The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-28
Judge speer,a Address.

Judge Speer's Address.
The remarkable charge of Judge Speer
to the grand jury in the United States
| court last Wednesday-rem chief
/ ~ because it contains views upon a sub
/ ject that had not been before commented
upon, probably, by federal judge in an
| address TO 4 grand iury-is exciting some
/ comment particularly among ex-confed-
! crates. However, Judge Speer is rather
/ inclined TO independence in thought and
/ action, and, therefore, the fact that he
talked to the grand jury of what, in his
| opinion, would have followed the success
of the confederacy does not appear to
| have created much surprise. What
he said, rather than the fact that he ad-
dressed his remarks to a grand jury, is
what is receiving attention.
In Judge Speer's opinion it was for
tunate that the confederacy did not sue
| coed, because its success would have been
followed by a condition of affairs that
would have required the northern and
southern sections to maintain large mill
tary forces, and there would have been
constant wars between the two sections,
all of which would have imposed heavy
burdens upon the people.
Among southern congressman at Wash
ington, there is a disposition not to dis
cuss the address, believing that it is better
TO say as ittleas possible about the late war
in so far as it relates to the question of
what would be the present condition of
affairs in this country if it had resulted
differently. A few, however, have spoken
of the subject of the address for publica-
ton.
Gen. Wheeler, of Alabama, is of the
opinion that if the south had been sue
cessful the union would have been re-
stored on terms more agreeable to the
southern people. The majority of those,
however, who were interviewed, agreed
with Judge Speer. They think the sue
cess of the south would have been disas-
trous to the south, if not to the whole
country. They all contended, however,
that there was never any purpose to de-
stroy the union. The southern states be-
lieved they had the right to secede, and
they simply exercised that right.
Col Oates, Of Alabama, said the state
ments of Judge Speer are mostly prophe-
cies and not well founded. If the south
had succeeded the right of disintegration
would have been established, he said, and
a multiplication of governments in this
country. might have resulted, but in his
opinion Judge Speer's predictions, that
there would have been continual war, are
greatly overdrawn. Continuing, he said:
There is but one single argument which
could be made for a southern confederacy.
That arises from the difficulty Of legis-
lating for so large a country. Laws that
meet with approval in New England may
not suit US in Georgia and Alabama;
while the contrary is equally true How
ever, if congress will practice generous
and reasonable concessions and compro-
misses in legislation, we can practically
overcome that and make our laws con-
form to the wishes of the people. There
must be mutual concessions. We have
too much extreme partizanship carried
into our legislation by both parties, and
it is not good for either. We ought to
employ more business methods, regard
ing them as non-political in our legisla-
ton"
The conclusions to be drawn from the
interviews with ex-confederates is that
no benefit is likely to come from dis
cussing the question of whether or not
the success of the confederacy would
have been helpful to the south. Southern
men differ in respect to it and will con-
tinue to do so. A question of far more
Importance is, how can the material con-
dition of the south be improved and her
people be made more prosperous and
happy2 The question relative to the con-
federacy is dead one the other is live
one, in which every southerner is pro-
foundly interested. In the interviews
only one thought crops out that is worthy
of attention, and that appears in the in
terview with Col. Oates. His suggestion
that there should be less politics
and more business in legislation is
an excellent one. If our legislators
would study how the welfare of the peo-
pie could be best promoted, and give less
attention to gaining a party advantage,
they would render the country far greater
service.
The question thrown out by Judge
Speer can never be satisfactorily settled,
and an extended discussion of it might
do harm by arousing i'll feeling, but the
discussion of the question of how the
south can be made greater from the
standpoint of material ealth, is certain
to be productive of good, and cannot be
given too much attention.
Reorganization of Railroads.