The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1902-03-06
DAVIS DEFENDED.
A King George Gentleman Takes Issue With
Dr. liOwison.

Alden, Va. Feb II. 1902.
To 1'HE FREE LANCE:
When | wrote the communication over
the signature &C. II. L." anent Mr. lin
coins proposition to pay for the slaves, ]
had no intention TO engage in Il news
paper controversy with any one upon
that subject, aud least Of all with our
distinguished and ancient historian, DR..
Howison; for so cunning of fence" is be
that il history is not made he seems able to
make il 10 order arguendo. My sole pur
pose was to write for the present and
later generations what is history, and
not what biased and ingenious minds
may think it ought to be.
Upon the question in controversy !
court no unseemly contention. We are
Southrons all, hope There repeat what
wrote before and what is the written
record OF the famous Hampton Roads
Conference from the pen of the then Pres
ident of the United States. made officially
to Congress. In that official report not
one word is said about an offer to pay
for slaves at the cost of $500, 900 or
100000 1t seems to me that any
such proposition, OF such great impor-
tance, would certainly have been men,
toned by him il it had been made. But
by way Of parenthesis let me say here:
II he had made il u Thousand times
neither his verbal nor written promise
would have been worth a sou. He had
under the Constitution neither the epOwer
nor authority TO fulfil it. But it is useless
10 continue along this line
As before said, Mr. Lincoln himself
says in closing his report to Congress: ::
This il all that occurred - What more
does my friend, DR. H.. want? Is he not
willing TO take the official word OF Mr.
Lincoln, whose greatness and goodness
he so valiantly and ably champions at
the expense of that other greater man
aud dead President of a dead Confed-
eracy? II not, why not? No; he prefers
to take the hearsay testimony Of those
whose mouths are closed and who never
recorded the Hampton Roads Conference.
And such is history He, in support OF
his argument, il unwilling to take the
last official report of that conference,
which is in fact the clinched nail in the
question, but refers &c. W. b." that
other LADY, and myself to a resolution
drawn and sent to Congress on March q,
1862, which is in these words. and ] give
them for the benefit OF our Southern
friends
Resolved, That the United States
ought to cooperate with any State
which may adopt gradual abolishment OF
slavery, giving to such State pecuniary
aid, TO b. used by such State, in its dis
cretion, to compensate for the incon-
venience, public and private, produced
by such change Of system "
Unfortunately for DR.. HIS argument,
however, in that same message in the
very next breath, he says: " II the prop
osition contained in the resolution does
not meet the approval OF Congress and
the Country, there is the end" (See Vol
vi of Richardson's Compilation, p. 6S.)
This is the much relied upon resolution
upon which DR.. H. bases his view Of
what occurred at Hampton Roads. But,
unfortunately for him again, this resolu-
tion did not meet the approval Of Con-
gress and the Countrysand never was
adopted, and, in the language OF Mr.
Lincoln. that was the end OF it.
But the resolution itself was intended
to apply only to the border States, Tor
Mr. Lincoln in the came message con-
veys the idea that it was intended to
prevent the border States from joining
the Coniederacy. leave to impartial
critics where any argument even can be
drawn from that proposed resolution an
offer only as Mr.. l.. says, made in 1867
to show what his views were in 1860.
"Tempora mutantur,et nos mutamur in
ills"
And it proved so in Mr.. LIS case, for
September %. 1862, he issued his pre-
liminary emancipation proclamation,
and on January l, 1858, he issued bis
supplementary emancipation proclama-
ton. in neither Of which is there one
word said about payment for the slaves
A change had come over the spirit oil