tection against claims founded in rebellion and crime; a temporary restoration of the right of suffrage to those who had not actively participated in the efforts to destroy the Union and overthrow the government, and the exclusion from positions of public trust of, at least, a portion of those whose crimes have proved them to be enemies to the Union, and unworthy of public confidence.

4.

SOUTHERN VIEWS ON RECONSTRUCTION

Suggestions by Howell Cobb

Johnson MSS. Letter from Gen. Howell Cobb to Gen. J. H. Wilson, written at the request of the latter, for transmission to the President. Cobb, before the war, was a member of Congress from Georgia, Speaker of the House, governor of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury. During the Civil War he was in the Confederate Congress and later a general in the Confederate army.

[June 14, 1865]

I WAS a secessionist, and counselled the people of Georgia to secede. When the adoption of that policy resulted in War, I felt it my duty to share in the privations of the struggle, and accordingly at the commencement of the contest, I entered the army. . I was an earnest supporter of the cause throughout the struggle. Upon the surrender of General Johnston I regarded the contest at an end, and have since that time conformed my action to that conviction. . .

The contest has ended in the subjugation of the South. The parties stand towards each other in the relative positions of conqueror and conquered; and the question for statesmen to decide, is, the policy and duty of the respective parties. With the latter the course is plainly marked out alike by the requirements of duty and necessity. . . A return to the peaceful and quiet employments of life; obedience to the constitution and laws of the United States; and the faithful discharge of all the duties, and obligations, imposed upon them by the new state of things, constitute their plain and simple duty.

The policy to be adopted by the other party, is not so easily determined. . . The hour of triumph, is not necessarily, an hour for calm reflection, or wise judgments. . .

In the adoption of the policy, which the Government will pursue towards the people of the South, there are two matters which present themselves for primary and paramount consideration. Ist, the present condition of things in the South. 2nd, the state of things it is desirable to produce, and the best mode of doing it. . .

FACSIMILE OF FIRST PAGE OF GENERAL HOWELL COBB'S LETTER ON

RECONSTRUCTION, JUNE 14, 1865

[From original MS. in Library of Congress]

The whole country [South] has been more or less devastated. Their physical condition in the loss of property, and the deprivation of the comforts of life . . is as bad, as their worst enemy could desire. If left to employ all their resources. it would require much time to recover from the effects of a devastating war. The abolition of slavery not only deprives them of a large property, but revolutionizes the whole system of agricultural labor; and must necessarily retard the restoration of former prosperity. So completely has this institution been interwoven with the whole frame work of society, that its abolition involves a revision, and modification of almost every page of the Statute books of the States, where it has existed. It is with a people, thus depressed in mind, seriously injured in estate, and surrounded by embarrassing questions of the greatest magnitude, that the Government has to deal... The avowed object of the Government was to restore the Union. The successful termination of the war has effected that result, so far as further resistance on the part of the South is concerned. The people of the South, being prepared to conform to that result, all else for the restoration of the Union is in the hands of the Government.

Looking to the future interests not only of the southern people, but of the whole country, it is desirable that the bitter animosities. . should be softened, as much as possible; and a devastated country restored. . to comparative prosperity. To effect these results requires the exercise of virtues, which the history of the World shows, are not often, if ever found, in the hearts of the conquerors, magnanimity and generosity. The World is sadly in need of such an example. Let the United States furnish it. There never was a more fitting opportunity. It will never be followed by more satisfactory results. . .

The prejudices and passions which have been aroused in this contest, crimsoned in the blood of loved ones, from every portion of the land, will yield only to the mellowing influences of time, and the youngest participant in the struggle will scarcely live to see the last shadow pass away. It is for those