Newspaper Page Text
The Intelligencer.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1865. *
THE 1AX ACt7
Wo publish below the Fax Act, passed al
i t •* cent session of Congress to which we
invito the attention oi our readers :
AN ACT io levy additional taxes for the
year eighteen hundred and sixty-five, tor
the. import of the Government.
The Congress of the Confederate States
. i America d * enact. That in addition to
the laves levied by lh5 net approved Feb-
rnary seventeenth, eighteen hundred and
t-ix'y-four, entitled “An act to amend an
act '-milled an act to lay taxes lor the c_.m-
n nn <i> f nc? and carry on ihe Government
o, •• :.t Confederate States,” approved twen-
ty 1 urt.li <J April, eighteen hundred and
HX'y-threc, t Lt-ra bhaL be levied for the
• ir fcigbteeu hundred and sixty-five, on
ii Mpjtcts ot taxation hereinafter men
tioned, uud collected from every person,
iv'partnership, association or corporation
hr.bte thereior, taxes as follows, to-wit:
I. Upon the value of ail property, real,
per •oiif-.l or mixed, of every kind and de
hoi iption not hereinafter exempted, or taxed
at a diff-rent rate, eight percent The val
uer ot the properly taxed under this section
shall be assessed on the tiasis of the market
value of ihe same or siaiilar property in
Hie neighborhood where assessed, in the
year eighteen hundred and sixt>; and it is
by declared that all the property and
hihi‘ 8 of corporations, associations or jffiut
sioek o-mpauici, whether incorporated or
no:, shall b" assessed and taxed in the same
manner and to liie same extent as the
m iperty and assets of individual?. The
taxes on such properly and assets to be
* d against and paid by such corpora
tions, aesociatione or joint stock companies:
Provided, That no bank or banking com
pany shall be liable to pay a ?ax4ga deposits
ut money to tlie credit o! ami simp ct to the
checks of others: and provided^4prther,
That she stock’or sharts representing prop
er) v or assets in corporations, associations
oi 1 int sti ck companies skull not be assess-
,d . r taxed as property under this act: but
the dividends derived therefrom shall be
MihjcCtto 1% taxed as income under exist-
iiitc laws.
II. Upon the amount of all gold or siiver
roiii, cud upon ihe amount ol all moneys
he ! abroad or Gills of exchange drawn
therefor, promissory notes, rights, credits
and securities, payable in foreign countries,
v 1 up -n the value of all du st or gold
and silver bu lion, valued in^specie, twenty
per cent; and upon the value ol gold and
■uiv. r wares, plate, jewels, jewelry and
watches valued on the basis of -the value of
such property in the year eighteen hundred
j.nd sixty, ten per cent.
ill. Upon iho amount of all moneys ex
empt those mentioned in paragraph two,
hoik bols, treasury notes and other paper
is,tied as currency, cm hand or on deposit
on tlio day ol the approval of this act, five
per cent.
IV. Upon the amount of all solvent cred
it?, except those mentioned in paragraph
t wci, live per cent: Provided, That all the
bonds and stocks issued by the Confederate
Siates or by any State, aud ail loans to the
government or the Confederate States, shall
bo exempt from taxation, except as to the
interest payablo thereon, which 6hall be
tox it as income under existing laws : Pro
vided further, That ihe interest on the
bun .Is, Blocks or obligations oi the Confed-
i.rate Slates, or oi any S’ate, shall not be
taxed hs income in cases where the acts un
der which they were issued contain a stipu
laiion that the interest thereon shall bu ex
empt from taxation.
V. Upon profits made by buying and sell
ing meicLiandise, (Sects or property of any
doses ipiion, or money, gold, silver, stocks,
crcdi»s or obligations ot any kind, at any
time between January the first, eighteen
hundred and sixty-live, aud January the
hrht, 1800, ten per cent, in addition to the
tax on tu< h proliis as income. Said profils
to be ascertained by the difference between
the price paid in Confederate Treasury
mitts, including ull costs and charges and
the price realized in tho same currency :
Provided, That frlhe objects of sale were
purchased at, any time aiuce January the
first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, thi3
additional tax shall attach on the profits
realized on llio sale thereof during the year
eighteen hundred and sixty five.
VI. U pon the amount ol profits exceeding
twenty five per cent, made during the year
eighteen hundred and sixty-live, by any
huik or banking company, insurance, ca-
nal, navigation, importing or exporting,tele
graph, express,railroad,manufacturing, mill
ing, dry dock or other joint stock company,
of any description, whether incoiporated or
not, twenty-live per cent.: Provided, That
this tax shall apply to individuals and part
nership engaged in trade or in any busi
ness or employment enumerated iu this pai-
agraph, as well as to corporations or joint
stock companies: Provided further, That
individuals and partnerships who have not
been assessed, or who have not paid for the
year 18(54, the tax of twenty-five per .cent,
imposed on the excess ot pr&fiis over twen
ty-five per cent, for that year, shall be as
sessed and required to pay during the year
eighteen hundred and sixty-five, twenty-
tfivc.per cent, on the excess oi profits, over
twenty-five per cent., realized during the
year eighteeu hundred and sixty-four.
Sec, 2. The property, the income and mon -
ir-s oi hospitals, asylums, churches, schools,
colleges and charitable institutions, shall be
exempt from taxation under the provisions
of tilts act,or any oilier law. All property
within the lines oi the ouimy shall be ex
empt from taxation, so long as it remains
within tuck liner; but any income derived
therelrom shall be taxed as income under
existing laws. The exemptions enumera
ted in paragraphs one two and three, of sec
tion five ot the act. entitled ‘‘an act to levy
additional taxes !®r the common defense
aud support of the Government,” approved
seventeenth ol February, eighteen hundred
and eixty tour, are hereby re-enacted:
household furniture, when the value does
not exceed three hundred dollars, on the
basis of the value thereof iu the year eigh
teen hundred and sixty, wearing apparel,
good? manufactured by any person for the
use and consumption of his family, includ
ing slaves, poultry, fruit and the products of
gardens, when said poultry fruit and products
are ra'sed for the family ot the producer,
and not lor sale, corn, bacon and other agri
cultural products, which were produced in
the year eighteen hundred and sixiv-four,
and necessary forif^r tax payer’s lamily,
including slaves, during the present year,
and in his possession on the day' of the
approval of this act, shall be exempt from
taxation.
bee. 3. That the taxes on property for the
year eighteen hundred and sixty-five, im
posed by Ibis ac% shall be assessed <-.s on
t tie day of the passage ot this act, and be
due and collected on the 1st day of June
next, or as'soon thereafter as practicable.'
The additional taxes on profits lor the year
eighteen hundred and sixty five shall be as
sessed and collected according to the pre
visions ot existing laws in regard to the as
sessment and collection of taxes ou incomes
and all the taxes imposed by this act, as
well as the taxes on incomes and profits,
and the specific tax, and taxes on sales,
shall be payablfi in Confederate treasury
notes, of the new issue, or in the certificates
of the indebtedness authorized by an act
entitled ‘an act to reduce the currency and
to authorize a new i?sue of notes and bonds,
approved February seventeenth, eighteen
hundred and sixty-four, at p.»r, without any
allowance for interest: Provided, that at
least one hall of said taxes shall be paid in
treasury notes, as aforesaid, and, Provided,
further, that the tax for the increased pay
ol soldiers shall be paid in Confederate trea
sury note*, of the new issue, ouly. Aud it
is keieby ensued that the certificates of in
debtedness, authuriz d by the said act of
February seventeen'fi eighteen hundred and
aixty-four. may be issued tor debt contracted
prior to the psssage of said ac r . And the
Agent of the Treasury lor the Traus-Mis-
s.ssippi Department, be and be is hereby
authorized to issue, under regula'iou a to be
prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury
the certificates of indebtedness provided tor
in said actot February seventeenth eighteen
hundred and fcixty-four, 1or debts contracted
prior t»r subsequent to ihe passage of said
act, in the Trans-Mississippi D part merit,
and that all certificates above, mentioned
fchall be received iu payment of s.;id thXes,
in like manner and to the same extent as
the cer'ficates originally authorized by the
sa d net oi seventeenth Fcbi uary, eighteen
hundred and sixty lour, « muled “an set to
amend an act entitled an act to Jay taxes Ic
the common defense aud c^rry on the Gov
fern mem of the Confederate States’ approved
twenty-fourth of April, eighteen hundred
and s'xry-three, there shall be levied aud
assessed for the year eighteen hundred and
sixty-five, an additional tax, in money, equal
to one-eighth of the amount ot the tax on
the same subject, imposed for the year eigh
teen hundred and six?y-fivo, by this act and
the said act of seventeenth of February,
eighteen hundred and six y four; widen
tax sbajl be payable in Confederate treasury-
notes, of the new issue, only, and shall be
assessed and collected at the same time with
the other taxes; aud the money arising
therefrom shall be first appropriated to the
payment of the increased compensation ol
soldiers ol the aran; Provided, That this
additional taxjshail not be construed to ap
ply to or to imJfease the tax in kind.
Sec. 0. Any ii? payer, under regulations
to be prescribed by the decretory of the
Treasury, shall be allowed to pry into ilie
Treasury in advance, such sum or sutn3 as
he may ciioote, ou accoum oi taxes to
accrue against him, and to obtain therefor
au unassignable cerlific>te ot such pay
ment.
Sec. G. Congress having intended by the
act of the seventeenth February, eighteen
hundred and sixty-four, entitled “an act to
levy additional taxes for the common de
fence and support of the Government,” as
amended by the act of fourteenth June.
.18G4 to impose said additional
taxes for the. year eighteen hundred
and sixty-lour only, tbo said act of seven
teenth ol February, eighteen hundred and
sixty*fcur, a9 amended, in so far as it can
be construed to operate otherwise than as
thus intended, shall be, ' and the same is
hereby repealed. And all the taxes imposed
by this act shall be paid without any dis
count or credit for the value of the tax in
kind or the income tax, and all the taxes
on incomes and profits, under existing laws,
shall be paid without any credit or deduc
tion of the ad valorem tax.
Sec. 7. That when property, real or per
sonal, has been injured or destroyed by the
enemy, or the owner thereof has been tem
porarily deprived of the use thereof, or, in
the case ot real estate, of the means ot cul
tivating the same, by the reason of the pos
session or proximity ot the enemy, the as
sessment on such property may be reduced
in propot tion to the damage sustained by
the owner, or the tax assessed thereon may
be reduced in the same ratio by the District
Collector, on satisfactory evidence submit
ted to him by the owner or Assessor.
Sec. 8. That the Secretary of the Treas
ury, outlie recommendation of the Boards
ot Police, County Courts, or such other
county, district or parish tribunal as may be
prescribed by the State Collectors respect
ively, transmitted through said collectors,
is hereby authorized to suspend the collec
tion of taxes Dow due, or imposed by this
or any other future act, in those districts
where depredations have been committed
by the enemy, in eases ot individuals in such
districts, where, in his judgment, the re
sources of the tax payer asking such sus
pension haVe been so seriously damaged or
destro} r ed as to render the payment of taxes
impossible or excessively oppressive, such
suspension to be revocable at the pleasure
of the Secretary of the Treasury.
Fall of Selma.
EXCITING NEWS FROM BELOW!
FORREST REPORTED WOUNDED 1
MOVING TOWARDS DEMOPOLIS !
Office Montgomery Mail, )
Mouday, April 3, 10 A. M. )
The Montgomery Mail of the 3d says :—
The city this morning is a scene of no little
excitement and bustle, occasioned by reports
freely circulated, at au early hour, of the fall
of Selma. For the benefit of eur readers
abroad, as well as those at home, we null
mention the rumors as they have reached
us:
FORREST WOUNDED.
We regret to learn that General Forrest
has received a few wounds, b it we arc grat
ified to learn that they are not considered
serious. He was leading a charge against
the assailants, a short distance from Selma,
and was fighting m the very miust of the
Federal cavalry. It is said that he killed
two with his own hands, shooting one irom
his horse with his revolver, and nearly sev
ering the head from the shoulders of an
other by a sabre stroke.
FATE OF SELMA.
It is stated, and generally believed, that
Selma was evacuated by the Confederates,
and occupied by the Federals, at 7 o’clock,
p. m., yesterday. It is also stated that our
forces retired iu the direction ot Demopolis.
We have learned bo particulars of the evac
uation, and know nothing at this writing, of
the amount of stores saved or destroyed.
THE FACT.
Since the above was in type we have re
ceived official intelligence that Selma is
evacuated by the Confederates ami undoubt
edly ia the hands ot ihe enemy We learn
that the enemy turned our left fl?nk, nncL
that our forces were compelled to move out
on the right flank towards Demopolis. The
enemy are represented as in considerable
force larger than heretofore reported.
Everything U quiet, and no move, that we
hear of, has yet been made by them.
The govo was the first newspaper
carrier, when one morning it went and fetch
ed a leaf for Noah. It contained a paragraph
on the weather, notifying himthatthe heavy
rain-storm had subsided.
ADDEESS OF CONGRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF
THE COH FED ABATE STATES.
Fellow-Citizens: The result of the
“Peace Commission” is known to the coun
try. The hopes of those who have hither
to believed that an honorable termination
might be put to the war by negotiation
have been rudely disappointed. The enj^
my, after drawing us into a conference, ab
ruptly terminated it by insisting upon
terms which they well knew we could nev
er accept. Our absolute surrender and
submission to the will of the conquerors are j
the only conditions vouchsafed by our arro
gant toe. We are told that if we lay down
our arms, and place our lives, liberty, prop
erty and domestic institutions, at the feet of
Abraham Ltecoln, that he will be merciful
to us! Upon his clemency we must rely to
save us lrom universal confiscation, and ex
termination ! Yes, these are the conditions
upon which the people of the sovereign
States composing this Confederacy may be
allowed to do—what? To return into the
Unteu from which they solemnly and delib
erately withdrew themselves, because their
interests and their honor required it, and
their repugnance to which four years ot re
morseless and cruel war have served but to
intensify. Thanks be to God, who controls
and overrules the counsels of men, the
hi y insolence of our enemies, which
tL ^ hoped would intimidate and break
the spirit of our people, is producing the
very contrary effect. From every part ol
the country there comes up in response a
shout of mingled indignation and defiance.
A noble enthusiasm reanimates our gal
lant army who have been battling so long
for freedom and indeptmdence ! Let us all
be united now. Let there be no pavties or
factions among us. Let us all be willing to
speed and ba spent in the cause of our
country. Let us contribute freely, all that
we have, it need be, to carry on the war
until our final triumph is secured. Let U3
take fraternal counsel together and calmly
consider our condition and prospects. Such
a survey, we believe, must tend to reassure
aud encourage even the least sanguine. We
have, it is true, recently met with serious
disasters. Our fortitude is being severely
tried. We have suffered much, asd must
be prepared to suffer more in the cause tor
which we are struggling. Is the cause!
If we consider the food producing capaci-1 the prospect of a future af*ft upon their
ty ot our soil, we need feel no apprehensions | home population are beginning to^ be heard
as to our ability to feed the people and any
army we may put into the field. It is need
less to go into detail or adduce statistics in
proof ot this. It is obvious to every well
informed mind. Although the occupation
by the enemy, and his ruthless policy of de
stroying the harvests, granaries and agri
cultural implements of our people where-
ever he moves, has undoubtedly diminished
the amount of our cereals; still, in view of
the fact that in every State, without exeep-
I tion, its agricultural labor has been devoted
almost exclusively to the raising of bread-
stuffs, (while befoie the war it was mainly
devoted to the production of cotton, tobac
co and other exports,) it is impossible to
doubt that, there ia an ample supply of food
in the conntry. It is true that the deporta
tion of our slaves by the enemy, and the
barbarous policy of artniDg them against
us—a policy reprobated by all authorities
on ethics or international law—has consid
erably diminished our agricubural labor.
But when we reflect that, in 1860, our ex
ports—almost entirely the products of slave
labor—amounted to two hundred and fifty
million ot dollars, it may be safely assumed
that our slaves, though reduced iu number
are fully equal to the task of feeding both
the population at home and the army in the
field. Our transportation, it is true, is de
tective and iuade*quate, but thi3 may be in
definitely improved by more energetic ef
forts, and more thorough and systematic
organization. We cannot believe, there
fore, that on our beautiful soil, so richly
blessed by nature, there is any danger of our
failing ui the great contest for want of food
—of our being starved into submission to
the hateful yoke of the conqueror.
But if we look to the amount and charac
ter of our population, we see especial reason
why we should be encouraged to hope for,
nay, to be assured of our ultimate success.
No people of our numbers can be subjuga
ted unless false and recreant to themselves,
their courage, faith and fortitude fail them.
We have upon our rolls a very large army
of veteran soldiers. It is true, and a very
sad truth to confess—that the number pres
ent for duty is terribly disproportioned to
the entire aggregate. This is too notorious
for concealment—and we have no desire to
in their great cities. The prospect of a war
indefinitely prolonged is alarming their
capitalists. Public credit must sooner or
worth the sacrifice? To answer correctly | conceal anything. We wish to speak frank-
we must constantly keep in mind the end I ly and truthfully to you of the actual con-
tor which we are contending. What is our • dition of things. The number of absentees
’ from your armies has been a fruitful cause
ot disaster. On many a hard-fought field
the tide of success would haffe turned over
whelmingly in our favor had all been pre
sent whom duty required to participate in
the strife. We will not stop to inquire into
the cause f an evil which we have so much
reason to deplore. The remedy is partly in
tho hands of Congress, and it is our pro
vince to apply it. But it is partly also in
yours, and we appeal to you to U3e it. Let
every good citizen frown down upon and
indignantly discountenance all evasion of
military duty—whether temporary or per
manent—no matter how plausible the pre
text, or palliating the reason.
No duty, in this crisis of our affairs, can
be more imperative than to fight for one’s
country, family and home. Let no skulker,
deserter or absentee without leave from the
army be tolerated iu any community. Let
the reproachful glance of our women, be
tween whose honor and the brutal toe our
noble army stands as a flaming sword, drive
him back to the field. With proper officers,
strict discipline and an elevated tone of
public opinion throughout the country, dev
sertion and absenteeism in the army can be
arrested and all men liable to military duty
put into and kept in the ranks of our ar
mies. If this be effected, we can maintain
in the field a force sufficient to defy subju
gation.
object ia this war ? The establishment of
our independence, through which alone are
to be secured the sovereignty ot the States,
and the right of self government. What is
the alternative? - Our subjugation as a peo
ple ! Is it possible to over estimate the
horrors of this terrible alternative? Can
the imagination over-color the picture
which would be presented in the event ot
our failure? If wo tail, not only political
degradation, but social humiliation must be
our wretched lot. We would not only be
political vassals, but social serfs. Au eae-
mv. that has shown himself destitute of the
ordinary sensibilities of human nature, and
whose worst passions are embittered and
n ii inied against us, would assume th<? ab
solute control of our political and social
destinies. In vain would a proud, though
vanquished people, look even for that mer
cy which the conquered receive from a gen
erous toe. Those “State Rights,” which we
have been taught to prize so dearly as the
greatest bulwarks of Constitutional Liber
ty, and which, from the earliest period of
i«f history, we have so jealously guarded,
would be annihilated. The Confederate
States wc*fid be held as conquered provinces
by the despotic government at Washington.
They would be kept in subjugation by the
stern hand of military power, a3 Yenetia and
Lombardy have been held by Austria—as
Poland is held by the Russian Czar. Not
only would we be deprived of every politi
cal’frauchise dear to freemen, but socially
we would be degraded to the level of slaves;
if, indeed, the refinement of malice in our
enemies did not induce them to elevate the
negro slave above his former master. Not
only wou’d the property aud estates of van
quished “rebels” be confiscated, but they
would be divided and distributed among
our African bondsmen. But why -pursue
the hideous picture further ? Southern
manhood revolts at ihe bare idea of the spec
tacle presented. Can you think of it un
moved ? Can property—can life itself—be
so dear to you as to allow you to weigh
them lor one moment against degradation
so abject—against misery so profound ? We
do not and cannot believe it. If the proud
memories and traditions of our first great
revolution do not nerve our eternal resis
tance to such a consummation —nor the ex
ample of our iorefathers, who wrestled for
the independence they bequeathed us during
stven long years of suffering greater than
we have endured—let not the precious blood
that has been already shed by our bravest
and i-est in the present struggle cry out to
us from our yet reeking soil in vain 1 Fruit
lessly, indeed, have these sons aud brothers
—martyrs ot liberty—bled and died if we
falter now in the path which they have iilu-
miu&led before us!
In the revolution of ’76 ovCc armies and
our people suffered far more than we have
dot e. Car cities then were almost all in the
hands of the British, and we were entirely
cut oft from all supplies Irom abroad, while
our facilities tor producing them were infi
nite! v less man they now are. Greene tells
us that the battle of Eutaw was won by men
who had scarcely shoes to their feet or shirts
to their b teks. They protected their shoul
ders Irom being galled by the bands of their
crossbelts by bunches of moss or tuffs of
grass. A detachment marched to Greene’s
assistance, passed through a region so swept
by both armies that they were compelled to
subsist on green peaches as their only diet.
There was scarcely any salt for fifteen
mouths, aud when obtained, it had to be
used spaiiagly, mixed with hickory ashes.
We need but allude to the terrible winter
which Washington passed at Valley Forge
with an array unpaid, halt starved and half
naked and "shoeless, to convince us that
iiiugii as our own brave soldiers are now
enduring, their lathers, for a like cause, en
dured tar more. • Washington did not then
despair. Lee does not now despair of the
final triumph ol a righteous cause. Why
should we be doubtlul—much less despon
dent—of our ultimate success?
The extent of our territory—the food-pro
ducing capacity of our soil—the amount and
character of oar population—are elemenisot
strength, which, carefully husbanded and
wisely employed are amply sufficient to en
sure our final triumph. The passage ol
hos ile armies through our country, though
productive of cruel suffering to cur people
and great pecuniary loss, gives the enemy
no permanent advantage or foothold.
To subjugate a country its civil govern
ment must be suppressed by a continuing
military force, or supplanted by another, to
which the inhabitants yield a voluntary or
enforced obedience. The passaged hostile
armies through our country cannot produce
this result. ^Permanent garrisons wouid
have to be stationed at a sufficient number
of points to'strangle all civil government
beiorc it could be pretended, even by the
United States; Government itsei^fcttat its
authority was extended over these States.
How many garrisons would it require?
How many huudredthousand soldiers would
be sufficient to suppress the civil govern
ments q£ all the States of this Confederacy
and to establish over them even in name
and form, the authority ot the United
States ? In g geographical point of view,
therefore it may be asserted that the con
quest of these Confederate States is imprac
ticable.
But it is in the character of our population,
especially, that we find those elements of
strength which impress us with the convic
tion that we never can be conquered. Our
people are peculiarly military in their char
acteristics. Better soldiers than those in our
army history has never shown. They haveen-
dured extreme hardships and sufferings with
a fortitude, and fought against constant
odds wfith a gallantry, that has earned the
gratitude of their country, and extorted the
admiration of the world. But in addition
to their military attributes our people are
pre-eminently of a proud and haughty
spirit, and deeply imbued vrith the love of
constitutional freedom. It belongs to their
race and lineage; and, as Burke long ago
remarked, their relation to the servile race
in contact with them has intensified the
feeling and invested this love of liberty with
a sentiment of personal privilege. To sup
pose that a people with such military, polit
ical and social characteristics will ever vol
untarily submit to be ruled by another gov
ernment than one of their own choice, is
too insulting to their pride to be entertained
for a moment. And to doubt their capac
ity to achieve their independence, and maim?
tain themselves as a separate power among
the nations of the earth, is to close our eyes
to all the teachings of history—to ignore
the proof which our own forefathers have
stamped upon its pages—to believe that hu
man nature has changed, or that we are a
degenerate race, unworthy descendants ot
our revolutionary sires!
The appointment by the President of
Gen. Lee as Commander-in-Chief, has done
much to restore confidence to the country,
and to reinspire the army. All feel that
we may safely repose' this weighty trust
and responsibility ia that great soldier and
patriot. All feel .that we may lean upon
him as our tower ot strength. All teel that
his calm courage and steadfast purpose, his
military skill aud w se judgment, will ena
ble him to wield our armies with the maxi
mum efficiency and strength. May God
strengthen .him for the great task to which
a confiding people have called him.
To provide means for carrying on the
war. Congress fcas been compelled to im
pose upon the couatry a heavy burthen ot
taxation. But heavy as it ia, it ia nvt too
heavy for the couatry to hear,-•and not
heavier than our wants imperatively de
mand. It is impossible to maintain the
mighty contest in which we are engaged,
wufaoui vast expenditures of money. Mon
ey can only be raised by loans or by taxa
tion. Our condition_doe3 not enable us to
effect the former. \Ye must of necessity,
therefore, resort to the latter. We appeal
to you with confidence to submit cheerful
ly to the burthens which the defence of your
country, your homes and your liberties, ren
ders necessary. To contribute according to
his means to that defence, is as much an ob-
liga.ioa upon the citizen as it is to peril his
life uton the battle field.
Let ustheD, fellow-countrymen, tread the
plain path of duty. No nation that has trod
it faithfully and fearlessly ev;r in the
world’s history has stumbled and fallen.
“Nations,” says Burke, “never are murder
ed—they commit suicide.” Lst us not be
guilty of the folly and the crime of self de
struction. Let us show the fortitude, en
durance and courage, that belong to our
race, and neither the brute force of our ene
my’s arms, nor the subtle poison of his lips,
can extinguish the life of this Confederacy
breathed into it by the sovereign Slates
which created it.
The people of the United States are be
coming weary of this war. The foreign
material for their armies is beginning to
fall them. The matteriegs of discontent at
later collapse under tim burthen of expen
ditures, the magnitude of which the most
skillful financier cannot venture to predict.
The debt of the United States is already
equal to the national debt of England,
which has been accumulating since the rev
olution of 1688. The interest on this debt
is 6 per cent. It has been computed^ that
the interest on the debt of the United States
together with the amount necessary to car
ry on its Government (even were the war
at an end) would not fall much short ol five
hundred millions per annum!— a sum
affirmed to be .greater than the entire annual
wealjh of the - Northern States. While a
people in sell-defence, may submit cheerful
ly to any sacrifices of treasure and of blood
—there is a limit beyond which a country,
waging a war of aggression and conquest,
will not go. We cannot stop this war
without degradation, ruin, dishonor. Our
enemies caa have peace at any time by
abandoning their* wicked attempt at our
subjugation, aud allowing us to govern our
selves in accordance with those great prin
ciples lor which their fathers and ours
fought side by side.
Considered, therefore, in every point, of
view, it is impossible to believe that the peo
ple of the Confederate States will ever in
cur subjugation, or accept submission as the
result oi the great struggle in which we are
engaged. Neither is it possible to believe
that these States, compelled by long years
of unjust and unconstitutional action toward
them by the Northern States to withdraw
Irom political union with them, can ever be
tempted by any promises,or so-called “guar
antees,” again to unite themselves with them
under a common government. Forced into
this revolution by their faithless disregard of
the obligations of the constitutional com
pact,' and by the selfish and sectional legis
lation which they fastened upon ua, what in
the course of this war has occurred to
Ghange our opiaiou as to their character and
purposes ? The barbarity and unrelenting
ferocity which has characterized their con
duct of ir, has excited the indignant wonder
of the world Falsehood, duplicity and
mean cunning marked their course ia its in
auguration—and in its progress, every arti
fice of low diplomacy and persistent mis- *
representation*has been resorted to by them
to lessen ua in the estimation of mankind.
Our struggle for the right of self-govern
ment—which they themselves have always
declared to be inalienable—has baen held
up to the world as a contest for the mainte
nance of African slavery—a purely State in
stitution, over which neither the Confeder
ate States government nor the. United
States Government has any constitutional
control. To'prevent foreign nations from
according to us that recognition to which
we were entitled by public law, and even
the very language of existing treaties—a re
cognition which they themselves have ac
corded to other countries on far slenderer
grounds— they have deliberately falsified
accounts of military operations, and our ca
pacity and resources for continuing the con
test. A war which has been carried on ior
four years with ever varying fortunes, their
Minister of State has again and again as
sured foreign powers could not possibly be
waged by us for more than two or three
months. And after all their insolent boasts
of vheif power to crush us, they have been
compelled to resort to foreign enlistments,
and the arming of our captured slaves, in
order to fill up the ranks of their armies. Iu
spite of these’'practices, winked at, if not
countenanced by European powers—they
have practically confessed their inability to
vanquish us in regular warfare, by the in
human policy of destroying the dwellings,
the food, ana the agricultural implements of
our non-combatant population. Thus en
deavoring. by the starvation of their wives
and children, to break th4 indomitable spirit
of our soldiers.
In the invasion of our soil, neither priv
ate property nor age nor sex has been spared
from the rapacity and brutal passions of
their mercenary legions. Wherever they
have passed over the surface of our fair
land, the blackness of desolation has mark
ed their path, and barbarous devastation
has been their devilish boast. Public re
cords have been destroyed—institutipns of
learning, public and private libraries pil
laged or burned—and the temples of God
sacrilegiously defiled.
Fellow countrymen, will you, can you,
ever submit to be ruled by such a people?
Caa you ever join hands with them in fra
ternal union? Can you, with all these
things freshiy before you, daily occurring
on your native soil, ever return to a politi
cal union with these despoilers of your
homes, these violaters of your wiveg and
daughters? Never ! A daik crimson stream
divides you, which all the skill of negotia
tion can never bridge over. . The Southern
people have determifled to be free and inde
pendent, and it their fortitude and courage
do not fail them, it is. impossible to doubt
the issue. But there must be no hailing—
no hesitation—in the only path that leads
to the goal. We must prove to our enemy
and prove to the world, that we cannot be
conquered. We must convince them that,
though our soil may, be overrun, the faith ot
our people in the great cause for which they
are contending, is unbroken—their determi
nation unchanged,their will invincible. Let
us emulate the exampleof the Russian people
when invaded by the grand army of Napoleon
Let us be wilting to make any and every,
sacrifice, aud consider it bat a meet offering
ou the altar of our country. By the light of
the blazing ruin ot what had once been a
proud palace, Napoleon read this inscrip
tion, which Kostopchin had affixed to his
gate:
“Frenchmen! Fhave spent eight years
in embellishing thisj^denee. Here I have
lived happily in the wwom of my family.—
The inhabitants of th& estate, numbering
seventeen hundred and twenty persons,
have quitted it at your approach, and I
have, with my own hands, fired my be
loved home to prevent its pollution by your
presence !”***
Shall our patriotism be colder and more
calculating, than that of the subjects of a
despoliaraler ?- Have we less reason to
resist—less reason to detest the invading
armies of the North than the Russians had
to oppose and hate the French ? Our ene>
mies, with a boastful insolence unparalledin
the history of modern civilized warfare, have
threatened, not only our subjugation, but
some of them have announced their deter
mination if successful in this .struggle,' to
deport our entire white population, and
supplant it with a new population drawn
Irom their own territory and from European
countries. While such & threat may well
excite our ridi iule and contempt, the devil
ish spirit which prompts it must provoke in
us an indignation that would render the fee
ble people invincible! Think of it! That
we, the descendants of a brave ancestry,
who wrested from a powerful nation by
force of arms the country which we inhabit
—bequeathed to us by them, and; upon
which we have been born and reared—
should be uprooted from it, and an alien
population planted in our stead, is a thought
that should inspire us with undying hostil
ity to an enemy base -enough even to eon>
ceive it Every motive, then, ot honor and
of self-inteiest—of patriotism and of domes
tic affections—every sentiment of manhood
and of self-respect—unite in nerving us to
resist, to the last extremity, our cruel inva
ders. Success gives us a country and a
proud position among the nations of the
earth.
failure makes us the vassals of an arro
gant people, secretly, if not openly, hated by
-the most enlightened and elevated portions
ol mankind. Success records ns forever in
letters of light upon one ol the most glorious
pages of History. Failure will compel us to
drink the cup of humiliation even to the
bitter dregs—of having the history ot our
struggle, written by New England histori
ans ! Success is within our reach. We have-
toiled and panted onward nearly to the goal.
We have almost grasped the cosily prize ot
Independence—never woa except through
anguish and blood. The crown stands
ready to encircle the fair brow of our young
republic. The shades of our mar tyred* he
roes hover over us, and beckon us on. The
tearful entreaties of our mothers, wives and
daughters to save thein from nameless hor
rors, urge us forward. Will we pause ? Can
we latter ? Will we allow the weapons,
which the God of .battles has so otten di
rected to tho smiting oi the despoiler of our
homes, now to drop from our nerveless
hands ? Shall we be discouraged by the
superior numbers of the enemy ?
‘■The battle to the strong
Is not given,
While the Judge of Right and Wrong
Sits in Heaven,
The Ood of David still
G-uidea the pebble at Hia will
There are giants yet to kill
Wrongs unshriven l"
But the enemy has already put forth his
utmost stength. He has made his most g
gantic efforts. Ho has strained his ener
gies to their greatest tension. He has taxed
his resources to their utmost limit. He is
almost spent and breathless with ir.s tre
mendous exertions. Let us stand firoi. Let,
us be calm and resolute. Let us shew mat
our faith in our cause, aud iu hia guidance,
who shapes the destinies of nations, ! i-: fixed
and cannot move.* Ia that faith, aud with
humble reliance on that guidance, let us v
hope all things—endure all-things—and
when we strike the invaders of our country,
let, Religion, Patriotism, Love, Honor, no
ble Pride—every sentiment sacred and dear
to the heart of man—nerve our arms and
give vigor to the blow I Thus shall we con
quer the peace for which all so ardently
yearn! Thus shall we make tho memories
of our slaughtered sous and brothers glori
ous and immortal! Thus shall we compel
the nations of the earth to receive and wel.
come us among them! Thus shall we make
the plough and the reaping hook replace
the cannon and the sword, and our ravaged
fields smile once more with teeming har
vest’s ! Thus shall we return our devoted
soldiers to their long abandoned homes,
and euable our people once more to sit,
each under his own vine and fig tree, wi'h
none to make them afraid ! Thus shall we
make our children and our children’s chil
dren to the remotest generations, rise up
and call us blessed ! Thus, aud thus on y,
shall Peace and Independence—one and in
separable-spread their broad wings above
us and plenty, prosperity and happiness
reign throughout our native land.
Special Correspondence of lbs Daily Suu.
LETTER FE0M MONTGOMERY,
Montgomery, Anrii 5, 1865.
At headquarters no movements of the
enemy from Selma were reported. On the
streets it was said and believed that the ene
my, leaving a garrison at Selma, had march
ed towards Demopolis, en route for M bite.
Their force has been estimated as high as
20,000 men, but our Generals believe 9,000
to be a full estimate. First rumors were
that the enemy had 9,000 men to attack
Selma with a reserve torce ol 11,600. Who
is the commander appears unknown. Gen,
A. J. Smith, McCook and Steadman are
each named. At Gen. Buford’s headquar
ters it is believed that Gen. Joe Wilson,
formerly of the Army ot the Potomac, is
in command. He is a young man of not yet
thirty years.
Montgomery and vicinity is to be defend
ed. The Confederate and State authorities
are in perfect harmony. Gen. Adams, com
manding district ci Alabama, has ordered
that every man capable of bearing arms is
called upon to volunteer lor a limited period
to aid in the defense of their capital and
homes. Arms and equipments will be fur
nished, and troops organized, who wili re
port by regiments, companies and detach
ments. Additional numbers of horses are
wanted to equip batteries. They will bo
purchased.
Brig. Gen. Buford, a gallant, officer, who
wears upon his front boldness and determi-
na’.ion, has been assigned to the command
of the city and defenses.
Prompt and decided,action is required.
I append here the proclamation or Gov.
Watts. I was in error in telegraphing that
he would allow the militia to vote whether
they would leave their counties. The Proc
lamation is couched in noble words am^
conveys fully an idea of the situation ;
Executive Department Ala , )
Montgomery Ala., ApriHl, 1865. )
2o the People of Alabama:
On the 3d of March I warned you that
our enemies were making efforts to invade
the State from several directions, i then
ordered the Slate militia to report, aod
called upon all patriotic citizens to rally to
the defence of the Staie,
Our enemies have now coma. They
have come from North Alabama and have
penetrated the interior to Selma. They
have taken Selma, aud have burned the
largest part of ir. This force doe3 not ex
ceed nine thousand. It may be less. They
have, in large numbers, altioKed Spanish
Fort, ou the eastern shore of the Mobile bay.
At last advices these several attacks on tbis
fort tad been repulsed with great ioss to
them. They may attempt to occupy Mont
gomery. Tee military authorities here are
determined to defend the city.
With my consent thei^Bt of government
shall not be surrendered as long as there u
a reasonable hope-of dglfiBcli eg it. I havi
just seen Gen. Adama’address. I trust o
people will promptly and heartily respon :
to it. If you will at once come, we cm sav
our State. The only safety to propert
firesides, families and liberty, is to rally to
the support of the Cqntederate authorities.
Let no idle fears deter you from respond
ing at once. The stern resolve of men de
termined to remain free, will nerve your
arms and brace your hearts tor the perils of
the contest The base and cowardly tears,
but invite ihe enemy to destroy you all.
Without delay the commandants of the
several counties East aud Svu-h of the Ala
bama river, wili send their men to this
place, to report here to the Adjutant Gen
eral of the State. All who wi.i volunteer
will do the same. Bring all- the arms and
ammunilion you have or can get.
Gen. D. W. Adams, a tried soldier and an .
able commander, is in command ot this
District. Brig. Gen. A. Buford, who has
fought with non ,r on many fields of glory,
wili have eharge of the defenses of theciiA .’
T. H. WATTS, "
Governor of Alabama.
OEORtil A. Claytoh CouXty :
M ARY AMI OESEK having in proper f<.rta applied
to n>e lor perm.'nent letters c*f aJnin-sira ion on
the estate of Joshua Milener:
Thirls to cite and admonish all and singcUr the kin
dred and creditors of saiu decease?, to be and appear
atiny office within the time P.ilowed by law, and show
cause, if any they nave, why saii_letters skordd not. oe
granted:
Witness my hand and officSalflBpmtr.re, April 10.h,
1865. (jfc'A. DOLL AS, Orci’y.
Printers fee $10 te* sp'll-wSOd