Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/315

* CONFEDERATE STATES OE AMERICA. 267 CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA. pointed. The Provisional Congress furthermore assumed the function of naminy; the chief execu- tive officers, and on Febru:iry Bth chose as Provi- sional President of the Confederacy, JolVerson Davis (q.v. ), of iMississippi, and as Provisional Vice-President, Alexander H. Stephens (q.v.), of Georgia. !Mr. Davis had already been ap- pointed to the chief command of the Missis- sippi troops, and although seeming strongly to prefer the military sen-ice, he relin- quished his plans and undertook promptly the duties of the civil office which had come to him thus imsolicited. and in which he was to become recognized as the leader of the Confederacy. His first important act as President, the choice of a cabinet, was controlled rather unduly by political and geographical considerations. Each of the States represented, except that which se- cured the Presidency, was allotted a cabinet of- ficer, as was also Texas, which at that time was practically, although not formally, in the control of the secessionists. The result was a group of high ofhcials among whom only two were recog- nized as men of especial ability — the noted Rob- ert Toombs (q.v.), of Georgia, who became Sec- retary of StatCj and Judah P. Benjamin (q.v.), of Louisiana, a man of considerable repute as a barrister, who became Attorney-General. Tha executive departments were promptly organized, although the activity of some, particularly that of the Navy, soon became limited, and the admin- istration of public affairs proceeded thenceforth along lines familiar to Americans, and with- out unusual incident except such as naturally arose from the instability of the Government, from the gradual overshadowing of the eivil branches of Government by the military, and from its final collapse. The fonnal inauguration of Mr. Davis as Pres- ident occurred on February 18, when, in the course of his inaugural address, he said: "We have entered upon the career of independence, and it must be inflexibly pursued. Through many years of controversy with our late asso- ciates of the Northern States we have vainly endeavored to secure tranquillity and obtain re- spect for the rights to which we were entitled. As a necessity, not a choice, we have resorted to the remedy of separation, and henceforth our energies must be directed to the conduct of our o-n affairs, and the perpetuity of the Confed- eracy which we have formed. . . . ^Yith a constitution differing only from that of ovir fathers in so far as it is explanatory' of their well-known intent, freed from sectional conflicts, which have interfered with the pursuit of the general welfare, it is not imreasonable to expect that States from which we have recently parted may seek to unite their fortunes to ours under the government which we" have instituted. For this your constitution makes adequate provision; but beyond this, if I mistake not the judgment and will of the people, a reunion with the States from which we have separated is neither prac- ticable nor desirable." The constitution of which President Davis thus spoke was intended only for temporary use, and the convention accord- ingly, on March 11, 18G1, adopted and sub- mitted, to the various States for ratification, the permanent Constitution of the Confederate States. In large measure this instrument was identical with the Constitution of the I'nited States, although between the two there were Vol. v.— 18. natural divergences of theory, as well as some differences of detail. Thus, the President wa.s made ineligible for reelection, and his term was fixed at si.x years; a qualified membership in Congress of Cabinet officers was made possi- ble ; special prohibitive duties were forbidden ; ordinai-y appropriations were made dependent upon a two-thirds vote in each House; and the President was empowered to veto specific por- tions of an appropriation bill, while approving other portions. Where opportunity olfered, the plirases of the new constitution were; so turned as to express the views of the Southern leaders as to sovereignty and as to the proper position of commonwealths in any union or federation. Thus it was specifically stated that each Slate was "acting in its sovereign and independent character"; that legislative powers were 'dele- gated' thereby, rather than 'granted,' and that citizens of one State might 'sojourn' in another State with their slaves without losing any right of property therein. The new constitution was, as the New York Herald then said, "the Consti- tution of the United States with various modifi- cations and some very important and most de- sirable improvements." The Provisional Congress also made provision for the formation of a permanent army of the Confederacy, proceeded early to estalilish vari- ous sources of public revenue, and promi)tly attempted to secure from foreign governments both material assistance and fonnal recognition. The character and work of the army thus organ- ized formed possibly the most distinctive feature in the work of the Confederacy. (See Civil War.) The development of a system of public finance was hampered by the prevalent opposi- tion to internal taxes, while the small quantities of dutiable goods imported made the customs duties an inappreciable element in the public revenue. To meet this exigency, special war taxes were levied, repeated issues of treasury notes were made, and very large amounts of bonds were authorized by the new government. Produce loans also were resorted to, and subsi- dies or loans to the central government were made by some of the States, so that the first year was passed with -a semblance of financial stability. With the increase of the bond issues, and especially with the abnormal expansion of the currency, prices were forced iqnvard, credit became unsettled, and financial demoralization became pionounced toward the close of the war, when the price of a gold dollar was sixty times its price at the beginning of the war, when boots sold at .$200 a pair, and when the price of coffee had increased nearly two hundred times, and the price of cereals nearly ninety times. In seeking to enlist the aid of foreign governments, the steps taken by the Confederacy early gave occa- sion for critical relations between England and the United States (see Trent Aff.^ir). and led also to serious diplomatic complications in the later years (see Alabama Claims), al- though the efforts of this character were to a considerable degree successful and at times reached such a point as to foreshadow foreign intervention, or at least recognition to an exteut that would have made the success of the Confed- eracy, if not imminent, certainly far less im- probable. The early months of the Confederacy were marked, in addition to the rapi<l steps of organi-