Newspaper Page Text
DAILY TiMKfcS.
J. H. H VURi’V, - - - Editor.
COLUMBUS:
Saturday Morning. November 9, 1864.
c . —?r.-:----- ■ ---..,, .
GOVERNOR’S MESSAGE.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, >
IfILL EDGEV ILLS, Ga., Nov. 3d, 1864. /
‘Senators and Representative*:
The period tor jour annual meeting in Gen
rl Assembly having arrived, it affords me
great pleasure to welcome you to the Capitol.
<rid to assure you ot my earnest de3ire to
unite with you harmoniously and cordially in
all pruetic* ’ measure;- v hU* m*r ; omote the
general willate, and redout.a to the glory aud
honoi o' l. .etoved .State.
We ;hi- |M.-etug i l.rougit a try iug ordeal,
haying stak 'd upon the issues, of war all that
can b >iu ible or dear to a people. If we
are subjugated; w • lose homen propia tj', liber
ty. repuiatiou,.an'i ail, so far as this world is
oriCciue l. tli.L m..K' S life desirable or its
mirth as tolerabht.
Oiii «•!.• -tin-- rivpiidi-Uri and trampled
H i ) i <o a iiiuvi, pi b-*•}.)!( 3 o' .eoiisiitu
tiou... .loci is, a.a ;mh' ..tiempit u to rear,
upon tiie ruin .u-oui repubiieaij i in-ti tut tons,
a eouiofni.iie. empir.. timl -r (he popular
name, oi a union o> the States We have
taken up at ms b> rc.-ist litis, and to maintain
rup'ii nieaiti.' n l.t Its purity. with the so vet
eignly of tite StaO's ami the personal rights
and lib; rtie- ot the people. No people ever
ueeeptei! the alternative of war in a nob r
range, ot exhibited to Inc wurifl a more -i
lime spectacle 0.l morai grandeur and iiei.- e
va.o . t.tm gallant urintus nave won to.
tin '< States a ton e which will stand upon a
bright page in history, when pyramids have
decayed, arid marble monuments have crum
bled into dust. Ii should be the pleasure ol
t!i p ‘rioi and 'pride, of'the hero to contribute
hi.- property. Ins energies, and. it need be, his
rite, lor Lie succe.-s oi so libbh a < - iiu-e. Upon
our access depends the 1 »?t ' •* of ’epubli
eatj itistittni.nis and liberty, vyitlt consti
tutional g u.n autees. lie who would prove
ie. i< !iiit I » so sacred a cause, or from a de
sir<- if personal aggnyidizeinent or the grati
rieation ol personni ambition, would trample
itiid'-r liis feet and sacrifice these gieat princi
ple- which underlie the very foundations of
our federative system, and upon the success
ofwuich the happiness of unborn millions
depends, deserves an eternity of infamy with
the everlasting execrations of mankind upon
In- head
Asa baud of patriots, let us unite all our
energies atyi exert ail ouriutlueuce lor the suc
cess of our glorious cause, and for the main
tenance in their original purity of the great
principles of civil and religious libetty, which
form the very pillars upon which the temple
of our republicanism rests.
CONFKD K RATE RK LA TlO NS.
The war is still waged against the people of
tlie Confederate States, by the Government of
the United States, with a vindictiveness and
cruelty which has few parallels in history.
For nearly four years we have met the mighty
assaults of the Federal armies and have re
pulsed and driven them back on many a
lmrd-fougbt, field.. We have lost important
points, but none which we cannot temporarily
surrender to the enemy, and, with good man
agement, finally succeed. Atlanta wa3 prob
ably the most vital point to our success that
has been won by the superior numbers of the
enemy. Its tall was a severe blow, and Mr a
time caused great despondency among our
people. 1 am happy to see, however, tiiat they
are fast recovering from depression, and con
fidence, is being restored.
At the time of General Sherman’s march
front Dalton to Atlanta, we had a large force
west ot the Mississippi oi as gallant troops ns
ever faced an enemy, which had been almost
in a state ol inactivity, since our splendid vic
tories in Louisiana last spring had driven the
enemy, excf-pi a tew garrisons, from that de
partment. Major General Eaily is said to have
had a force ot 20,00(1 men, ol ilie very best of
the Army in \ <rgtni , with which he drove
the Federal General out of the valley oi that
Slate, and pressed forward into M irviand and
Pennsylvania, and remained there tilt his
presence provoked those and the adjoining
States to organize u lorce sufficient to drive
him back and to threaten Richmond in the
rear. General Forrest, with a large cavalry
force, was operating in North Mississippi, re
pelling raids from a country that had been
overrun till ilu-re was but little public proper
ty for tlie enemy to destroy ; and Gen. Morgan
was raiding in Kentucky. While our forces
were thus scattered from Pennsylvania to
Texas, General ’Sherman, strengthened by a
concentration of the enemy’s forces from dif
ferent departments, was steadily pressing for
ward to Atlanta, the very- lieait and railroad
centre of the Confederacy', with a force suffi
cient, by reason of its superior numbers, to
continually flank and drive back the gallant
Army of i ennossee. During this whole cam
paign, General Sherman’s base of supplies at
Nashville and Louisville was hundreds ot
miles in his rear, and he was dependent for
transportation upon a railroad constructed
through an exceedingly rough country, with
bridges, culverts and curves 'along its entire
line. Jn this condition, more than three hun
dred miles from the border of Kentucky, in
the midst of aa enemy’s country, he was'per
mitted to go forward, -without serious inter
ruption in his rear, and to accomplish his
grand design.
Georgians, whose homes have been overrun,
property destroyed, and fields laid waste, have
naturally inquired, as ‘doubtless the future
historian* will, why part of the large force
unemployed west of the Mississippi were not
brought to aid the Army of Tennessee during
the summer mouths ■ And wbv, when the
enemy were driven from the Valley of Vir
ginia, the key points were not garrisoned and
held hy part ot Early’s force, and the balance
sent to Georgia, instead of the whole being
sent upon the campaign into Maryland and
Pennsylvania, which only served to stir up
and unite Northern sentiment ugutuat us, and
to enable the Federal Government to raise an
additional force sufficient to drive back the
expedition with disaster to our arms. It this
whole force could be sparer, trom Richmond
to invade 1\ ui.sy ivauia. might not part of it
ha\ e- held the »a i! t-y of t * rg. n ia. ;tn* 1 the bal
ance been Sent to Georgia ? And could not
fonest, even at me expense of temporary loss
in Mississippi, be « b> •» sent to destroy the
m.4tWuS in foe r<\ and stop the supplies of
the, l edei.-u anu\ : li we had adopted the
tule oy which moot great Generals in such
emergencies*have succeeded, of the evacua
tion, for the time, of all points not absol itch
vital, and the rapid and vigorous concentra
tion of even soldier in the Confederacy not
necessary to hoi i Richmond and prohutdv one
or two other key points, and had hastened
the whore to Atlanta and to Sherman s rear,
and. hurled them upon him in his exposed ami'
•.litiLai condition, the repulse and rout, if not
the destruction or capture, of his artnv could
scarcely have been doubtful. And as his arm.
was the only defence provided by • e Federal
Governmeht for tbe Western iSt. >, >ucb a
consummation would not l onlv h e iciGvml
Georgia, Tennessee, North Alabama a. *d \ or h
Mississippi from the presence of the enemy, but
it would have thrown open the -green fields '
of Kentucky which Lave been more than once
promised to our troops, and would probably
have opeued the way for un'earh peach. The
powers that *n* determined upon a. different
line of policy. Tbe world knows the results,
and we must acqyie?c&. 15nt the misfortunes
following the misguided judgment of our
rulers must not have the ftfet of relaxing out
zeal, or chilling our love for the cause:
e may. as w-.- nave aright to do. differ
among ourseive- .-■> to. Urn H cer
tain line of poUcv. «.• ca. ■
Confederate :,.;ar r,. . ;i
--may deploy.' - utiU’• u. , 4 „
while others u >..y ai'emnt t-. ia-atHv „ •
mistakes and defend ai: its errors, and may
he ready m advance ;o approve eTtrUhhm it
may do. ana still , vs rn .. Y aii a „ w ,.T ;an %
rum:, true to our r re.; cau-< 3 , and be
pan j. i; nece*.- try, to expend our last dollar
and Died our last drop at blood in its defence.
A title 1 am satisfied a large majority of
the people of this State, disapprove many of
the acts and much of the policy of the Con
federate administration, Lam of opinion there
are but a very small number of the people of
Georgia .who are disloyal to the cause or
who would consent to dose the war without
the achievement of the great ends for which
we took up arms—the independence of the
Confederate States and the vindication and
establishment of the sovereignty of the seve
ral States.
Confederate independence with centralized
power, without State sovereignty and consti
tutional and religious liberty, would be very
little better than subjugation, as it matters
little who our master is, if we are to have
one. We should therefore keep constantly in
view the great principles upon which we en
tered into this unequal contest, and should
rebuke ev ry encroachment made upon them
by our own govern .Mat. while we resist, With
amis iti cur ban is, like assaults made upon
(hem by our enemies. While our gallant
troops in t e fieiu c.re sacrificing me comforts
of home, pi jperty, heanh and even life itself,
any! ai e emi tiing all ihe privations', hardships,
perils mud tiger- o: me service, they should
tb/vei once lob< ,-ipiH of the great principles
of t quality, Lb.ny, aud copslitutiobai repub-
-i.‘ ii.-m. tor which they unbilled freedom’s
banners .in the btcc ot the enemy . -Nor should
lino. c\er content lo iuy down their anus till
■ ht.-c principles are iccoguized by our foe,
and ..tit.iifully carried out in practice by our
owii government, in oilier words, we should
never io} coa'ent till we have established up
on a drni basis tlie good oiii republican insti
tute no s our lathers in all-their purity, and
-liouid nc-vti. under any r circumstances, con
sent to accept in tlien* place, strong central
ized government with military despotism. 1
do not see how it (an be denied by any..candid
man that we have, in practice, made fearful
strides, since the war began, towards a cen
tralized governmrint with unlimited powers.
The constant tendencies of .the war seem lo
have been lo tire subordination of the civil
authorities and laws to the military, aud the
concentration of the supreme power in the
hands of the Gommander-in-Cbief ol the
armies The longer the war lasts, the greater
the tendency to this result, and the less prob
ability at its termination of a return to the
constitutional forms and republican simplicity
which existed at its commencnient.
Rut it may be asked, when is this bloody
-tmggle to terminate 1 No human forecast
can so far penetrate the future as to give a
satisfactory reply to this question. The
Northern States have resources and men
enough to enable them to continue the war
for years to come, and we have suffiorent
power of resistance and endurance to
enable us to continue to baffle all their
schemes of subjugation. The sword can
never make peace between the two con
tending parties.. When this is done, it
will be by negotiation. The prospect seems
to indicate that the war may probably last till
both sections are exhausted, before the pas
sions of the people will subside, and reason
so far resume her sway as to prepare the peo
of both countries for negotiation, as the only
means of adjustment which can t< • imate the
bloody strife. This may not tak.* place till
we have accumulated a debt on noth side3
greater than we or our posterity can ever pay
—till hundreds of thousands of^ more men
have been slain, and millions of women and
children have been reduced to widowhood,
orphanage and pove’rty-r-till our taxes have
become so burdensome, that endurance is no
longer possible—till the civil fifws cease to be
respected, and highway robbery.and murder
are the daily business of predatory bands, and
till the Federal and Confederate governments
have usurped and exercise aJI the powers
claimed by the most absolute despots, eacb
pleading in extenuation of its usurpations the
necessity growing out of the like usurpations
by tlie other.
There is reason In fear, that President Lin
coln. if re elected, and l’ressident Davis,
whose p; ssian-: arc infl trued against- each oth
er, may never be able to agree upon terms for
the commencement of negotiations, and that
the war must continue to rage in all its Jury
till there i.- a change of administration, unless
the people »t' bovh countries, in their aggre
gate' capacity as sovereign States, bring their
powerful influence to bear, requiring both
governments to stop the war, and leave the
question to be settled upon the principles of
1776, as laid down in the Georgia resolutions,
passed at your late session.
These resolutions, in substance, propose
that the treaty making powers in both gov
ernments agree to stop the war, and leave
each or any one of the sovereign States, by a
convention of its own fairly choseu by
the legal and duly qualified voters, to deter
mine for itself whether it will unite its desti
nies with the one or the other Confederacy.—
There may bedouins whether Missouri, Ken
tucky, or Maryland wish to remain component
parts of the government of the United States,
or to unite with the Confederate States If
eii her one of those States shall refuse to unite
with us, we have no just right to demand
such union, as we have neither the right to
coerce a sovereign State, nor to govern her
without tier consent. And, if we had the
right, we certainly have not the power, as we
can only govern a Suite without her consent
by subjugation, and we have nopow-gr to sub
jugate any one of those States, w it Ii the whoie
power of the United States at her back, pre
pared to defend her against our attacks.
We should stand ready, theretorb, at all
times to settle the difficulty by a reference of
the question of future alliance, to the States
whose positions may be doubtful for determi
nation.by them in their sovereign capacity.
Our Congress in its manifesto, has virtual
ly indorsed the great principles of the Georgia
Resolutions, and the President has said in his
messages that lie desires peace upon the prin
ciples to defend which we entered into the
struggle. I am. not aware, however, of any
direct tender of adjustment, upon these prin
ciples having been recently made by tb§ treaty
’making power of our Government to the same
power in tlie Federal Government. I regret
that the wish of Georgia as expressed through
her legislature has uot been respected in this
particular. Such a direct tender made through
commissioners by President Davis to Presi
dent Lincoln would place the question fairly
and properly before the States and people of
the North for discussion and action. Had it
been done months since it could not have
failed to have had a poweiful influence upon
the Presidential election u the North, which
may have much to do wiiti the future course
and conduct of the war.
It. maybe said, however, that the ‘proposi
tion to .-“ lie our difficulties upon these terms
made »*v President Davis to President Lin
coln. w oil a be a letting down of the dignity
of our Gove: nmeut. Smi might be construed
as an evidence of conscious weakness on our
pan. I confess my inability to see how the
direct tender of settlement upon these great
and correct principles by the treaty making
power in our Government, to the like power
;n the baaed Stales Government, could com
prornit me .dignity of our Government, any
.note. ’"■ an indirect tender of t.he same prop
osition .: • agh the irregular channel of an
Exec ufive .nosage or a Congressional mani
lesto.
There is certaii.lv more true dignity in a
iuect-. open. man ;, fender through the consti
tuted - ■ :vd. But nice questions of official
etiquoi ■> u i false notit. us of personal dignity
should no laid as.de. when they intervene to
prevent tiou upon which the blood of" thou
smrds a id happiness of millions may de
pend.
The Democratic party of the North which
is the otay par:;,- there claiming"tn maintain
"Nate icu's principles and which has great
strong l • • ; : power whatever may be its for
tunes iji dc coming erection, has declared in
Lvur t s-t.-pension hostilities, and a con
veuMt a.; • >' > a* foe best means of
to;>st'..**nt And 1 nogod reason why
ft •* •• :n t<: c cower in our Government
shun : :.ot emi»r rh; - proposition to the Gov
: emmenf of the United St«t?3. There can cer
di tdj ( “.nothing 'ike humiliation or degra
, da'ion :: proposition to leave the settlement
'f * teuton whieh theG f ‘ rAr i>l Government?,
wiiipb ate the creatures ot tue States, cannot
agree upon, to their creators —the sovereign
States themselves.
However much the idea may be ridiculed
to prejudice the popular mind by the enemies
of state sovereignty, the convention if called
.would'no doubt be one of the moetable and
dignified assemblages that ever met upon the
continent. In so trying an emergency, ins
volving issues of such immense magnitude,
the States would doubtless select their wisest,
ablest and best men to represent them, men
whose passions have been subdued by age
rind reflection, and who are alike distinguished
for love of justice, balance of mind and digni
ty of character. Such a convention composed
of the greatest and best men of the country,
of mature age and large experience, with the
scenes of blood, carnage and desolation
through which we have passed fresh in their
recollection, and the present and prospective
condition ot the country well known to them,
could h irdly be expected to decide ip favor
of a continuation of the war. with all its
bligtitiug effects upon both the Northund the
South, o; to adjourn without submitting*a
plan" of settlement honorable and just to the
p »ple of both Confederacies, and to all the
States.
Li questions of boundary, and inland nav
igation, ano it treaties -of amity, commerce
an . alliance, .*»• . all agreements necessary to
-fra 1 in unit re the just balance of.power
upon the col- ito-nt. could be properly shaped
iu ,-uch a convention and proposed to the
treaty making powers as the result of its d£-
libcratione O• ii might be agreed in advance
i>y tbe'trci.' i n iking powers that the coaven
tjitii si'irfb Lie whole question aud that its
action be final and conclusive when submit
ted back t ' ihe people ot the several States
and ratified by uera respectively.
In that event it must of course be under
stood that each State would enter the Con
yen! ion as a separate, independent Sovereign
the equal of every other State—and that
tlie action of the body as in case of the con
ventions which formed the constitutions ot
the United 'States and of the Confederate
States would only be binding upon each State,
when submitted back to and freely ratified by
tlie people thereof in their sovereign capacity.
The propriety of submitting the question
i>y the treaty making powers to a convention
of the Sovereign States is the more obvigus,
in view ot the want of power in the Presi
uents amh Senates of the two Governments to
make a treaty of peace without the consent of
the sovereign States to be affected by it. No
permanent treaty of peace c-an be made which
does not contain an article fixing the Boun
daries of. the two Governments, when the
whole country is inhabited as ours is, and
one or the other Governments must exercise
immediate jurisdiction over the inhabitants
of each State and each county. In other
words we can hare no treaty of peace that
does uot define the States or parts of States
that are to-be embraced in each Government.
And this can only be (Jpnc by the consent of
the States themselves. The action of separate
States is therefore an indispensable prelimi
nary to the validity of any treaty of peace that
can be made. This action may by agreement
of the treaty matting powers take place prior
or subsequent to the date of the-treaty, but
in either case the effect is the same, as tlie
validity of the treaty is dependent upon the
action ot Separate States.
Suppose for instance it is agreed by the
treaty making powers that the State ot Ohio
shall become part of the Confederate States,
when an overwhelming majority of lief people
in convention called by the proper State au
thority, decide by solemn ordinance to-re
main with the United States. Or suppose it
is agreed by the treaty making powers that
Kentucky shall remain part of the United
States,, wtien two thirds of her people decide
to go with the Confederate States. Will any
one contend that the power has
the right thus.to dispose ot States, and assign
them their future positions without their con
sent ? And will any body say that.a treaty
of peace can tie made without defining the
Government wiih winch Ohio or Kentucky
shall be associated in future ?
Suppose again that the treaty making pow
ers in fixing the boundaries of the uvo Coti
i’ederaoie.- should agree Lo * a division of Vir
ginia. and that the territory embraced in the
pretended new State formed of part of Vir
ginia. shall become part ot the United Slates,
and that the balance shall go with the .Con
federate States Will any southern man con
tend that she can be thus dismembered aud
part of her territory ceded by the President
and Senate to the Government of the United
States without her consent ? He who so con
tends denies the very fundamental principles
upon which the Government of the Confeder
ate States was organized. What would the
old Virginians of the Jeffersonian School say
to this sort of SiateSovereignty ? What would
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe,
Henry, Lee, Mason, Randolph, and other
statesmen of their day have said, if they had
been told that the constitution of the United
States conferred upon the treaty making pow
er, the right to cede one half the territory’ of
Virginia to a foreign State, without consulting
her or obtaining her consent?
If President Davis and the Senate have the
power to cede part of Virginia to the United
States iu fixing the boundaries ot the two
Confederacies without her consent, they have
as much power to cede the whole State to Great
Britain or France for commercial advantages.
Or to cede Georgia to the United States in
consideration that the other States shall be
recognized and the war cease. Such a propo
sition is too preposterous for serious argument.
He who claims such powers for the Presi
dent and Senate, would not only degrade the
States to the position of provinces, but would
clothe the treaty making power of the Con
federacy with imperial dignity greater than
the most enlightened monarchs of the present
day assume to themselves. It has been claim
ed as one of the prerogatives of sovereigns
that they could cede to each other their pro
vinces at will. But in the late treaty’ between
the Emperors of France and Austria the for
mer refused to accept a province ceded by the
latter, and incorporate it into his Empire and
govern it till the question was submitted to
the people of the Province and they gave their
consent.
It is certainly too clear to be successMlv
questioned that the Governments of the two
Confederacies have no power to make a treaty
of peace and fix the boundaries of the two
countries, which, situated as we are is a ne
cessary part of the treaty, without the concur
rence and consent of the individual States to
be affected by it. If this cannot be done with
out The consent of the States, .where is the ob
jection to a convention of the States to settle
in advance the necessary preliminaries to
which their consent is before
the treaty can be valid and binding? In the
convention it could be agreed which States
would go with pheJNorth and which with the
South, and the ratification of the action of the
convention by the treaty making powers, and
by the people of the several States to be af
! fected by it, when of a character to require
I their separate action, would fix the future
1 status of the different States, and the proper
| boundaries of the two Confederacies.
While I am satisfied that separate State ac
-1 tion may and most probably will be a ne'ces
; sary preliminary to a treaty of peace, I do
i uot wish to be misunderstood upon this point.
: The sovereign States of the GonfeWacy each
seceded from the old union. This hey had a
j perfect right to do. And each is as sovereign
! in the present Confederacy as she was in the
old, and has the same right under the like cir
cumstances which she then exercised. But
when these states seceded and formed ttie
| present Confederacy, and entered into the
present defensive War together, they at least
| by strong implication, pledged themselves to
j stand by and aid each other against the com
mon enemy till the end of the struggle. Thus
situated I deny that any one of the States can
honorably withdraw from the contest, without
tile consent of her sister states and make n
separate treaty of peace with the enemy.
fne people of the" States can meet in «• .-
vention and abolish the Confederate Govefn
• rnent whenever its usurpations and abuses of
i power Lave reached a point, where the sove
reignty ot the States an 1 the rights and liber
tie; j.f the people ar no longer s n "nre under
it. The.people of the Northern Government
. have a right to do the same by a like conven
tion. and to establish anew Government in
place of the present tyranny by which they
are controlled.
If the people of tiie two Confederacies have
i his power which will not I presume be denied
By any one professing the State rights doc
trines of 1776, why may they not meet togeth
er in convention, and agree upbn the bounda
ries and treaties necessarily growing out of a
separation which is already an accomplished
fact ?
I am well aware that the advocates of strong
central power both in the United States and
the Confederate States, including many of the
office holders of both governments, and the
place hunters and large government contrac
tors who have made millions of dollars out of
the government, without once exposing then
persons to danger in battle, and the secret
spies in the employment of the governments
who are supported out of Hie large secret ser
vice funds at the command of the two Presi
dents. to do their bidding, and such officials as
wear gold bice in cities and drive fine horses
and carriages supported out of the public crib,
while all around them is misery and want:
aud the large provost and passport corps,
scattered among our country villages and upon
our Railroads, -jealous of the prerogatives of
the central pawer, and anxious to maintain
and extend them, are ready by their action to
deny that the States have anything left but
the name, or that they can have any agency
in negotiating a treaty of peace, or that they
can meet in convention to consider of this
subject without being guilty as “traitorous
States.” Those minions of power protected
from the dangers pf the battle field, .never fail
to impugn the motives and question the loyal
ty of eVery one who denies the legality of
any act of the government, or questions the
wisdom of any part of its policy.
They very cordially adopt the maxim “the
King can do no wrong.” Os course 'all such
are loud and clamorous in their denunciations
of those who advocate a convention of States
to agree upon the terms of separation and
stop the effusion of blood. If the war should
cease they must sink to theii%natural level, for
them. “Othello’s gone.”
But the advocates of free government may safe
ly appeal from all such to the sober, sound judg
ment of the great mass of the American people,
®erth and South, who bear the heavy burdens of
the war, without the offices or patronage of either
government, whose sons have been conscribed and
torn from them or slaughtered, and many of whose
homes have been destroyed, and their farm* and
cities laid waste, who aro daily robbed of their
property by impressment agents or other govern
ment officials, without paying them anytaing for
it, who bear the burdens of the enormous taxation
necessary to carry on the war, and support all the
large classes above mentioned in extravagant in
dulgences, and whose posterity and property must
pay the immense public debt which is constantly
augmented. And the appeal may be made with
still greater force to -the gallant soldier in the
storms of winter aud in the weary march, while
amid the perils that surround him his thoughts
recur to the sufferings of loved ones at home ; as
well as to all true Christians in both countries. —
Shall this bloodshed, carnage and desolation con
tinue, to gratify the ambition and obstinacy ol
those in power ? Or shall the people of both
countries demand ot their rulers that the war
shall cease, and as it is impossible that the people
of the two sections can again live together in har
mony, that a convention of all the States be held
to agree upon terms of separation, and upon the
treaties necessary to the happiness and prosperity
©f neighboring governments at peace with each
other.
We may be told that the Northern Government
wiii not agree to such a convention, I very read
ily admit that neither the Lincoln Government
nor our own will probably agree to it, till a strong
er pressure of the people is brought to bear upon
both, and that the advocates of thi3 policy in the
North, cannot control it so long as ojzr presses and
officials, State and Confederate, . denounce the
movement and thereby put weapons in the hands
of the Government ar. Washington with which to
crush out this growing sentiment iu the North,
and more especially in the North Western States.
But I think recent developments have shown that
this doctrine will.soon bear down everything be
f'-ro it in the North, if met .by demonstratiens of
approval in the South. Stop the war and cat! a
convention of tbo States to negotiate, and the
people of the North who are as tired of it as we
are. will agree to a proper adjustment upon the
terms above indicated sooner than resume hostil
ities.
in tue meantime till proper arrangements can
bo made to adjust our difficulties and stop the ef
fusion of blood, by negotiation, it is the duty of
every man in the Confederacy to do everything
iu his power to strengthen and sustain the gallant
and glorious armies of States and the Confedera
cy. Every man 'able to bear anus who can be
spared from homo, should be sent to the Front ei
ther in the armies of the Confederacy or as part
of the Militia of the States, aud everythingqiossi
ble be.done to provide for tho wants aud comforts
of our troops in the field and their loved ones at
home. To enable us to conduct negotiations suc
cessfully we must renew our efforts to strengthen
our armies and maintain our cause with ability
and energy in the field, cost what it may in blood
or treasure. We must not, however, expect the
troops to do all by hard fighting, bloodshed and
the sacrifice of life. The statesman and the peo
ple at home have an important part to aet, as well
as the general and the troops in the field, in ter
minating the struggle. If the troops falter and
fail to do their part in the hour of battle, the
statesman is ready to cast ceDsuro upon them. If
the statesman neglects his part in conducting wise
negotiations to stop the war, the troops have
greater cause to censure and condemn him, a3- he
has no right to trifle with their lives, and continue
to expose them in battle, if the object can b'e at
tained by negotiation Without the shedding of blood.
In a crisis like the present, statesmanship is even
more important than generalship. Generals can
never stop a war, though it may last twenty years
till one has been able to conquer the other.—
Statesmen terminate wars by negotiation
BLOCKADE lU’XNTJtG.
After the appropriation made by the General
Assembly for the exnprtation of cotton, and the
importation of such supplies of clothing for troops,
cotton cards, Ac., as the State might need I sent
Col. Win. Schley of Augusta to England to pur
chase an interest in a steamer. Finding chat Le
was not successful by reason of the non compli
ance of tbe other party in getting thevessel for half
interest, in which I had contracted at $155,000 in
Confederate 8 per cent, bonds, I made a contract
with the Exporting and Importing Company, of
which Col. C. A. L. Lamar, was agent, for the
charter of three vessels, with the privilege of
adding two others which the company expected
to have ready in a few months.
This contract I considered advantageous to the
State, and if left free to carry it out I could have
exported cotton enough to have purchased all
the supplies the State might need, and could have,
imported them upon reasonable terms.
At this point I was interrupted by the interpo
sition of the Secretary of the Treasury, who, under
the order of the President refused to permit any
vessel toclearjunlessshe carried out one half the car
go for the Confederate Government upon terms
which were below what the State was to pay for
the use of the vessels.
This restriction whs placed upon the vessels of
the States as it was said, by authority vested in
the President by act of Congress of 6th February,
1864 which prohibits the exportation of Cotton,
Ac, except under such uniform regulations as
shall be made by the Pre-ident of the Confederate
States. This eonstructien could not be sustained
however, upon auv known rule, as the sth section
of the act declares explicitly “that nothing in this
act shall be construed to prohibit the Confederate
States or any of them from exporting any of the ar
ticle? herein enumerated on their own account.”
This provision in the aet therefore leaves the
States as free to export on their own account
either upon vessel? owned or charters 1 by them,
a? they were before the act was passed. But as
the proviso in the act had been virtually repealed
by an Executive order, I in common with the Gov
ernors of Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina,
(the Governor of South Carolina concurring as
shewn by his ietter) appealed to Congress to take
up the question and make such provisions a?
■ aid enable the States to exercise their just
rig.i s. After id a'tire cons* ierution Congress pass
' e"d' a bill for that purpose which the Presi
dent vetoed. Cougress then as lam iuform
el hv one of the Representatives of this State
pissed a resolution unanimously in the House,
and with almost unanimity in the Senate, declar
ing in substance that the States should bo per
mitted to export and import without interruption
up in vessels chartered by them yri r to the date
•>t the resolution, w r,th w m 1 have f-tr the ves
sels charte- 'd by O > State free. Tb>« resolution
was ■■ -tear 'he ■•*•.<«« <> e - *-si.- md the
President refused, as feu member .uC ■ ■■ jaw cither
j to sign it or to return it, that odigress might
|be permitted to -cte to overrule sift veto. Thus
by the order of the Executive alone, notwithstand
■ ing th* action of Congress and the provision in
1 the sth Sectb’B the act ab >vo r-'f-rred to. the
States wore prohibited from exporting cotton and
importing blankets and clothing for their troops,
and other necessary supplies, unless they woubt
conform to such rules as the President thought
prpper to prescribe. These rules I could not con-
I form to under the provisions of the contract made
with ihe exportiag and imoorting company with
out heavy loss to the.iState. As I was thu3 pro
hibited by act of the Coniedeiate Government
from carrying out the contract. I could not insist
upon the exclusive use and control of the vessels.
Finding the Exportations of the State forbidden
by the Lincoln Blockade, and placed under a par
tial blockade by our own Executive, I encounter
ed great embarrassment in carrying out the in
structions of the Legislature in this particular,
f If the Company were compelled to submit to the
terms prescribed by the President, and give up one
half the storage room of the steamers chartered by
j the Siate. to the Confederacy, thoy were unwil-
I ling to divide the remaining half allowed them
by the President with the State. By allowing the
company to use the name of the State in their
business which under the circumstance* I felt jus-
I tified in doing, and by uudortak ig to aid them
when necessary, in the fcruo-pnr’nlhiu of cotton to
the oast, I was enabled to get them, after sub
mitting to the terms imposed by ihe Confederate
Government, to carry our ov -u*sional lot? for the
State, upon the vessels on tied by them. I have
also through the agency of Col. A. Wilbur, expor
ted some upon smail vessels from tiie coast of this
State. I have given one halt to the vessels for
carrying out the other- Owing to the difficulties
in getting letters from the other side, I have not
yet received statements of the sales with the net
amount of gold on deposit to the credit of the
.State in England. Should the sale bills and ac
counts current be received prior to your adjourn
ment T will immediately lay them before 'he Gen
eral Assembly.
Afeoiit three hundred hales of cotton were >l*io
ped upon the .Little Ada, (u steamer chartered by
the State.) upon the coast of South Carolina. This
vessel after she had been loaded with State cotton,
wos detained in port between two and three
month? by order of the Secretary of the Treasury,
supported as I am informed by a military order
from the office of the Adjutant General in Rich
mond, to the commandant of the Post, not to per
mit her to Hoar. Thus this State vessel was
doubly blockaded and threatened by Confederate
guns in the harbor and by Federal guns outside,
if she attempted to go to sea with State cotton to
pay for blankets to be imported for Georgia
troops in service who have great need of them
A complete statement of the amount axpended
by the State for the purchase of cotton, with the ;
quantity purchased under the appropriations,
and the average cost per pound, together with
the number of bales exported on account of the
State, and the number now in store, with account
of expenditures lor storage, freight, insurance,
lighterage, bagging, rope, compressing, <tc. «fc.,
will be laid before the finance committee duriHg
the session. They arc not transmitted herewith
because reports of the agents with accounts cur
rent have not ail been received.
I have purchased and had stored mi o#e of the
Islands 30,000 pairs of cotton ca: its, and 30,000
soldiers blankets. I have also made contracts
for soldiers clothing, enough I trust with what
are on hand to carry the troop* ‘hrough the win
ter without suffering. Part of our goods were
lost a few days since near Charleston with the
Florie, but I hope soon to be abie to import the
balance.
I have lately been informed by Mr. Treaholm,
the present liberal minded practical (secretary of
the Treasury, that vessels owned by the State, will
be permitted to clear without interruption by the
Confederate Government. Were the question an
original one, I can not doubt that Mr. Trenholm
with the act of Congress, before him would decide,
that a vessel chartered by a State _ has the same
right to a4§carance, as no substantial distinction
can be drawn between the right of a State to export
upon a vessel owned and one chartered by her,
which is a temporary ownership. Nor can I sup
pose that this financial officer would willingly throw
obstacles in the way of the States in making all the
importations iti their power. Tako the case of
Georgia as an instance. Her sons are in the field.—
They need blankets, shoes, clothing and other ne
cessaries. The Confederate Government is often
unable to furnish these, and they suffer fin them. —
The State by her legislature says her sons shall not
suffer, and if the Confederate Government can not
Supply these necessary articles, she will. She ap
prorwiatgh money for that purpose, and directs part
o? Jier surplus productions exported to pay for
tkese articles, which she directs to be imported,—
(*he charters her vessels, purchases cotton with her
own money, and places it on board/to be curried
abroa t at her own risk and expense, to purchase
that she may import, at her own risk and.cogt, the
articles necessary to the comfort other own gallant
sous who are under arms for her defence. Site asks
not a dollar from the Confederate Government, and
even offer.sto pay export and import duties, which
the Confederacy has no right to demand) or all she
sends out andbrtngs in. At tki3 point she is met witha
refusal to permit her vessels to clear, unless sue will
submit to such onerous terms a- tiie Confederate
Executive may choose to dictafc. Can th s action
be sustained under any law of Congress, or upon
;Oi> principle of enlightened or’sound policy? Is
it not a palpable assumption of power, and an utter
disregard of every principle of State Rights and
-State Sovereignty ?
I trust Congress when it again assembles, acting
upon principles of enlightened statesmanship, will
not only remove these obstacles by enactments too
qdain and stringent to be disregarded, but that they
will invite aud encourage the several States, free of
hindrance or duty, to import all the army supplies
and articles of absolute necessity, which the in ans
at their command may effable them to do.
Should this expectation be disappointed -I am
satisfied it would be sound poliey on the part of this
State to purchase several vessels, and to import
upon them such supplies as may be needed by our
troops, and for State use. The State should also
export a sufficient quantity of cotton, to place gold
enough upon the other ride, to enable her to again
equip the State Road at the end of the war. in
common with other Southern Roads, its iron willjbe
much worn, audits rolling stock nearly run down,
and if some forecast is not exercised, the State w ill
not have the means at her command to put it in
running order. This may be provided for in the
manner above indicated with but little cost.
If the legislature will appropriate $2,000,000 in
currency, and authorize me to purchase vessels and
cotton, and to draw upon the cotton on the other
side when necessary to pay for them or to purchase
more cotton for shipment, if the blockade does not
become moro stringent, with the State’s usual good
luck when her affairs are well managed, I am firm
ly impressed with the belief that I can put gold
enough to her credit in Europe in one year to re
pair the Road within six months after a treaty ®f
peace, or to pay a large proportion of the appropri
ations of the current year. To accomplish this the
State must not be interrupted by Confederate inter
ference. The exchange which the cotton exported
this year under all the embarrassments of a double
blockade places, to the credit of the State, with the
cotton now in store, is worth nearly double the
whole sum expended by the Statein the purchase of
the cotton.
[To be continued..
TELEGRAPHIC.
REPORTS OF THE PRESS ASSOCIATION.
Entered according to act of Congress in the year
1863, by J. S. Thrasher, in the Clerk’s office of
the District Court of the Confederate State; for
the Northern District of Georgia.
Richmond, Oct". 4 —The Baltimore American
of tbe 2d has been received. . ’
A telegram from Louisville, Ist. mentions a
rumor that Hood, with 30,000 men. classed
the Tennessee river, moving northward, on
the Ist inst. Particulars unknown, and unat
tainable at present.
The railroad and telegraph line- to A:Lain
are now in good order,
A telegram from Nashville, the Ist. says
that since the repulse at Decatur. Hood has
moved further west, along the south side of
the Tennessee river. He i- believed to have
crossed some infantry - pear Bainbridge ; but
no part of his force has been- moved further
north. His purpose is difficult to ascertain.
Thdmas is in this city, prepared for any
movement Hood may make.
Strong bodies of troops arc* moving in the
proper direction.
Sherman will continue to hold Atlanta.
Forrest, with a large cavalry force, is threat
ening Johusonville, wher there are large
quantities of Government stores.
Two New York State agents, convicted be
fore a military commission of election fraud,
have been sentenced to-imprisonment tor life.
• The Nashville Union of the 2-sth says Sher
man had not moved beyond Guyle-vilio at last
accounts.
Gold pjenv i on the 2d, at ‘2 U»y h|-noon.
For CChattahoochee.
Tn:- rc -, first class, steamer SHAMROCK, Hr./.
V, :xgats, Master, will leave, .n her i’.r.-t »ri> . fur
Chattahoochee, and ail intermediate ia <b gs on
Tuesday morning, 3th inst., as and o’clock.
For freight >r pa .-sage, having super-. :
modations, apply :-n ■> nrd, or at the office of
ANSERD k AUSTIN,
hov ” 3t Agents.
Tn S3 CITY,
T- J. JACKSON LOCAL EDITOR
••Rosalie,’ - a poetic ooatr butor of the Montgom
ery Advertiser, has been guilty ..f plagiarism" W,
find in that paper *he Ke.uitiln! lines of'-Tne Lon*
Ag »,” published as original under the heal *
•‘Memory." Fie, Miss Rosalie.
Our Citv Bonn e.— The numerous robberies
and burglaries that have lately taken p’aci in thG
city should suggest to our city police, the impor
tance of being unusually active night and day, as
*eme of the cases which have come to our know
cuLga, lead to the belief that there are at present
a number of daring rogues and house thieves in
our miusi. A little extra activity on the part of
the city guardians, especially those who bare the
care of our community at night would lead to the
capture of soma of rascal*, and a severe ex
ample to them probably relieve us from there-:.
MARRIED.
On the 3d instant, at the residence of the bride’s
mother, Mrs. Nancy Bass, by Rev. Jos. S. Key,
Mr. J. \V. SAPPINGTON and Mrs. REBECCA
E. STANLEY.
Douglas Ambulance C’orp*.
Members of this Association will meet n’t, i
rjch k Co’s store. THIS MORNING at V,
to arrange for proceeding to the army.
W. H. YCVNG. Prest.
G. Hoj.mks, Secretary. nov" It.
Funeral Aolice.
The friends and acquaintances of D A V I D
GRANT and family, arc invited to attend his funer
al, from the Ist Baptist Church, on to-morrow
morning at lfi o'clock.
nov 5 2t
Notice.
Headquarters Reserve Troops,
Columbus, Ga., Nov., 2,
Circular,
7hr Lire members of the “DAWSON ARTIL
LERY,” are requested to meet at the Carriage Shop
of Jaques k Cos., at 4 o’clock, p. in., the sth instant,
for the purpose of organizing anew company.
This hastefcience only to Such members as are
not subject to duty in the field.
8. L. BISHOP.
not 2t Maior commanding Reserve Troops,
Lard
\y ANTED in exchange fpr Sheetings, Osnaburga
and Y’arns, at the
nov 5 lm EAGLE FACTORY.
AUCTION SALES’
By Ellis, Livingtttoia A: Cos
’PHIS day, Saturday November sth, at ID 1 j o’clouk,
1 we will sell in front of our store,
12 doz. bottles superior BLACK WRIT
ING INK.
nov 5 It*
By J lliv faivingstoii & Cos.,
-
m
YU E will sell on SATURDAY, sth November, at
*T 10 1-2 o’clock, in front of our Auction Room
A FINE STALLION, 0 years old, a
good Harness and Saddle animal.
nov 5 It $3
By Eili's, Livingston A Cos
♦ ♦ ♦
AX SATURDAY. sth November at Iff 1 ? o’cljoSc,
v* we will sell in front of our store
400 lbs. Genuine Muccaboy Snuff,
flov 12t $4
By Liis*, Livingston «V Cos.
AX SATURDAY, November sth, at 10!? o’clook,
‘ J we will sell in front of our store,
18 Boxes Good Tobacco;
1000 pounds Fine Smokin'*' Tobacco;
FINE RUM AND WHISKY;
70 Bbls. Coast Salt;
1 Shuttle Sewing Machine.
Adiitii9i«tr;&tor« Male.
At the same time we will sell for and ott accsuat
of the Estate of L. MANS FIELD, dee’d—
-2 Fine Sett Single Harness;
1 Box Horse Shoes, Sand Paper;
Enamelled Cloth and Enamelled
Leather;
16 Gross Japanese Flathead Tack.*;
16 “ Silvered “
2£j 21 and 6 inch Carriage Bolts;
6 Gross Traces, Rollers Plated, Horse
Shoes, Buckles, Bridle Bitts, &c.
nov 2 4t $32
By Ellas, Livingston A Cos.
viu.tttiE ntTiou aiiii tot
-A_T .A.XTOTIOUST !
I \N TUESDAY, Sth of November, at 10 JUfc; >h,
J we will sell in front of our Auction Rooza.
The Valuable Store, No, 127,
Broad Street, Three Doors below Hill Sc Dawson**
old cori er. The Lot is 22 feet front and 147 feet >9
inches deep—Store 114 feet deep—with privilege o
the Alley.
—ALSO —
The following very desirable Stocks;
133 Shares Florida Home Insurance €* ,
S2O per Share paid in.
100 Shares Eufaula Home Insurance €«.,
SSO per Share paid in.
50 Shares Georgia Insurance Company,
$25 per Share paid in.
500 Shares Southern Insurance Company,
Savannah, Bringham, President, $lO sc
Share paid in,
5 Shares Importing and Exporting
Company Stock of Georgia, Lamar, Pr-iit.,
SI,OOO i'Cr Share paid in.
52 Shares "Great Southern Insurance
Company,” S2O per Share l aid in.
5 Shares Bunk ol Colnmbus Sto«kj
SIOO per Share pa and in.
oc- 23 iOt ST»
glj Ellis, Eivintt>l4>is A do
A P K I AT E SALS
—— •
1,500 unimproved Land «
Spring Creek. Miller «ounty,
Early, will bo soki at a Vargam.
oc gi 171 384
Owner H anted lor a UocL%
LEFT at uiy residence during my absence, by a
negro man. i CLOCK—giving no name er ad
dress —said ne w;i ■ instructs i ta le-ive it until ca*-ri
for. The owner can get the same by calling at th»
office of JOHN L>. GRA\ i CO., and paying yn'
this.advertisemenp -rO
- DRESS GOODS!
rRENCH GAITER'.
HOSE. TBIMMIN».S.
THPEAD. Ac., A-’.", Sc?.
ROO'l COOK’S HOTEL.
Wanted liniiiediately.
*■ THIS OFFICE
For l.ow !
r . Jj clt'. ; i *i f at 1 Cover, tvii.ssd-. cdUP- ? »
/ ill ‘aV q vi ‘V ; ..a -4 \ plenty of wat^r.
“ A-v •.» ' ‘ ‘ T. McK.EE.
nt3 ft* • * T^o i«ry, Coles a **•