The Osceola times., 1885-01-17
SHERMAN vo. DAVIS.
General sherman Publishes "a ',ustihcatio"
of III. Remarks Rejecting Upon Jensr-
.on Davis and His Attitude Toward the
soufhern Coufederacy.

of III. Remarks Rejecting Upon oe"e'
an, Davis and His Attitude Toward t"s
! Southern Confederacy.
WASHINGTON, ID. c., January L.
The National Republican publishes IN
full the documents filed by General sher-
man with the War Department in Justihca-
tlon of his assertion at recent meeting
of Grand Army Post in st. Louis that
Jefferson Davis, during the progress Oh
the war, changed his State rights doc
trines aud threatened to use force should
any State of the Confederacy attempt to
secede from the Government. Gencfai
Sherman's letter transmitting these docu-
ments was published by certain papers
this morning in violation OF pledge $50
Secretary Lincoln says that the whole
CORRESPONDENCE should be published or
none.
The omitted documents on which Gen.
eral Sherman based the charges contained
| In his speech and reiterated in his letter,
established these points; Extracts from
contemporaneous cyclopcdlas set forth
that In North Carolina two parties exist
ed, one headed by Holden, who contended
that the State alone had the right to ne
gotiate peace with the General Govern
ment; the other, headed by Governor
(now Senator) Vance, who insisted that
the State could not act In cooperation
with other States engaged with her in the
war. Quotation Is made from speech
Ia, x.rhi iah h.a "a.
clared that secession from the Confederacy
will involve us In new war-a bloodler
conflict than that which we now deplore.
SO soon as you announce to the world
| that you are sovereign and independent
nation, as a matter of course the Confeder-
ate Government has a right to declare war
against you, and President Davis will
make the whole State field OF battle
and blood.
This is followed up by letter from
Jefferson Davis to Governor Vance,
dated January s, 1864, in which he says;
have received your letter of the 3oth ul-
timo containing suggestions of the measures
to be adopted for the purpose of removing
the sources OF discomfort in North Carolina
fear much, from the trnor OF the
news receive from North Carolina, that an
attempt VIII be made by some bad men 10
inaugurate movements which must be con
sidered equivalent to aid and comfort to the
enemy, and which all patriots should com
bine to put down at any cost lou may
count on my aid in every effort to spare your
States the scenes OF ciyi! warfare which will
dcvastate its homes II the designs OF these
traitors be suffered to make headway.
In another message to the Confederate
Congress, transmitted about this same
time, Mr.. Davis said he had hoped TO
present to the world "the proud spectacle
of a people unanimous in the assertion
and defense of their rights, and without
the necessity of II single sacrifice of civil
rights to military necessity, but it can no
longer be doubted that the zeal with
which the people sprang to arms at the
beginning of the contest, has in some
parts of the Confederacy been i'm
paired. Public meetings have been
held, in some of which a
reasonable design is masked by "A
pretense of devotion to State sovereignty
and in others is openly avowed."
Whcreupon he asks: "Must these evils
be endured? Must the Independence, for
which we are contending, the safety OF
the defenseless families of the men who
have fallen in battle, and of those who
still confront the invaders, be put in
peril for the sake of conformity to the
tcchncalitics of the law of treason" lie
proceeds to recommend the suspension
OF the writ of habeas corpus throughout
the Confedcracy.
Appended to this secret message is an
Intercepted letter from Alex. II. stephens
to Hcrschel V. johnson, of Georgia
(Which has previously been published
| but which only becomes fully intelligiblt
when considered in the connection in
which General Sherman places it) in which
Mr.. stephens says Of Mr.. Davis;
"Sincs his first elevation TO power ht
has changed many of his former State,
rights principles, as in case of conscrip-
tion. His whole policy on the organiza-
ton and discipline OF the army is per.
iectly consistent with the hypothesis that
he is aiming at absolute power"
Other documents are given, together
with arguments and historical facts, con.
cerning an article of several columns, al
tending to confirm the truth of the
charges made by General Sherman in his
speech before Frank Blair Post q. A. X