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Executive Department |
| Richmond, Va., Dec. 7, 1863 |
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Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Delegates
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This is the last regular communication which I will have
the honor to present to the general assembly before the close of my
official term. I trust, therefore, that it will not be deemed
inappropriate to the occasion to review briefly the occurrences of the
past four years, with which, by reason of my official position, I have
been intimately and directly connected.
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Our rail roads are admirably adapted to our wants. If
they had been projected with special reference to the existing
condition of things, they could not have been better located for the
accommodation of the people in peace, and aid to them in war. It
really seems, when we review the various acts which originated them,
and under which the works were prosecuted, as if some divine though
unseen hand guided and directed our legislation on this subject.
Without them, we would have been seriously embarrassed in the
prosecution of the war. They are now becoming much worn, and extensive
repairs are greatly needed, and must be speedily made. The great
difficulty which the several companies now have to encounter is
in procuring the requisite labor. I see no reason why the free negro
labor of the state should not be exclusively dedicated to this object;
and I think I can see many good reasons why it should. In the first
place, as they will receive good wages, thee will be no inducement to
abscond to the Yankees. On the other hand, slaves, where near the
border, are more or less tampered with, and not unfrequently forcibly
carried away by raiders, to the loss of the owner and the prejudice of
the productive interests of the country. In the second place, many of
the free negroes are mechanics, and mechanical labor is indispensable
to keep up the rail roads. By employing free negro mechanics, the
slave mechanics would be left upon the farms, where they could be
employed to great advantage, and where their services are at this time
greatly needed. This course will accomplish all that the rail roads
require, and will at the same time furnish the farmers and other
citizens of the country mechanical labor, which is indispensable to
them in the prosecution of their business.
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We have various interests in our country, all of which
demand consideration. We must look to them all, provide for them all, in
order to sustain ourselves in this crisis. We cannot prosecute the war
without an army, and it is therefore of the first importance that the
army should be filled. We cannot keep up an army unless we provide
flour, corn, beef, bacon, and the other articles necessary to sustain
life. The army must be clothed and shod, and furnished with
transportation, supplied with arms and ammunition, all of which requires
mechanical and other labor. A statesman charged with the supervision of
all of these things, should see that all are in a sound and healthy
condition, that they are working harmoniously together towards the
accomplishment of a common object. It can be done without prejudice to
the army. It is a subject which addresses itself to the reflection and
judgment of all our officers, confederate and state. Every patriot
desires to see the machinery of the state and confederate governments
work smoothly and harmoniously; and if the engineer in charge of each
exhibits prudence and wisdom and a proper spirit, all jarring and
collision will be avoided. Our system of government is beautiful and
imposing; and if we keep steadily in mind that the states are sovereign,
and that the confederate government is their creation, with no powers
except those that have been delegated, each can be administered in
harmony with the other.
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A recent decision on this subject made by a confederate
judge -- a pure, an upright and an honest man -- has attracted my notice
and elicited my decided condemnation. If his opinion be law, states
rights is a myth, not worth struggling for. I have rarely read an
opinion which created within me more astonishment, or which in my
judgment contained more bad law or bad logic. Under this opinion the
states have no rights -- the confederate government is invested with
absolute power. This war was commenced to maintain state rights; it has
been prosecuted to perpetuate them; but this decision overthrows the
noble doctrine, and leaves us where we were at the commencement of this
great controversy. I enter my protest against it, and trust the general
assembly will not hesitate to denounce its heresies in the most decided
terms.
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If this opinion be right, and be acted upon hereafter, then
our whole rail road system may at any moment be set aside; the lines
established by the state be torn up; the rails taken to build other
roads in or out of the state; the faith of the state plighted to
corporations violated without redress; the state's own interest in the
roads disregarded; and any system may be adopted by the confederate
government to destroy the lines of intercommunication between parts of
the same state and between coterminous states; any system be established
to make one state tributary to another -- and all this may be done
without compensation to individuals, to companies or to the
commonwealth, and without remedy.
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*****
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Respectfully, |
| John Letcher |
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