RICHMOND, May 2,
1864.
THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA:
You are assembled under circumstances of deep interest to
your country, and it is fortunate that, coming as you do newly elected by the
people and familiar with the condition of the various localities, you will be
the better able to devise measures adapted to meet the wants of the public
service without imposing unnecessary burdens on the citizen. The brief period
which has elapsed since the last adjournment of Congress has not afforded
sufficient opportunity to test the efficacy of the most important laws then
enacted, nor have the events occurring in the interval been such as materially
to change the state of the country.
The unjust war commenced against us in violation of the rights
of the States, and in usurpation of power not delegated to the Government of
the United States, is still characterized by the barbarism with which it has
heretofore been conducted by the enemy. Aged men, helpless women, and children
appeal in vain to the humanity which should be inspired by their condition for
immunity from arrest, incarceration, or banishment from their homes. Plunder
and devastation of the property of non-combatants, destruction of private
dwellings, and even of edifices devoted to the worship of God; expeditions
organized for the sole purpose of sacking cities, consigning them to the
flames, killing the unarmed inhabitants, and inflicting horrible outrages on
women and children, are some of the constantly recurring atrocities of the invader.
It cannot reasonably be pretended that such acts conduce to any end which their
authors dare avow before the civilized world, and sooner or later Christendom
must mete out to them the condemnation which such brutality deserves. The
suffering thus ruthlessly inflicted upon the people of the invaded districts
has served but to illustrate their patriotism. Entire unanimity and zeal for
their country's cause have been pre-eminently conspicuous among those whose
sacrifices have been the greatest. So the Army, which has borne the trials and
dangers of the war, which has been subjected to privations and disappointments
(tests of manly fortitude far more severe than the brief fatigues and perils of
actual combat), has been the center of cheerfulness and hope. From the camp
comes the voice of the soldier patriots invoking each who is at home, in the
sphere he best may fill, to devote his whole energies to the support of a cause
in the success of which their confidence has never faltered. They—the veterans
of many a hard-fought field—tender to their country, without limit of time, a
service of priceless value to us, one which posterity will hold in grateful
remembrance.
In considering the state of the country the reflection is
naturally suggested that this is the Third Congress of the Confederate States
of America. The Provisional Government was formed, its Congress held four
sessions, lived its appointed term, and passed away. The permanent Government
was then organized, its different departments established, a Congress elected,
which also held four sessions, served its full constitutional term, and
expired. You, the Second Congress under the permanent Government, are now
assembled at the time and place appointed by law for commencing your session.
All these events have passed into history, notwithstanding the threat of our
prompt subjugation made three years ago by a people that presume to assert a
title to govern States whose separate and independent sovereignty was
recognized by treaty with France and Great Britain in the last century, and
remained unquestioned for nearly three generations. Yet these very governments,
in disregard of duty and treaty obligations which bind them to recognize as
independent Virginia and other Confederate States, persist in countenancing by
moral influence, if not in aiding by unfair and partial action, the claim set
up by the Executive of a foreign Government to exercise despotic sway over the
States thus recognized, and treat the invasion of them by their former limited
and special agent as though it were the attempt of a sovereign to suppress a
rebellion against lawful authority. Ungenerous advantage has been taken of our
present condition, and our rights have been violated, our vessels of war
detained in ports to which they had been invited by proclamations of
neutrality, and in one instance our flag also insulted where the sacred right
of asylum was supposed to be secure; while one of these governments has
contented itself with simply deprecating, by deferential representations, the
conduct of our enemy in the constantly recurring instances of his contemptuous
disregard of neutral rights and flagrant violations of public law. It may be
that foreign governments, like our enemies, have mistaken our desire for peace,
unreservedly expressed, for evidence of exhaustion, and have thence inferred
the probability of success in the effort to subjugate or exterminate the
millions of human beings who, in these States, prefer any fate to submission to
their savage assailants. I see no prospect of an early change in the course
heretofore pursued by these governments; but when this delusion shall have been
dispelled and when our independence by the valor and fortitude of our people
shall have been won against all the hostile influences combined against us, and
can no longer be ignored by open foes or professed neutrals, this war will have
left with its proud memories a record of many wrongs which it may not misbecome
us to forgive, some for which we may not properly forbear from demanding
redress. In the meantime it is enough for us to know that every avenue of
negotiation is closed against us; that our enemy is making renewed and
strenuous efforts for our destruction, and that the sole resource for us as a
people secure in the justice of our cause and holding our liberties to be more
precious than all other earthly possessions, is to combine and apply every
available element of power for their defense and preservation.
On the subject of the exchange of prisoners I greatly regret
to be unable to give you satisfactory information. The Government of the United
States, while persisting in failure to execute the terms of the cartel, make
occasional deliveries of prisoners and then suspend action without apparent
cause. I confess my inability to comprehend their policy or purpose. The
prisoners held by us, in spite of humane care, are perishing from the
inevitable effects of imprisonment and the homesickness produced by the
hopelessness of release from confinement. The spectacle of their suffering
augments our longing desire to relieve from similar trials our own brave men
who have spent so many weary months in a cruel and useless imprisonment,
endured with heroic constancy. The delivery, after a suspension of some weeks,
has just been resumed by the enemy; but as they give no assurance of intent to
carry out the cartel, an interruption of the exchange may recur at any moment.
The reports of the departments, herewith submitted, are
referred to for full information in relation to the matters appertaining to
each. There are two of them on which I deem it necessary to make special
remark. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury states facts justifying the
conclusion that the law passed at the last session for the purpose of withdrawing
from circulation the large excess of Treasury notes heretofore issued has had
the desired effect, and that by the 1st of July the amount in circulation will
have been reduced to a sum not exceeding $230,000,000. It is believed to be of
primary importance that no further issue of notes should take place, and that
the use of the credit of the Government should be restricted to the two other
modes provided by Congress, viz, the sale of bonds and the issue of
certificates bearing interest for the price of supplies purchased within our
limits. The law as it now stands authorizes the issue by the Treasury of new
notes to the extent of two-thirds of the amount received under its provisions.
The estimate of the amount funded under the law is shown to be $300,000,000,
and if two-thirds of this sum be reissued we shall have an addition of
$200,000,000 to our circulation, believed to be already ample for the business
of the country. The addition of this large sum to the volume of the currency
would be attended by disastrous effects and would produce the speedy recurrence
of the evils from which the funding law has rescued the country. If our arms
are crowned with the success which we have so much reason to hope, we may well
expect that this war cannot be prolonged beyond the current year, and nothing
would so much retard the beneficent influence of peace on all the interests of
our country as the existence of a great mass of currency not redeemable in
coin. With our vast resources the circulation, if restricted to its present
volume, would be easily manageable, and by gradual absorption in payment of
public dues would give place to the precious metals, the only basis of a
currency adapted to commerce with foreign countries. In our present
circumstances I know of no mode of providing for the public wants which would
entail sacrifices so great as a fresh issue of Treasury notes, and I trust that
you will concur in the propriety of absolutely forbidding any increase of those
now in circulation.
Officers have been appointed and dispatched to the
trans-Mississippi States and the necessary measures taken for the execution of
the laws enacted to obviate delays in administering the Treasury and other
Executive Departments in those States, but sufficient time has not elapsed to ascertain
the results.
In relation to the most important of all subjects at the
present time, the efficiency of our armies in the field, it is gratifying to
assure you that the discipline and instruction of the troops have kept pace
with the improvement in material and equipment. We have reason to congratulate
ourselves on the results of the legislation on this subject, and on the
increased administrative energy in the different bureaus of the War Department,
and may not unreasonably indulge anticipations of commensurate success in the
ensuing campaign.
The organization of reserves is in progress, and it is hoped
they will be valuable in affording local protection without requiring details
and detachments from active force.
Among the recommendations contained in the report of the
Secretary of War, your attention is specially invited to those in which
legislation is suggested on the following subjects, viz:
The tenure of office of the general officers in the
Provisional Army, and a proper discrimination in the compensation of the
different grades.
The provision required in aid of invalid officers who have
resigned in consequence of wounds or sickness contracted while in service.
The amendment of the law which deprives officers in the
field of the privilege of purchasing rations, and thus adds to their
embarrassment, instead of conferring the benefit intended.
The organization of the general staff of the Army, in
relation to which a special message will shortly be addressed to you,
containing the reasons which compel me to withhold my approval of a bill passed
by your predecessors at too late a period of the session to allow time for
returning it for their reconsideration.
The necessity for an increase in the allowance now made for
the transportation of officers traveling under orders.
The mode of providing officers for the execution of the
conscript laws.
The means of securing greater dispatch and more regular administration
of justice in examining and disposing of the records of cases reported from the
courts-martial and military courts in the Army.
The recent events of the war are highly creditable to our
troops, exhibiting energy and vigilance combined with the habitual gallantry
which they have taught us to expect on all occasions. We have been cheered by
important and valuable successes in Florida, Northern Mississippi, Western
Tennessee and Kentucky, Western Louisiana, and Eastern North Carolina,
reflecting the highest honor on the skill and conduct of our commanders, and on
the incomparable soldiers whom it is their privilege to lead. A naval attack on
Mobile was so successfully repulsed at the outer works that the attempt was
abandoned, and the nine-months' siege of Charleston has been practically
suspended, leaving that noble city and its fortresses imperishable monuments to
the skill and fortitude of its defenders. The armies in Northern Georgia and in
Northern Virginia still oppose with unshaken front a formidable barrier to the
progress of the invader, and our generals, armies, and people are animated by
cheerful confidence.
Let us, then, while resolute in devoting all our energies to
securing the realization of the bright auspices which encourage us, not forget
that our humble and most grateful thanks are due to Him without whose guidance
and protecting care all human efforts are of no avail, and to whose
interposition are due the manifold successes with which we have been cheered.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series IV, Volume
3 (Serial No. 129), p. 365-8
