USA > Georgia > The Confederate records of the State of Georgia, Vol 2 pt 2 > Part 3
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In imitation of our fathers of the first revolution, we submitted to wrong till our grievances were intolerable, and when we could no longer live with the people of the Northern States in peace and were obliged to throw off the yoke, we only asked to be permitted to depart in peace. This right was denied us and the present cruel and unjust war waged against us. We fight then, for the inalienable right of self-government and for the civil and religious liberties of ourselves and our unborn posterity.
For what are our enemies fighting? They fight for power and plunder and for the destruction of the right of self-government. They commenced the war under the hypocritical pretext of restoring the Union and main- taining the Constitution. Recently, however, the despot who now rules at Washington has thrown off this mask and has informed a committee from a Southern State, claiming loyalty to his Government, that he now conducts the war for the abolition of slavery, the subjugation of Southern States and the confiscation of their property. Abolition, subjugation and confiscation are the terms of- fered us. Who that is not a dastard is prepared to sub- mit to either ?
I have heard it remarked that this is the rich man's quarrel and the poor man's fight, and that the abolition of slavery would not injure the poor, who are not slave- holders. A greater error has never been conceived. While I admit that many of the rich have fallen far short of the discharge of their duty in this contest and have
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merited the condemnation of all true patriotes; I affirm that no class of society would suffer as much from aboli- tion as the poor, and that no class has a greater interest in every thing but property, at stake upon the triumphs of our arms and the success of our cause.
Mr. Lincoln avows his purpose to abolish slavery by force of arms and to establish negro equality among us. If he is successful the rich who own slaves will lose their money which is invested in them, but they will generally have enough left to enable them to take their families and get away from a state of society so wretched and so de- grading. The poor, who have not the means to enable them to leave, must remain with their families and submit to negro equality. What is the result? The poor white man goes to the polls to vote, if he is ever again permitted to vote, and the negro, claimed by Mr. Lincoln to be his equal, goes by his side to exercise the same right and make a set-off against his vote. The poor man enters the jury box in the Court of justice where important rights are to be decided and the negro takes his seat by his side and is recognized by the Court as his equal. The poor man is on trial for his life, the negro appears upon the stand, as his equal, and is permitted to testify against him. The poor man who labors for his daily bread goes to his wealthier neighbor to seek employment, the negro appears by his side and underbids him in fixing the price of labor. The poor man sends his children to school, and the children of the negro are seated by their side, and if he remonstrates he is informed that the negro child is the equal of his own.
Again, our form of Government is emphatically the poor man's best Government, and he loses all his political
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rights if he permits it to be overthrown. If our Govern- ment were monarchial, and wealth and honors, with the right to Govern, descended by the laws of the kingdom in the same family from generation to generation, the poor man would have but little interest in it, and but little inducement to fight for it. But under our form of gov- ernment, wealth and honors are the exclusive preroga- tives of no particular family. Like the waves of an ocean they are constantly changing place, and are transferred as generations pass, from one family to another. The youth who learns that his father has wealth and honors, is apt to make them his dependence and relax his ener- gies, and it not infrequently occurs that his mental and physical constitution are destroyed by drunkenness, or other dissipations. The consequence is that he descends to a lower position in society. On the other hand, the son of the poor man, who has been trained in the school of adversity and labor, if he has ambition, talent, honesty, integrity, and energy, finding the road to wealth and honor open before him, often distances competition, and carries off the most valuable prize. Some little bright- eyed boy, now meanly clad and neglected, the son of the poorest man in the Confederate army, may by his econ- omy and energy, become the wealthiest man in his State, or by his talent and eloquence, he may in future lead the Senate; or on account of his wisdom, his patriotism and his administrative ability, he may be called to the re- sponsible position of President of the Confederacy. Tell me not that the poor man has no interest in the contest, when the social elevation, or degradation of himself and his children, depend upon its results. Let it never be said that he is disinterested, when the momentous decision is to be made, whether he is in future to be the superior,
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or only the equal of the negro. Surely no poor man will say that this is not his fight, when the very existence of republican government is at stake, which is the only government that guarantees to him and his children equality of political rights. Let the South be conquered, and the sun of liberty will set in blood, military despot- ism will be established, and the equal political rights of the poor, and their children will be forever lost.
But the abolition of slavery is not the only object for which the war is now prosecuted. We are informed that the armies of the enemy are to be used for our subjuga- tion. What would then be our condition? We should have no political rights, except such as our masters chose to permit us to exercise. Our States would be reduced to provinces, or territories. We could neither have leg- islatures nor courts, without the consent of the visitors. Our right to vote, or to hold property, or to sit upon juries, or testify in court, would be subject to their caprice. Whether we were permitted to worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences, or must submit to such established form of religion as our con- querers might prescribe, would depend entirely upon their will, as we should then have no constitutional rights, and no guarantee of the liberty of conscience. It is impossible to conceive of a people in a more wretched condition, than we would be after our subjugation. But our misery is not to end here. Our slaves are not only to be set free among us and be made our equals; and our subjugation to be complete; but all our property is to be confiscated to pay the war debt of the abolition govern- ment, and to maintain an insolent army in our midst, to dragoon us into perpetual submission, and to rivet our chains more closely from generation to generation.
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Every reflecting mind is obliged to comprehend that it would take nearly or quite the whole property of the South to pay the immense war debt of the North; and if any should be left after its payment, that Yankee cupid- ity in possession of unrestrained power, would soon ap- propriate the balance to its own use. But suppose the abolition government should modify its policy and re- peal the confiscation act, what would be the result? We should be permitted to keep the possession of our prop- erty, but we should be taxed to the full extent of its annual incomes. Instead of giving it up to pay a debt at once, we should be compelled to act as overseers for the Lincoln government, receiving a bare subsistence for our labor. Whether our property is all confiscated and sold to pay the debt immediately or is left in our hands, and taxed till it is worthless to us, matters very little, as in either case we are subjugated serfs-mere paupers and slaves to abolition power. Not only every principle of honor and of manliness, but every obligation which an- cestry can be under to future posterity, requires that we should never yield to subjugation, but that we should defend our liberties and strike for independence, as long as we have a man to muster or a weapon to use.
The reconstructionist who imagines that if the war were ended, we should be placed back where we were when it commenced, labors under an egregious error. The Lincoln government offers no such terms, and it is not in his power to grant any such, as it could not restore our slaughtered kindred, compensate our injured females, or return our devastated fields and cities as they were when this wicked war was waged upon us. Let the re- constructionist remember that the terms offered by the Government at Washington are not the restoration of
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the Union, and compensation for the injuries it has done us; but they are abolition, subjugation, and confiscation. It is announced by an officer high in position, upon the authority of the Supreme Court, that all the property of all the citizens of a State in rebellion, as they term us, is subject to confiscation, whether such citizens favored the rebellion or not. In other words, they declare their intention, so soon as we are subjected, to confiscate all the property of all the people of the Confederate States, no matter what may have been their opinions of the war, or their conduct during its prosecution. These terms can not be very consoling to the friends of the abolition government, if there be any such in the Confederacy.
SUBSTITUTES IN THE ARMY.
That portion of the Conscript Act which authorizes those within conscript age to employ substitutes, has, in my opinion, been productive of the most unfortunate re- sults. If conscription is right, or if it has to be ac- quiesced in as a matter of necessity, it is certainly just that it act upon all alike, whether rich or poor. With the substitution principle in the Act, its effect has been to compel the poorer class, who have no money with which to employ substitutes, to enter the army, no matter what may be the condition of their families at home, while the rich, who have money with which to employ substi- tutes, have often escaped compulsory service. This is not just as between man and man. While I trust that I have shown that the poorest man in the Confederacy has such interest at stake as should stimulate him to en- dure any amount of hardship or danger for the success of our cause, it can not be denied that the wealthy are under as great obligation to do service, as they have, in
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addition to the rights and liberties of themselves and their children, a large amount of property to protect. If every wealthy man would do his duty, and share his part of the dangers of the war, but few complaints would be heard from the poor. But if the money of the rich is to continue to secure him from the hardships, privations, and dangers, to which the poor are exposed, discontent, and more or less demoralization in the army must be the inevitable result.
He who has paid two or three thousand dollars for his substitute, has often made it back in a single month by speculation, and it has not infrequently happened that the families of those in service at eleven dollars per month, have been the most unfortunate victims of his speculation and extortion.
A very large number of stout, able-bodied young men, between 18 and 45 years of age, are now out of the army, and in their places the Government has accepted old men over 45, who have, in most cases, been unable to undergo the long marches, privations and fatigue. Thou- sands of these have sunk by the way, either into the hos- pitals or into the grave. It is also understood that much the larger number of deserters and stragglers from the army have been substitutes, who have entered it for hire, and after receiving the stipulated price, have sought the first opportunity to escape, which they have in some in- stances been permitted to do, with the acquiescence and encouragement of the officers, who have been their part- ners in guilty speculation. Thus the same individual has been accepted as a substitute for each of several able- bodied young men who have been left at home to seek for
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gain and enjoy comfort, while our enemies have gained advantages on account of the weakness of our armies.
If we expect to be successful in our struggle, the law must be so changed as to place in service the tens of thousands of young men, who are now at home. This would reinforce our armies, so as to enable us to drive back the enemy upon every part of our borders. After this change in the law the Government could provide for the protection of the most important interests at home, by making proper details of such persons as are indis- pensably necessary. This would be much better than the extension of the Conscription Act up to 50 or 55, as it would bring into the field young men able to endure service, in place of old men who must soon fail when ex- posed to great fatigue and hardship, many of whom are as competent as young men to oversee plantations and attend other home interests.
But it may be denied that the Government can now so change the law, as to make those who have furnished substitutes liable to service, as it is bound by its contract to exempt them, and they have acquired vested rights under the contract, which it is not in the power of the Government to divest. Let us examine this for a moment. I purchased a lot of land from the State of Georgia, and pay her one thousand dollars for it, and she conveys it to me by grant under her great seal. The contract is as solemn, and binding as the Government can make it. My fee simple title is vested and complete. But while I have the grant in my pocket and the State has my money in her treasury, it is discovered that public necessity re- quires the State to repossess herself of the land; I re- fuse to sell it to her; she may pay me just compensation
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and take the land without my consent, and she violates no fundamental principle, as all our private rights must yield to the publie good, and if we are injured we can only require just compensation for the injury.
Again, suppose I have labored hard and made upon my land a surplus of provisions, which are my own right and property, and I refuse to sell them to the Govern- ment, when the army is in need of them; it may take them without my eonsent and pay me just compensation, and I have been deprived of none of my constitutional rights.
The right of a person who has employed a substitute to be exempt from military service, can certainly stand upon no higher ground. The Government has extended to such persons the privilege of exemption upon the em- ployment of a proper substitute, but if the public safety requires it, the Government certainly has as much right to revoke this privilege as it has to take from me my land, or my provisions, or other property for public use; and all the persons who employed the substitute could demand what would be just compensation for the injury. The measure of damages might be the amount paid by the principal for his substitute, less the pro rata for the time the substitute has served; and upon the payment of the damage or just compensation for it, the Government would have the right to retain the substitute, as well as the principal, in service, as the substitute has been paid by the principal for the service, and the principal has been compensated for the damage done him by ordering him into service. It would be competent, however, in estimating the damage in such case, to take into the ac- count the interest the principal has in the success of our
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cause, and the establishment of our independence, as necessary to the perpetuity of his liberties, and the se- curity of all his rights. It would also be competent to inquire whether he has indeed suffered any pecuniary loss. If he has paid three thousand dollars for a sub- stitute, and has been kept out of the army for that sum for one year, and during that time he has made ten thou- sand dollars more, by speculation, or otherwise, than he would have made had he been in the army, at eleven dol- lars per month, the actual amount of compensation due him from the Government might be very small indeed, if anything.
Believing that the public necessity requires it, and entertaining no doubt that Congress possesses the power to remedy the evil, without violating vested rights, I re- spectfully recommend the passage of a joint resolution by this General Assembly, requesting Congress to repeal that part of the Conscript Act, which authorizes the em- ployment of substitutes, and as conscription is the pres- ent policy of the Government, to require all persons able to do military duty, who have substitutes in service, to enter the military service of the Confederacy, with the least possible delay, and to provide some just rule of compensation to those who may be injured by the enact- ment of such a law. I also recommend that said resolu- tion instruct our Senators, and request our Representa- tives in Congress, to vote for and urge the passage of this measure at the earliest possible day.
DESERTERS AND STRAGGLERS FROM THE ARMY.
Deserters and stragglers from the army, and the too common practice of overstaying the time allowed those
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on furlough, are evils which if not checked, must result in great injury to our cause and endanger our success.
A person who has travelled over the country to any considerable extent ean not have failed to observe the vast number of persons in the uniform of Confederate officers, and of soldiers, who crowd our railroad cars, and fill every hotel on our lines of travel. Many of these per- sons are believed to be neglecting duty, and attending to speculations and other private interests or pleasure. Some who are not in commission no doubt wear Confederate uni- form to enable them to avoid enrollment as conscripts. Those absent on sick leave have frequently stayed weeks and months after they were able to return to camps, have procured from unscrupulous surgeons, certificates, which have excused them with their commanders. Others over- stay their time without excuse, till they fear the penalties that await them, and they then determine never to re- turn. By these practices, the army is greatly depleted. and has not in the field much more than half its strength; and many in the service are denied furloughs which ought to be granted, because others have not been com- pelled to do their duty, and return at the appointed time. Whether these abuses are caused by the favoritism or negligence of officers in command, or by the failure of the people at home to require of all who are absent, in violation of orders, to return, I do not pretend to decide. The evil is an alarming one, however, and calls for a speedy remedy.
In response to the request of Confederate Generals in command, I have by proclamation, directed the civil and military officers of this State, and the State troops, to be vigilent in the arrest of deserters and stragglers. Many
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have been arrested by them, and returned to their re- spective commands, but further legislation is required, to enable the Executive to apply on effective remedy. It is necessary that the law make it the imperative duty of all sheriff's, constables, and all other civil officers of every grade; and of all the militia officers of this State, to arrest each and every person in their respective coun- ties who belong to the Confederate army, and can not show that he has a legal furlough, and has not overstayed the time allowed him. A heavy penalty should be im- posed upon each officer who neglects to discharge his duty, and execute the law ; and a sufficient sum should be appropriated to defray the expense of the arrest of all deserters and stragglers, and of their conveyance and delivery to a Confederate officer authorized to receive and return them to their commands. A resolution should also be passed, requesting the Confederate Government to refund to Georgia, all sums necessarily expended in the return of such persons to their places of service; or to authorize the Post Quartermaster at the place where the deserter or straggler may be delivered to a Confed- erate officer, to pay all necessary expenses. The latter plan if adopted by Congress, would be the more equitable and just, and would be attended with less complication of the accounts between the Confederate and State Gov- ernments.
If each State will adopt a policy of the character above indicated, and the Government at Richmond will require its Generals in command of Departments, to pun- ish severely, all officers guilty of favoritism, in granting furloughs, and will compel all its Chief Commissaries and Quartermasters to dismiss from their service, all persons subject to conscription, and to send back to the
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army, the large number of idlers, who are found about all our towns and cities, many of whom have details with - very little duty to perform, or positions, which are of little practical use, other than to keep them out of reach of danger; and if it will put negroes in the place of eight out of ten of our teamsters in the army, leaving enough of the most experienced and energetic white teamsters to control the negroes; and will fill with negroes the places of nine-tenths of the white men now engaged in making potash, and attending to other similar duties, and will in each case compel the white men relieved to take their positions in the ranks as soldiers, and will order into service the swarm of enrolling officers, who in some counties are spending their time in idleness and dissipation, and are scarcely sending to the camp of in- struction once a month, a number of conscripts as large as their own number, we shall soon see the army greatly strengthened, and the troops much better contented and more irresistible. Justice to those who have done their duty faithfully requires that others shall be compelled to do likewise.
EXEMPTION OF STATE OFFICERS.
The Congress of the Confederate States, at its last session, passed an Act, exempting from conscription, all State officers, claimed as exempt by the Governor of each State, till the meeting of the next Legislature of the State, after the date of the Act. It is now left for the General Assembly of this State to determine what State officers shall in future be exempt from conscription. While Con- gress has no power to disband the Government of a State, or take from it any of its officers civil or military by con- scription, without its consent, the State has the power, if
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it chooses to exercise it, to turn over any of its officers not necessary to its existence, to the Confederate Govern- ment, for military service.
Entertaining the opinion that the State should always keep within her limits, and at her command, a sufficient force to execute her laws, do police duty, and repel raids and robber bands from her soil, and should preserve in- tact her government; I have felt it my duty to refuse to permit her officers to be enrolled as conscripts; but I have required them to hold themselves in constant readi- ness to do local service, and to enter the organizations formed for home defence, without regard to rank; and have given the officers furloughs when necessary, to en- able them to discharge even the duties of privates in vol- unteer organizations. When I refused to permit thie officers to be taken as conscripts, I acted upon a principle, and not from favoritism to the officers as individuals, as I have no personal acquaintance with one in ten of them, and there is no reason why I should be more partial to them than other good citizens. Though my course at the time gave much dissatisfaction, and political op- ponents seized upon the occasion, to prejudice the minds of the people against me, I trust the result has vindicated my conduct.
Had I permitted the military organization of the State to be disbanded, it would not have been in my power to have filled the late requisition of the President upon this State for 8,000 troops for local defence, as I should have had no officers at my command in the several counties to conduct the organization required by the President. This will be more clearly seen by contrasting the action of Georgia with that of Alabama. The legislature of
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Alabama by joint resolution, if I mistake not, turned over all militia officers in that State within conscript age, to enrollment. Georgia retained hers. The President called upon Georgia for 8,000 men for home defence; and upon Alabama for her quota. Georgia raised and ten- dered over 18,000. Alabama failed to raise the number required, and the Governor was obliged to convene the Legislature, and recommend the reorganization of the militia, and the appointment of new officers, before the quota of the State could be filled. The fault rested not with the people of Alabama, for none are more loyal, gallant and patriotic, but it resulted from the action of the Legislature in permitting the militia system of the State to be virtually destroyed by the enrolling officers, which left the Governor without officers to obey his orders, and conduct the organizations necessary to fill the quota.
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