The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-29
Cetters tc tbe Gdftcr
Yancey ia Europe.

Yancey ia Europe.
 Editor The Advertiser:
 with cscoetfes @ hes scribendi must remem. Der that into the modern methods oL composing history, the newspaper me days ago, passing the open door of The | Advertiser library, I discovered two young ladies at the desk earnestly searching the invaiuable mes, soms nras | facts of Alabama history. was m | formed that they were pleasantly ocs cupied and that they would continue most daily the large and eyer accumu- lating newspaper files of the Alapama | Department of Archives and History are in demand by seekers of instruction | in the lives of our great men, and in the experiences of our greater state with its common people and their deeos
 MT. Halls heard MT. Yaneey. at the Montgomery Theatre. week before ne | died, say his mission to Europe had been failur. Franklin's mission 10 1 Europe was completely failure; Lau, rens fared no better. These were civil missions like Yancey's. General Wash ington prevailed with Congress to send offering to those countries. hereditary enemies of England, a permanent ali ance. offensive and defensive, with the tion for'ea and S'h help In other words, Wash ington sought alliance with France primarily, Spain incidentally, rather than accept hopeless snlbjecttont tbat ss to the wisest act the Father of his Coun- try ever performed. It gave him York town.
 Washington, commanding the Ameri- can army, was the real promoter of foreign policy for America. The Con federate States not only had, from nrst but resoiutely defed all Europe to live a twelve month without Com federate favor and plantation cotton thrown in as security.
 Europe in any capacity. He hesitated upon the Presidents urgency for days. He protested that he should not be sent merely to instruct hereditary mon- archies in the right of American com munities to change their form of gov ernment at will. Crowned heads had in civics. He asked for practically the same instructions that General Wash ington had induced the Congress to send to France and Spain, in 177s. He
 When MT. Yancey f,nally. consented to go to Europe, as President of a Commission to apply for recognition of structed to offer to England and France a treaty of alliance, offensive and de- fensive, the benefits of which would be essentially commercial
 New Orleans was then the greatest ere1tsr greater' in dollars and cents, than New times greater than Philadelphia. In round numbers, the States of the South exported s1s5,Ooo DOC. Ino home oeo raised States of the North by the census of 1860.
 MT. Yancey asked to be instructed to offer England and France, the then two ducts, an ad valorem tariff, not to exceed 20 per cent. to continue in eff feet not less than twenty years, If recognize the Confederacy as the sue cessor of the United States in Southern ports of entree.
 MT; Davis's history will show to the which the Commission to Europe ever had, considered alone and singular the right of secession. There was cotton get along without it, then the Confed- eracy Of seeded States would set up mill and turn out paper money in ample supply. The paper money came
 MT. Yancey soon delivered his i'm structions, heard Englishmen say. their GoyePnment na did not favor African Is slav called. He had to wait for months the arrival of Messrs Mason and Slidell. When he got back. the paper mill was cheap as plentiful and downward bent. the phenomenal wealth of the country in cotton was ignored, for war pur- poses, three thousand miles of coast line was supposed to be defended with out a navy and the land frontier was laid open to invasion as a result. General Washington never had more than S5,000 troops at command in all America. Little Spain had whipped Ma poleon out of her domain. Forrest, Wheeler, Stuart, Hampton, Mosby had proven that Southern riders, one-tenth to Northern riders the full ten, were more than a match; The, young, true at the theatre say, we could win if we would, but Europe was not with us.
 The following incident, associated with Yancey in England Is characterize tic: Captain Caleb Huse. Confederate arms purchaser in Europe, went to him at Liverpool, saying the United States agent had just loaded a large vessel with arms for shipment to New York, then at the dock Captain Bull lock and a number of Confederate na- val officers then present had sent Huse to ask MT Yaneey to issue to them let ters of marque and reprisal. They had already selected their ship and as the vessel. with the rich store of arms got we'll out on the water, they would put out after her, board her, un- prepared as she was to fight and turn her course to Wilmington from New York.
 Yancey hesitated. He had authority from his Government, but priVateering was hardly civilized war The young off, cers were evidently greatly disappoint- request for the one time. Seeing the reluctance of the official representative of their Government the promoters of the expedition let 1t drop. J. W. D.