The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-01-09
roombs on tho coadue, of the War,

Henry w. Cleveland publishes. in the .SeatAFTa Bfveasc for January, some ex. tracts from lestex written by roomhs in 1861. when he was secretary of state. h was to Alexander H. Stephens, then vice president. and has not before been pub GShed. The letter will attract attention, as it throws much light on the disturbed condition of affairs in the Confectionery at that time:
 DEAR STEPHENS: received your let ter of the ssd ult,, and would have writ. ten before but for the fact that you did not expect to bc home until tho I>;h :sss;. am glad to sec that you are doing your duty about the "cotton loan" It is ot vital importance but hnd nobody but yourself appreciating i,, and taking the proper steps to make it effective. have no doubt but that, if one~iouTtA of the members ot congress hal taken your course, we should have been able to put our finances on the most satisfactory and impregnable basis. Men will not sec that the revolution must rest on the treasury, and without 1t, 1t must fail and lead to in- calculable mischief am constantly urging Memminger (secretary of treasury to action, and writing letters myself all over the south. Memminges wants ex- pesienee, and Is misled by every little newspaper paragraph to the effect that the thing is going on swimmingly. You and know how to value such things, aud that nothing but clear, active, and unremttingly universal canvassinE in every county in the south can make it a success. And if IL should prove made. quate, nothing but high, hard, nEid, dl- rect tax can save us, This will bring dtx- content. The men of property should support this war, and taxation. if univer- sal, IS the hardest on the poor; and in tha; lies the whole argument"
 Mir. Toombs then devotcs nearly page of the large letter paper to the state of the Confederacy. He says "i, Is dead race for slow between Scott and Davis" He speaks of General Walker gathering arms to defend the two Carolinas and Georgia, and says that up to six weeks before the date of his letter nothing of importance had been done toward getting improved arms from Europe through the blockade. He says: Mallory (,ecreta- " of the navy) you know, IS good for nothing but to squauder public money i; he would not make navy with our means in ten years, An active mau would have cleared hail the ports of the Coniedcracy of the blookading ships. Many of them arc nearly worthless ships of commission that can hardly stand the fire oi their own batteries, but they are very effective against unarmed ships oi the same kind. Nothing has been done by our commis- sion abroad savc what you see in the newspapers. They give better accounts of the state of things in Europe than the commissioners do, and arc much better informed" Here Mi. Toombs seems to make the same mistake that he eriiieiscs Mir Memminger for, for he adds
 France and England will acknowl. edge our independence this fall unless we arc overcome before that time, simply holding things as they are will secure that, and any decided success would hasten it. There must be fight iu a few days on the Winchester line. It would not surprise me to hear of it at any mo- ment One Is constantly expected also on the Manassas line. Beauregard is strong and we'll fixed. Johnston Is weak, unnecessarily weak, anu must meet the frat shock with great disadvantage, but 1 have great confidence in his Reneralship.
 hope for good against all military cal. culationS. Mir. Davis has fallen into Scouts trap of scattering his forces, and is therefore too weak everywhere. should concentrate and fight wherever l had the bes, chance of iuccess, and let towns an d cities go to the flames if necessary. After whipping the enemy on his main line, the outposts would be very easily disposed of" He goes on to say;
 "We have big army scattered all about the waters of Chesapeake bay to watch Fortress Monroe, and should say it does not take less than fifteen or twenty thousand troops, when two thousand at Norfolk are all that is necessary. Your report of private arms IS very satisfactory i; t shows at least enough for local defense, and would, therefore, release the public arms for that service.
 don't at all like the action of our government as to Missouri. Five thou sand men in arms would now save that state, and this government abandons her to her fate. She is obliged to be friend or enemy, and five thousand men would enable her io engage fifty tn housand Fed eral troops, and thereby greatly weaken Mcclellan in western Virginia, but MT. LAWS is immoVaDle. ] do not like my presen, position. have place without power, and responsibility for policy disapprove"
 He then objects strongly to separate companies of state troops coming to Vn. ginia to be organized, and to regular army men getting the pick of the volun- teers. He conclude
 "l shall get out of the government at an early day. want to do 1. quietly and inofensively if possible. have already tendesed the president my resignation. He is extremely disinclined to Ii, bat l am sure am of m use in it save to di- vide the responsibility for measures 1 do not approve. This letter Is for you; q have only thought aloud In writing IL" Then, with 2 word of his own family, he signs it, "YouYs very truly, K. Toombs."