The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-07-21
THE FUTURE OF TIE SOUTH,
an" other Kindred Topics Descanted
Upon by Jefferson Davis.

onor kindred Topics Descanted
Upon by Jefferson Davis.
"A stan correspondent of the PbIade,.
Phia 1Iress, now travelling through the
9onth, has had lengthy interview with
Jefferson Davis upon multitude of ton.
les, from which we make the following
excerpts:
What is the material future of the
south q asked the correspondent.
ihat nc mar c.: :o,. Z: TIC Souti,
can establish system of tenantry or ret
I Immigration 70 occupy aud till the lands
there is no question but that it has n
great future. Whether t:e colored peo.
pie Will ever reach that point is a oucs.
ton yet to be settled. Man is now in n
struggle with nature upon these prob.
iems. There is no question but that the
whites are better off for the abolition of
slavery. and it is an equally patent fact
that the coi,red people are not. I.isan
arithmetlcal proposition easily dctermin.
ed mat it is more profitable to proceed
with Tree labor where only the hand
employed is to be paid than where the
who'e family is to be supported to get
the labor Of those competent TO WORK
men there Is also saving in capital.
Delore The war when cOlO1ed man died
.he owner lost from thousand to fifteen
hundred dollars. Now he loses nothing
except, perhaps, the cost of burial. II
the colored people shall develop the
proper. thrift and get a degree of moral
education to keep pace with any ad.
vancement they make they may
become tcnantry which will enable the
south to rebuild its waste places and
become immensely wealthy Negroes
become greatly attached Ia localities
and most of them love to remain where
they were raised. Almost all of our old
servants are yet OIL the plantation near
VicksOurg. The colored people have
many good traits and many Of them are
religious; indeed, the four millions
! South when the war began were Chris.
tianlzed from barbarisn. In that respec,
the South has been a greater practical
! missionary than all the missionary socie.
ties in the world. had an old colored
man who, for the colored people in our
section, was as complete ruler as was
ever born. He was as free from guile
and as truthful Il man as | ever knew.
The federal forces treated the old man
with great indignity. He was a very su.
pcrior servant and his quarters where he
lived were fitted up with taste-some
people might say luxury. He had
everything about him for his comfort.
and when the soldiers came and looked
into his neat, well-furnished cabin they
asked him who those things belonged to
TO me- he answered. They denounced
him as untruthlul, said he had taken
those things to keep for his master, and
took them away from him, Nothing
that was ever done TO me-" said Mr..
Davis, made me so indignant as the
treatment OF the old colored man."
War was not necessary to the aboli-
ton Of slavery" continued Mr.. Davis
Even before the agitation began at the
North, and the menacing acts to the in
sti'ution, there was a growing feeling all
over the South for it's abolition. But the
Abolitionists at the North, both by pub
lication and speech, cemented the South
and crushed the feeling in favor Of emnn-
cipation. Slavery could have been
blotted out without the sacrifice of brave
men and without the strain that il
always makes upon established forms of
government. l see it stated that utter.
tered the sentiment and endorsed it that
slavery is the cornerstone of the Con-
federacy.' That is not my utterance."
"Mr. Toombs attributes the measure of
your cause in q great meause to your
opposition to his plans for the emanci.
patton Of slaves TO meet objections Of
France and England to recognize you"
Mr.. Davis laughed outrig at this
statement and said:
II did not know that there was any
feeling between Mr.. Toombs and myself.
AS for the proclamation of emancipation,
do not remember to have heard of it
before in my life. That would have been
stroke of policy indeed No, Mr..
Toombs and myself never had any differ.
ences upon that proposition. you may
rely. The fact is that the position of Sec.
retary of State did not fiji Mr.. Toombs,
and appointed him against my judg-
mcnt. Georgia was entitled to high
place in the cabinet, and had intended
tn appoint Mr.. Toombs Secretary Of the
Treasury on account Of his general recog-
nized financial ability. When the South
Carolina delegation SO strongly urged
Memuinger for Secretary Of the Treasu-
ry, yielded to their recommendatic
and gave Mr.. Toombs the portfolio f
State which had intended for Mr..
Barnwell OF South Carolina, one of the
ablest. purest men in the South. Had it
not been for the action Of the South
Carolinians in favoring Mr.. Memminger
for the Treasury Toombs would have got
for the Treasury Toombs would have got
it, hardly think any other mans esti
mate Of my first cabinet will agree with
that Of General Toombs. He is wrong
about their not having financial stand
ing. Mr.. Memminger had used it IN
Europe to our advantage. General
Toombs is a man of ability, but the army
or State Department was not the place
for him. He is fine lawyer and n good
tinancier. was attracted to his fir N
cial ability while in the Senate when lie
was the equal of any man there in dc
bate upon financial questions. He is an
erratic man, and not always accurate in
what he says"
= Plat has an income Of $4,000
year, and does not depend on Sena,o-
rial stipend. He gets $4,000 year as