friends; but of late
years they seemed to have reached
the opposite conclusion, and in the
long run 1t would be found that thu
negro, having but little seIf>depene
dehce, would vote in accord With
the wishes and sentiments of those
who employed him. For this rev.
son the negro vote would be q less
important factor in the politics Of
the future than Northern men sup.
posed.
Referring to the oft reiterated
charges of coercion and Icing
of negro voters, ne said he had no
doubt there were individual In.
stances Of cruelty and coercion on
the part OF lawless men in some
sections, but he beIieved the pres
vailing sentiment among Southern
men was one Of greatest kindness
and goodwill toward their former
slaves.
| Speaking of national affairs, he
said he accepted the situation as de-
ciled by arbitrament of the sword,
aud he was very hopeful of the fu>
ture of the country. Heidi not be-
lleve there was any existing cause
for sectional estrangement or that
there could he any hereafter. One
of the results Of the war already
apparent was that the South was
less dependent upon the North than
her etOfOre, for while she would sup.
rly great staples as before, her PEG
pie had began to produce d greater
variety of crops for their own use
than ever before, and they would
eventually compete with other sec
tons in manufactures and mechani,
cal arts. In this come .tion he r..
marked that while the South is des-
titute OF money, and the value Of
real estate was greatly lessened, in
very short time the price OF land
ed property would advance because
of its intrinsic value in the produce
ton of staple articles of commerce..
He further remarked that the
w w VIC
cerned now were the efforts of ex I.
tremists OH both sides to keep alive
anlmoslfies and hatreds of the past.
Ii Congress would pursue = mode.
rate course and attend to its legi'i-
mate duties OF legislation for the
good of the whole country, all the
great social and Industrial quetiuns
winch are now a source of 80 much
contention, would soon settle them~
selves, and the country would he 1t
peace.
In conclusion. he said: "YOu may
assure yonr people that 1 have NJ
I unkindness in my heart tn them or
any oil the people Of the North. /
am not the devil they have painted
me. have neither horns nor boots
and if they knew me they would
find l am very much one Of them
selves" -t
Meridian Mercnry: On Wednes-
day night, at Shuqualak, negro
was taken from custody AMI shot to
death by a crowd of lynchers. His
name was W. d. Maddox, a preach
er. That day he had gone TO the