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THE VIEWS OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON.

From Doolittle Papers; Contributed by Duane Mowry.

[The following is a copy of an unsigned manuscript document found among the private papers and letters of the late ex-Senator James R. Doolittle, of Wisconsin. It is presumed that the document was furnished to the Senator during his service in the United States Senate to be used, and which may have been in fact used, in the discussion of the reconstruction policy of Mr. Johnson. It may have furnished the text of Judge Doolittle's defense of President Johnson's attitude towards the seceding Southern States, as it is well known that the late ex-Senator was on the most intimate personal and confidential relations with Mr. Johnson and his Administration. It is not thought that the "opinions" which follow offer anything historically new. Possibly, they may serve to corroborate some truths of history.]

"The President holds that the so-called 'Confederate States' were merely combinations of traitors, who, for the time, overthrew all national and State authority, and established thereon a revolutionary government, but that these revolutionary govts (governments) never were States. That the People constitute the States, and what is meant by the term People is, that portion of the political community, who by their several state constitutions are made electors and invested with political sovereignty, not aliens, not adherents of the rebel power.

"The President holds that the rebels are no part of the People, and therefore, their confederate governments may be overthrown and their armies captured or dispersed. Yet so long as there is a hope cherished of revival, either by force or fraud, its adherents are still enemies, mere prisoners of war, and not citizens.

"The States then, are the people who never belonged to that revolutionary power, or, having belonged to it, renounced it and renewed their allegiance to the National government.

"It follows, therefore, from the principles of President Johnson's policy, that the People of the Southern States, though long overborne by a power they were unable to resist, lost not their rights as States of this Union; but that these rights, so to speak, were dormant, held in abeyance, and revived in their full force and virtue, so soon as the rebel power was sufficiently destroyed or weakened to admit of their free exercise.

"It follows, also, from the President's policy, that whoever obstructs the people in the re-organization of their State governments & attempts to bar the door against their admission as States of this Union, is a revolutionist, playing the role of the original secessionists.

"And if by force he should overthrow these States, and defeat the People in the enjoyment of equal rights as members of this free republic, he is a traitor as richly deserving the execration of mankind, as is Jefferson Davis & his coconspirators."

Then follows this significant paragraph, which, presumably, is the argument of him who had been quoting the foregoing extracts from the President's position.

"In the sense in which I use the term 'people' they never lost their love for the Constitution-the bulk of them were never prepared to adopt the views of Davis & Co., & a conception of Confederate independence would have blasted the hopes of the majority."

PAYMENT FOR NEGROES.

From Mrs. Ruth Marshall to Senator Doolittle.

[MILWAUKEE, WIS., Oct. 19th, 1903. [To the Editor of the Publications of the Southern History Association:

The letter which follows was carefully enclosed in the envelope in which it was evidently sent to the late ex-Senator Doolittle, of Wisconsin. The case which the letter outlines is not, probably, an isolated one. It has, as one can easily see, many features of real hard

ship. But the letter is not submitted for that reason, but rather to present a real condition of affairs succeeding the War of the Rebellion. The story is so simply and truthfully told, and the dear interests of the relator are so candidly set forth, that one cannot fail to be interested from the outset. I do not know what Judge Doolittle did with Mrs. Marshall's "momentous question," nor is it important now. But it would seem that there were equities in her statement of facts that ought to appeal to some higher court than a devastating army, or an unfriendly public opinion. The writer found the letter among the private correspondence of the great commoner from Wisconsin, who represented the Badger State in the United States Senate for twelve years, from 1857 to 1869.

Very truly yours,

DUANE MOWRY.]

CHARLESTON, So. CA., Feb'y 12th /67.

To the Honorable James R. Doolittle.

Respected Sir:—

I have presumed to address you on a subject of vital importance to myself, & one which is anxiously thought of by many others. I am deeply interested on the settlement relative to negro bonds. My Husband was a Scotchman, and myself an English Woman, both for many years Citazens of U. S. The year that the unhappy war broke out my Husband died leaving a valuable Estate chiefly in Plantations & Negroes. One lot of Negroes had been purchased but a short time before his death in the year /60, one-third cash, balance in 1, 2 & 3 yrs, with interest from date, bond & mortgage given on the negroes purchased. Ist installment was paid, 2nd also, now this was fully half, but when 3 installment became due, Executor of Est. from whom the negroes had been purchased, refuses to accept Confederate Currency, when it was nearly on a par with gold, & what had I, a widow, a non-combatant & a Foreigner to do with the change of currency? Nothing but to see & submit, but at the same time, said Executor willingly receives interest in Confederate currency, & is willing to continue doing so, thereby deriving a comfortable support from my hard exertions, & thus keeping the debt hanging

over my head as Executrix of my Husband's property. I, a woman, acting for myself, & daughter, he a man & a Bank Officer, not daring enough to risk the investment of the money, which could easily have been done in Cotton, Real Estate, & a thousand other ways had he chosen to have taken the risk, but preferring to cast the responsibility on my side, he refuses to rec. payment, thus warding off a complete settlement of the debt. The war progresses. By Confederate forces I am compelled to abandon my beautiful homes on the Coast, elegant House, Mills, Barns, etc., all burned, a complete desolation of a magnificent property ensues. I find a home with my Family & Negroes, about 70 miles from the Coast, strenuously endeavor to support, cloth & feed the Negroes. When located there a sufficient time to begin to get comfortable, we prove to be in the line of March of Sherman's Army. We were again forced to leave houses, Barns, etc., all again devastated, burned & destroyed, & from affluence & luxuries, I am pomparatively (comparatively) without means, only the remains of once valuable Plantations, and a portion of City property saved by strenuous exertions, which now affords myself & children a support & home.

My Question now arises, Can this remnant of property be wrested from me? By an act of Legislature of South Carolina, the Negroes were declared free. Can it not be made a Question in Congress, so that we can be justified? I hold a Bill of Sale of said Negroes, declaring them to be mine, they & their Heirs for life. The contract on their side is violated & again in my perplexity I earnestly ask of you, Can I be made to pay this unjust debt?

To you I appeal for Council & advice on this momentous Question, craving your assistance & trusting that this communication may elicit from you a speedy reply, which I shall ever esteem a favor & honor.

Very Respectfully,

RUTH MARSHALL.

REVIEWS.

A POLITICAL HISTORY OF SLAVERY. Being an account of the Slavery Controversy from the earliest agitations in the eighteenth century to the close of the Reconstruction Period in America. By William Henry Smith. With an introduction by Whitelaw Reid. In two volumes. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1903. O., pp. I. xvi+350, II. iv+456, index, portrait of author.

Mr. Smith, the editor of the St. Clair Papers, was made the literary executor of President Hayes, whose early career had brought him into the thick of the anti-slavery agitation which preceded the organization of the Republican party. The present volumes were originally intended as an introduction to an edition of the Life and Works of President Hayes, but outgrowing their original scope, were prepared for publication after the death of the author in 1896 by his son and issued in the present form.

The avowed purpose of the work, according to the introduction, is to shear New England of a great part of the honor which she has claimed for herself (since she has had the greatest number of writers on this subject) in the antislavery struggle. The violence of Foster, the outbursts of Phillips and the vituperation of Garrison are censured and condemned. It seeks to redeem the Middle West from the curse denounced by the Confederate Congress at its last session against the Southern people in case of failure-that their history should be written by New England historians. It claims the chief honors for Charles Osborn and those who organized the opposition while "to another generation the idolatrous treatment of the pure abolition school which at the East appeared to follow the close of the war will seem little short of amazing."

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