The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-05-13

ola Happen at hampton. ROADS DeyOnI
question was this:
That when the president and Secre-
tary Seward met the commissioners OF
the Confederacy. Mr.. Lincoln. address,
ing himself to Mr.. Hunter. whom he
knew well. said: I'm the first place,
gentlemen. / desire to know what are
your powers and instructions from the
Richmond government" avoiding, said
Mr.. Vest. as Mr.. Hunter told him him
self. the words Confederate States"
Mr.. Hunter. to whom the inquiry was
addressed. said: Mr.. President, we are
instructed to consider no proposition
that does not involve the independence
Of the Confederate States of America"
Then" said. Mr.. Lincoln. the in
terview had as we'll terminate now, for
I must say to you gentlemen, frankly
and honestly, that nothing will be &C
cepted from the government at Rich
mond except absolute and uncondition-
al surrender"
Senator Vest then said that this ter
minated the interview and as the con-
federate commissioners retired, Presi-
dent Lincoln addressing Mr.. Stephens,
who was the last to go out, said:
stephens, you are making a great mis-
take. Your government is a failure
and when the crash comes. as ii soon
must come. there will be chaos and dis
asters which We cannot now foresee
which must come to your o
This account of that interview con-
tinued Senator Vest. substantially and
and almost word for word as 1 have
given it, came to me from Mr.. Stephens
and. Mr.. Hunter"
Senator Vest said that he considered
it his duty TO make the statement in or
der that history may not be falsified;
in order that the men who We're said
to have refused this offer at the hands
of President Lincoln hould not be made
to sin in their graves, adding, for If
they had refused h was said to have
been rendered to them by the president
they would have been accessories to the
murder of every man who fell from that
time in defense of the confederate
cause. and they hOuld have given the
lie to the intentions which they pro-
fessed when they risked everything,
that is held dear amongst men in de-
Tense of the confederate cause"
While the deep silence still reigned i'll
the chamber, he spoke n with every
eye directed toward him. Senator Vest
concluded as follows:
1T may be but a Verv short time until
1 shall Join the twenty-five colleagues
/ had in the confederate senate and /
did not want his statement TO go into
the record of this country without
my statement of these facts and
my solemn denial that there is
a shadow of truth in this assertion
which has been going the rounds of the
of the country for the last
few years"
The discussion of the Philippine bill
then was resumed and Senator Car
mack. of Tennessee, replying to Sena-
tor Burton. made denunciation of Gen
eral Funston. He said he did not queS-
ton his physical courage, but a few
acts of d~are-deviltry in the Philippines
did not make a hero.
DEhan Function had Stafp1 that Apnt-
naldo had burned three hundred people
alive 1T one time, said Senator Car
mack. he told a DELIBERATE and premedl-
tated lie. In his opinion, he said, Funs-
ton is not TO be believed under any
question whatever.
The sudden waking up of the republi-
cans. he said, was for the deliberate
purpose of reviving sectional hate II
order to divert this debate and the at
tentiOn of the people from the atrocities
which have been permitted in the Phil
ippines. Il suppose it is in obedience
to, instructions from the white house."
he said. that the effort is being made
to reopen the Wounds or the country
that have been healed"
Facing the republican side and speak
ing with evident emotion, Senator Car
mack said: Il shall be ready to meet
every slandernr of the south and every
defamer of it's honor, whether the as
lld OlllI " Jill D"L I u liz
country beyond the borders of the south
or whether it be some recreant and de-
generate son who has proved a traitor
to the womb and bosom of his the
After stating that he would not be di-
verted from the issue now before the
senate by the falsehoods brought into
the debate, Senator Carmack said, re-
ferring to the charges Of lynchings, ETC.,
in the SOUTH: You cannot help US by
denunciation. The best thing you can
do is to keep your mouths shut and LET
us alone"
Turning his attention to the Philip
pine question and especially to the
speech of senator Lodge, Senator Car
mack said that the Massachusetts SEN
ator was so narrow that he could not
have a proper appreciation of the argu-
mentS that have been made against the
present Philippine policy. He declared
that Senator Lodge was d~ishonering the
American army and the American SEN
ate by defending orders which looked
to the murder of women and children.
Such orders of death-a brutal n in
human order-it is not to be justified
by anybody; yet these were the orders
which senators had the 'devilish impu-
dence' to justify.
Does the senator think" inquired
Mr.. Spooner." that the expression dew
ilish i~mpudence' is proper under the
rules of the senate"
NO 1 do not. said Senator Carmack,
And 1 withdraw the expression"
Senator Carmack quoting from the
speech of Senator Lodge, said that the
Massachusetts senator had not suggest
ed any reason why General Smith
should not be hanged Is a common
murderer. Smith has not" said Sena-
tor Carmack. burned people at the
stake He has done nothing but butch
or a whole people in cold blood. He
has ~dishonored the whole American
army."
Senator bolivar then read an edito-
rial from a Memphis newspaper upon
Senator Carmack's recent speech on the
Philippine question in which that paper
took sharp issue with the Tennessee
senator as to his conclusions
Senator Dollivar'S comments upon the
editorial as he read it, were highly
amusing and both the senators on the
floor and the people in the gallery
laughed heartily at his sarcastic allu-
o m
In reply Senator Carmack said that