The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-08-09
ATALK WITH GEN. TooMBs.
Why, in His Opinion, the Confederaey
Failed.
Atlanta GA Cor. phila. Times.

The recent speech made by Gen
Bob" Toombs in the case of the stat,
against treasurer ''Jack'' Jones dis
closed an alarming condition of physic
al weakness on the part of the old maj
eloquent, and gave too plain evidenc,
that his race has been nearly run
Three or four times he tottered to hi.
chair and sat down to rest. His mint
IS still powerful, and his frame is mas
i've and erect, but it is quite clear that
he Is not equal to a sustained effort
The people of Georgia never love any
man better than they love Gen. Toombs
and the signs of his breaking down
have awakened a tender interest in him
and in all that to him pertains. He is
the most remarkable man in many re-
spects that the south ever produced,
and it is doubtful if the records Of a
lordilier life than his can be found in
the history of our republic.
In a long talk with your correspon-
dent he talked freely of the events that
led up to secession, the organization of
the secession government, the causes of
the failure of the confederacy, of his
fight after the collapse, of his opinions
of reconstruction, and threw much
light on these interesting topics.
"What, in Your opinion, was the
of the failure of the confeder-
acy?''
"If l had to name one thing that was
most fatal 1 should say the conscript
act. That demoralized the troops and
the country. There was no necessity
for it, and it sprang from Mr.. Davis
desire to have the appointment of of
icers. He vas crazy over his West
Point martinets, and when he could
not appoint the officers of the volunteers
he went to congress and demanded the
conscript law and got it. l said at tine
time: The cause is lost, and this should
be its epitaph: Killed by West Point
In general terms the absolute %ineffici-
ency at Richmond was the cause of our
failure. Davis is a remarkable char
acter. He is a good writer, and that is
all. He was a slow man, and always
acted rashly at last. His delay was not
caused by d~eliberation, but was a COM
bination of variety and a refusal to
think. He is a very small military
a told him that 80 per cent. of
war was business; that we must organ
ize victory rather than trust to fighting
entirely. 1 urged him to send to Eng
land to buy all the arms there. He or
dered 8, 900 rifles. Joe Brown, of Geor-
gia, had more arms for a long time
than the confederacy had. Under pre-
tense of giving the %unionists time to
leave the south, 1 kept our ports open
for sixty days. No new government ever
started with such unlimited credit as
we had. We had any amount of cotton
offered us. 1 urged Mr.. Davis to send
this to England as fast as it could be
carried, and buy ships and arms with it.
We could have borrowed any amount
we wanted. The first loan made was
$4,000, when it should have been So
600, 0OO. But it seemed to be impossi-
BILE to get the government to look at the
matter in a serious light. Had the
first sixty days of the confederate gov
eminent been properly improved we
could have 50 organized that defeat
would have been impossible. AT one
time it was announced that there was
IN error of 5000, 000, 900 in the amount
on the books of the government. There
was v a moment during the war
when Davis actually appreciated the
situation. Why, after the march of the
confederates from Rappahannock to
Sharpsburg and back again, when they
had swept everything before them.
numbers not availing anything against
them, Davis thought the war was over,
and actually began to quarrel about
who had whipped it. He was as jeal-
Gus as a barbary hen, and once started
to have me arrested for ridiculing him.
L am thoroughly satisfied that the es-
Enlistment of a government under Mr.
Davis was an impossibility. Indeed the
fight was hap-hazard from beginning
to end, without method or statesman.
ship, and sustained only by miraculou:
valor as long rs it was. The constitu-
ton was a good, one, but there praise o
the confederate government and it.
works must end"
"Have you ever taken the oath of al
legiance to the United States govern
ment?"
"No, sir. The last oath | took wa:
to the confederate states, and | shall
never take another. l do not like TIN
general government, and would no
consent to serve it in any capacity. Il
is a temporary concern at best. The
constitution has no power within it
self to enforce itself. 1t depends solel.
on the good faith of the people, ant
that guarantee alone cannot capno
continue to bind together a great coun
tryof diverse interests. have neVe
really believed since 1850 that this un
ion was IA perpetuity. The terrible ex
p%erience Of the late war will probabl
deter any faction from making a roy
for the next few years. Had it no
been for this the west might have pre-
cipitated a collision during the electio
middle of 1876. I have no faith in.th