The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-07-09

coin, ai,li Donglas f,ifDseli. The trittenden
cnmDrumise vas offered. supported II
heSfftty9 ma Sfrtereiy, atthongff the sullen
lnfsstfnscy az Seward had made IL almost
TO do ANYTHING For support
Einr this compromise was denounced sin
3eorria by Ben. Hill as having betrayed
my scctfon and my people. didn't
mind this &c NIL. as ben. IS always dc.
nonncfnk somebpdy or something. AZ
IleHptf, j saw tint tie compromise measures
must fall. WITH d sptfsis tents obstinacY
that I have never yet seen surpassed. Sew
Iard and bis backefs refused every overt nre.
fthen felegfanhed TO Atlanta, - AiEfs ut an
end. North determined. Seward viii not
bulge, an'i1Gh II Amin. favor Of SECESSION
Then the-dght was fairly opened. still
tselt dnuh tfnEs bout carving the Stste. me
people were determined against SUBMISSION
| to the, unjust ener0achments Of tue MOTHS
but there were many who favored some
sort. Of compromise measures; and otDers
no wanted to whit for CD operation. and
Istiif ott1erry who feared to take soi. despe-
rate a4step. And let me say5Ti2ht here
that ] never doubted Che gravity oil the sit
milton. The statement that l. said that l
would drink all the bloodtthat was split is
one OF the stereotyped lies they have circu-
Hated about me- When / left the Senate |
knew It meant war, and said in my fare.
we'll speech that the next fime looked
upon Washington thought 1t would be at
the head OF southern troops. You will see
later how serious I thought the war would
/ be. After heated campaign the Secession
Convention met. 1 was doubtful about the
result, even after I had looked over the roll.
I IfeIt That the current must be turned before
the voting came. / went to, work with
the delegates, therefore. AIeck Stephens
thought be had me. He said the, convention
would never vote to secede. / told him l
thought it would. BE then said: . Wen, II
you will put fair, square resolution OF Sc
cessiou and carry it I will 60 with you. Il
only insist that, it shall not be equiyoca,
Ike the Alabama ordinance" 1.replled !:
81 do not see, Aleck, how we make seces-
sion more definite than by repeating the act
of accession. But, to satisfy you that am
SIP cere, you write the resolution yourself
and will then put it as you offer it.' And
he did so. Il have often laughed at him
about hartng written the resolution Of Sc.
cession for Georgia. When it was put we
carried it by thirty-odd votes. Even after
this ! was not satisfied that the people OF
Georgia were for secession or would stand
BY it, and went to work to reconcile all the
elements. TosshoW that the movement did
not mean the elevation OF the Breckenridge
wing, agreed to give the opposition four
out of nine delegates to the Provisional
Congress called in Montgomery. This we
did in good faith, and this had very much
to do with solidiiying the State. Hill and
Stephens and their followers came in, and
the people were soon united.
HOW Mr.. DAVIS WAS MADE PRESIDENT.
hot n, tJo Of MnnfpnY,,nrC 3
The secret history of that meeting has
never been given. The majority Of the
delegates were opposed to the election OF
Mr.. Davis. His own State (Mississippi) was
opposed to him, and If the vote had been
cast by delegates rather than by States he
could never have been elected. Carolina
was for Davis all the time. He suited the
extreme views of that State, and Mr.. Rhett
held the delegates well in hand. Florida
had only three votes. One OF these (Ander-
SOM was an old school-felloW Of Davis. and
Owens was Caroinian, and, under the in
fluence of Rhett, they out-yotcd the third
delegate and gave Davis the State. With
these two States, each counting as much as
Georgia, he secured the Alabama delega-
ton by one vote. by means OF which I will
not discuss. Georgia, Mississippi, and
Louisiana would have preferred either Mr.
Cobb or myself, but neither Of US were cam
didates, and neither would consent to have
struggle. So they agreed with the three
States that had spoken. Texas, informally
represented, acquiesced, and MIR. Davis was
elected. I was not on good terms with Mr..
Davis. He appointed me Secretary of State
and declined to accept it, pre'erring to 20
at once to the field. Twas urged to recon-
slider, and at length I did 80, fearing that
my refusal might be considered as signif.
cant OF lack Of harmony. l. was never
satisfied with my position in the Cabinet.
The trouble was that too many Of our
leaders. sought places, when they were
needed lin the field. secured our nego.
tiations as bellgerents, established relations
with the unseceded southern States, and
then Insisted on retiring: BY this time
other States had Joined us, and felt that
the Cabinet should be Ee0rganiZed. I sug-
gested to Mr.. Davis that he ask for the re-
signation OF all the portfolios, that all the
! 1alter States might be represented. He said
lie dislked to do so, and then said would
do it for him. he acquiesced in this, and /
Informed the Cabfnetof what Ihad thought
of doing and what I thought they should
do. 1t was "a Dombshell in the ranks. They
asked me il Mr.. Davis had sent me to them.
| w
pened. But they declined to give up their
places. | then resigned and went to the
field. .. -. .s:a
WHY THE CONFEDERACY FAILED. .".
What in your: opinion was the cause OF
the failure OF the Confederacy?
II / had to give one act that was most
fatal, should say the conscript act. That
dcmoralized the troops and the country.
There was no necessity for it, and it sprung
from Mr.. Dayis's desire. to have the an.
pointment Of officers. He was crazy over
his West Point martinets, and when he
could not appoint the officers of the Youn
teers, he went to Congress and demanded
the conscript' law and got it. said lat the
time, 1.-The cause is lost, and this should
belts epitaph:s KILLED by West Point.'''
In general terms the absolute inefi.
cheney at Richmond was, the cause Of
our failure. DayisCis remarkable char
acter. lie is good writer, and that is all.
| He was a slow man, and always acted rash
| ly ct last. HIS delay was not caused by de,
| liberation, ,but.wasa combination of.yariety
and a refusal to think. He is a very small
military man. His idea OF war was based
| on the experience in the, Breckenridge cam
paign. I told him that ninety per cent. OF
war was business-that we must organize
victory rather than trust to- fighting entire.
| ly. I urged him to send to England to buy
FALL the arms there. He ordered 5000 rifles.
Joe Brown had more arms for long
time than the Confederacy had. Under
preteuce of giving Unionists time to leave
the South, kept our ports open for
sixty DAYS. No new Government ever
| otortad with s,,ch unlimited credit No we