Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1894-06-02
Iincnln,s Ono Wnrd.


No man in Atlanta has greater
fund of incident than Judge Samuel
B. Hertz, who is now seriously i'll at
| Suwanee Springs, Florida. The Judge
was born in Blunt county, in Is2S,and,
coming TO Atlanta before the woods
were cleared away for the coming
city, grew up with it, and carries in
his memory the full details of most
remarkable era of city building.
While reclining upon his sick bed
lately Judge Hertz spoke of ia CONVEX
sation he had with the late jefferson
Davis, says an Atlanta letter TO the
New York Herald.
I'm that conversation Mr.. Davis Ia
mented the fate which deprived the
! Confederate states of recognition by
European powers
Ito the last moment said Mr..
Davis, 1 was confident that this rec
ognition would come to us The land
4 ing of the French in Mexico was then
our interest. If we could have con-
solidated our forces down in Texas
under Kirby Smith, the alliance could
have become effective
And yet" said Judge Hertz, this
was all dreaming. twas like follow
ing rainbow. How different all
might have been if the less brilliant
but more practical mind of Alexander
H. stephens had dominated the coun-
| ellis Of the nation. Almost with tears
in his eyes Mr.. Stephens once told me
of the inner history OF the Hampton
Roads conference.
"'When the intimatiou came to us
said Mr.. stephens, that the Federals
desired conference it was wei known
that Mr.. Davis was opposed TO il. The
majority of the Confederate senate
took its cue from the president, and
therefore the subject could not be di-
rectlv preached then. As a conse-
quence we were forced to strategy. 1t
was proposed that General Lee should
appear before the senate in executive
session. and under the cloak OF Sc
crecy, to be removed only for personal
information Of the president, give an
exact statement of the real position Of
the two armies.
With great reluctance General Lee
| consented to answer questions. the
result being TO show that the Confed-
crate army had been reduced TO
mere she'll. with neither defenses,
refuge, nor supplies to fall back upon.
With this plain statement the senate
/ consented to the appointment Of
peace commissioners. But when a
/ resolution was offered and passed that
these commissioners should act under
instructions passed by MIR Davis all
hope in my heart failed. Only the
conviction that / should lose no
chance to bring about peace induced
me to withhold my resignation
After describing the meeting with
President Lincoln and associates"
continued Judge Hertz, Mr. Stephens
went on to say: Finally. all prelim-
inaries over, NJ. Lincoln said; so
anxious am | for peace that / viii
offer TENS which am sure will sur
prise you all. On this sheet Of paper
/ ! will write but one word, while I will
leave to your own judgment every
other condition and recurrence 1T. ="
Writing, Mr.. Lincoln passed the sheet
over to me. and | found written upon
it the one word. Union ''All other
terms, continued Mr. Lincoln, may
be Of your own dictation."
Ny heart sank within me. said
| Mr.. Stephens. Here, on simply ac-
cepting the union. we could dictate
our own terms OF peace. preserve our
state autonomies, maintain our for
tunes, gain recompense for our slave
property, and all the consequences
| following defeat could be averted.
But our instructions from Mr.. Davis.
the cornerstone Of which was the
recognition of the Confederate states.
forbade the acceptance Of this most
magnanimous and generous offer.
When I so informed Alr. Lincoln he
sank back in his chair with look Of
utter disappointment. We all felt the
gravity of the situation, and it was
recognized that one of the great mis-
takes of history was being enacted.
! With an army whose defeat was al
ready Acknowledged by General Lee,
President Davis insisted upon annihila-
ton
"These facts" continued Judge
Hertz, ut was agreed should be kept
secret until the death of the princi-
pals That time having arrived there
is no good reason why they should not
be made known"