Chapter X

CONCLUSION

A Confederate veteran recently remarked amid great applause at an assembly in Atlanta that there never was a conqueror so magnanimous as the North, for within six years from the surrender of the southern armies she had allowed the South to take part in her national councils. Nevertheless, within those six years the Congressional Disciplinarians gave the South a discipline which she will never forget. It did not result in permanent estrangement between the North and the South, for sectional bitterness seems extinct. But whether there was any profit in it—whether, in case the South never again attempts to secede, that happy omission will be due to reconstruction—may be doubted.

Was there a clearer gain from the humanitarian point of view? We have seen that at the close of the war a spirit of gratitude and philanthropy prevailed among the most influential of the southern white people as regards the negroes. Instead of allowing this spirit to develop and in the course of time to produce its natural results, the North, believing that suffrage was essential to the negro’s welfare and progress, forced the South to enfranchise him, by reconstruction. This caused the negro untold immediate harm (since reconstruction was a contributary cause of Kukluxism), and delayed his ultimate advance by giving the friendly spirit of the white people a check in its development from which it has not yet recovered.

From the point of view of the Republican Politicians, reconstruction at first succeeded, but later proved a mistaken policy. By it they lost the support of the southern white men who had been opposed to secession. These formed a large party in Georgia. The victory of the federal arms had the nature of a party victory for them. They would have added their strength to the Republican party. Reconstruction, with its threat of negro domination, drove them into the Democratic party, where they still remain. For a time this loss was made good by negro votes, but not long.

Without reconstruction there would have been no Fifteenth Amendment. But the good will and philanthropy of the people among whom the negro lives, which reconstruction took away, would have brought him more benefit than the Fifteenth Amendment. Without reconstruction there would have been no Fourteenth Amendment. But a long line of decisions of the Supreme Court has determined that the Fourteenth Amendment did not achieve the nationalization of civil rights—an end which might justify reconstruction as a means. In short, reconstruction seems to have produced bad government, political rancor, and social violence and disorder, without compensating good.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

PUBLIC RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS.

Of the United States Government.

Congressional Globe. Public Documents. Statutes at Large. Supreme Court Reports. Military orders in the archives of the Department of War. Correspondence in the same archives. Correspondence in the archives of the Department of State. Unpublished records in the same archives.

Of the Government of Georgia.

Journal of the constitutional convention of 1865. Journal of the constitutional convention of 1867-8. Journals of the legislature. Reports of the four committees appointed by the legislature in December, 1871 to investigate respectively— The management of the state railroad. The lease of the same road. The official conduct of Governor Bullock. The transactions of Governor Bullock’s administration relating to the issue of state bonds and the indorsement of railroad bonds. These reports were published in Atlanta in 1872. Session Laws. Supreme Court Reports. Reports of the State Comptroller. Executive minutes in the archives of the state in Atlanta. Minutes of the Fulton County Superior Court in the office of that court in Atlanta.

NEWSPAPERS.

Atlanta New Era. Atlanta Constitution. Milledgeville Federal Union (during the war called the Confederate Union). Savannah News. Savannah Republican.

CONTEMPORARY PAMPHLETS.

A letter from Rufus B. Bullock to the chairman of the Ku Klux committee, Atlanta, 1871. Address of the same to the people of Georgia, dated October, 1872. Letter from the same “to the Republican Senators and Representatives who support the Reconstruction Acts,” Washington, May 21, 1870.

HISTORICAL WORKS AND COMPENDIA.

American Annual Cyclopædia. New York. Avery, I. W., History of Georgia. New York, 1881. Bancroft, F. A., The Negro in Politics. New York, 1885. Clews, Henry, Twenty-eight Years in Wall Street. London, 1888. Cox, S. S., Three Decades of Federal Legislation. Providence, 1886. Dunning, W. A., The Civil War and Reconstruction. New York, 1898. Fielder, H., The Life and Times of Joseph E. Brown. Springfield, Mass., 1883. Hill, B. H., Jr., The Life, Speeches and Writings of Benjamin H. Hill. Atlanta, 1891. Lalor, J. J., Cyclopædia of Political Science. New York, 1893. Articles on Reconstruction, Georgia, and Ku Klux. Poor, H. V., Manual of the Railroads of the United States. New York, published yearly. Sherman, W. T., Memoirs. New York, 1875. Stephens, Alex., The War between the States. Philadelphia, 1868-70. Taylor, Richard, Destruction and Reconstruction. New York, 1893. Tribune Almanac. New York. Wilson, Henry, History of the Reconstruction Measures. Hartford, 1868.

STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.

VOLUME I, 1891-2. Second Edition, 1897. 396 pp.

Price, $3.00; bound, $3.50.

1. The Divorce Problem—A Study in Statistics. By Walter F. Willcox, Ph. D. Price, 75¢.

2. The History of Tariff Administration in the United States, from Colonial Times to the McKinley Administrative Bill. By John Dean Goss, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

3. History of Municipal Land Ownership on Manhattan Island. By George Ashton Black, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

4. Financial History of Massachusetts. By Charles H. J. Douglas, Ph. D. (Not sold separately.)

VOLUME II, 1892-93. 503 pp.

Price, $3.00; bound, $3.50.

1. The Economics of the Russian Village. By Isaac A. Hourwich, Ph. D. (Out of print.)

2. Bankruptcy. A Study in Comparative Legislation. By Samuel W. Dunscomb, Jr., Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

3. Special Assessments: A Study in Municipal Finance. By Victor Rosewater, Ph. D. Second Edition, 1898. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME III, 1893. 465 pp.

Price, $3.00; bound, $3.50.

1. History of Elections in the American Colonies. By Cortlandt F. Bishop, Ph. D. Price, $1.50.

Vol. III, no. 1, may also be obtained bound. Price, $2.00.

2. The Commercial Policy of England toward the American Colonies. By George L. Beer, A. M. Price, $1.50

VOLUME IV, 1893-94. 438 pp.

Price, $3.00; bound, $3.50.

1. Financial History of Virginia. By W. Z. Ripley, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

2. The Inheritance Tax. By Max West, Ph. D. (Out of print.)

3. History of Taxation in Vermont. By Frederick A. Wood, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME V, 1895-96. 498 pp.

Price, $3.00; bound, $3.50.

1. Double Taxation in the United States. By Francis Walker, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

2. The Separation of Governmental Powers. By William Bondy, LL. B., Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

3. Municipal Government in Michigan and Ohio. By Delos F. Wilcox, Ph. D. Price $1.00.

VOLUME VI, 1896. 601 pp.

Price, $4.00; bound, $4.50.

History of Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania. By William Robert Shepherd, Ph. D. Price, $4.00; bound, $4.50.

VOLUME VII, 1896. 512 pp.

Price, $3.00; bound, $3.50.

1. History of the Transition from Provincial to Commonwealth Government in Massachusetts. By Harry A. Cushing, Ph. D. Price, $2.00.

2. Speculation on the Stock and Produce Exchanges of the United States. By Henry Crosby Emery, Ph. D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME VIII, 1896-98. 551 pp.

Price, $3.50; bound, $4.00.

1. The Struggle between President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction. By Charles Ernest Chadsey, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

2. Recent Centralizing Tendencies in State Educational Administration. By William Clarence Webster, Ph. D. Price, 75¢.

3. The Abolition of Privateering and the Declaration of Paris. By Francis R. Stark, LL. B., Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

4. Public Administration in Massachusetts. The Relation of Central to Local Activity. By Robert Harvey Whitten, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME IX, 1897-98. 617 pp.

Price, $3.50; bound, $4.00.

1. English Local Government of To-day. A Study of the Relations of Central and Local Government. By Milo Roy Maltbie, Ph. D. Price, $2.00.

Vol. IX, no. 1, may also be obtained bound. Price, $2.50.

2. German Wage Theories. A History of their Development. By James W. Crook, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

3. The Centralization of Administration in New York State. By John Archibald Fairlie, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME X, 1898-99. 500 pp.

Price, $3.00; bound, $3.50.

1. Sympathetic Strikes and Sympathetic Lockouts. By Fred S. Hall, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

2. Rhode Island and the Formation of the Union. By Frank Greene Bates, Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

3. Centralized Administration of Liquor Laws in the American Commonwealths. By Clement Moore Lacey Sites, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME XI, 1899. 495 pp.

Price, $3.50; bound, $4.00.

The Growth of Cities. By Adna Ferrin Weber, Ph.D. Price, $3.50; bound, $4.00.

VOLUME XII, 1899-1900. 586 pp.

Price, $3.50; bound, $4.00.

1. History and Functions of Central Labor Unions. By William Maxwell Burke, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

2. Colonial Immigration Laws. By Edward Emberson Proper, A.M. Price, 75¢.

3. History of Military Pension Legislation in the United States. By William Henry Glasson, Ph.D. Price, $1.00.

4. History of the Theory of Sovereignty since Rousseau. By Charles E. Merriam, Jr., Ph.D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME XIII, 1901. 570 pp.

Price, $3.50; bound, $4.00.

1. The Legal Property Relations of Married Parties. By Isidor Loeb, Ph. D. Price, $1.50.

2. Political Nativism in New York State. By Louis Dow Scisco; Ph. D. Price, $2.00.

3. The Reconstruction of Georgia. By Edwin C. Woolley, Ph. D. Price, $1.00.

VOLUME XIV, 1901.

1. Loyalism in New York during the American Revolution. By Alexander Clarence Flick, Ph. D. Price, $2.00.

2. The Economic Theory of Risk and Insurance. By Allan H. Willett, Ph. D. Price, $1.50.

VOLUME XV, 1901.

Civilization through Crime. By Arthur Cleveland Hall. [Ready in July.]

The set of thirteen volumes (except that Vol. II can be supplied only in unbound nos. 2 and 3) is offered bound for $43.

For further information apply to

Prof. EDWIN R. A. SELIGMAN, Columbia University, or to THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, New York, London: P. S. KING & SON, Orchard House, Westminster.

Footnotes:

[41] Ibid.

[67] Ibid.

[141] G. O. T. M. D., 1868, no. 61.

Senate. Lower House.

Republicans 22 73

Conservatives 22 102

After the colored members were expelled and their seats given to the minority candidates, it was as follows:

Senate. Lower House.

Republicans 19 48

Conservatives 25 127

After the reorganization of 1870 it was as follows:

Senate. Lower House.

Republicans 27 87

Conservatives 17 83

The figures in the second and third tables are based upon the changes produced only by the official transactions referred to. Perhaps some slight corrections might be made on account of accidental circumstances, such as the non-attendance or death of a few members.

The enemies of reconstruction were fond of placing the state expenses of Bullock’s administration in juxtaposition with those before the war. Contrasts truly horrible could thus be produced. But it was not a fair comparison, for the expenses in such circumstances as prevailed after the war and after the social revolution would naturally be larger than before. The expenses of many states besides those which enjoyed reconstruction increased largely after the war. E.g. the records of Pennsylvania show that “Expenses of Government” were—

In1857 $423,448.89

1858399,888.36

1860404,863.41

1866668,909.63

1867802,878.58

1868845,539.89

1869804,730.17

1870826,069.25

Pennsylvania Executive Documents, Auditor’s Reports, for the years named. In Massachusetts the “Ordinary Expenses” were—

In1857 $1,236,204.26

18581,008,620.50

1859999,899.76

18601,193,896.41

18666,877,720.85

18675,953,003.31

18685,908,678.48

Massachusetts Public Documents for the years named.

Of these bonds 3,000, representing a debt of $3,000,000, were issued under a law of Sept. 15, 1870 (S. L., 1870, p. 10), authorizing the governor to issue bonds for various purposes without specified limit as to amount. The rest were issued under an act of Oct. 17, 1870 (omitted from the session laws, see Conley’s message just cited), authorizing the governor to issue to the Brunswick and Albany railroad state bonds to the amount of $1,880,000 in exchange for bonds of the railroad to the amount of $2,350,000.

In addition to the bonds already mentioned, bonds to the amount of $600,000 were issued under acts of 1868 (S. L., 1868, pp. 14 and 138.) These were not sold and were returned to the possession of the state during Bullock’s administration (Angier’s statement, K. K. R., vol. 6, p. 162). Also, before the issue of $3,000,000 mentioned, bonds to the amount of $2,000,000 were issued (Conley’s message cited). These were hypothecated with several bankers in New York. Some of them, amounting to $500,000, were returned and cancelled during Bullock’s administration (Conley’s message). The rest, amounting to $1,500,000, remained in the hands of the bankers. Conley stated, in January, 1872 (message cited), that these bonds had been replaced by bonds of a later issue and canceled during Bullock’s administration, and had therefore ceased to be a claim against the state. This statement conflicts with three facts. 1. The bankers who held these bonds refused to return them after their alleged cancellation. 2. One of these bankers sold the bonds which he held after their alleged cancellation (Henry Clews, Twenty-eight Years in Wall Street, p. 277). 3. The legislature of Georgia repudiated these bonds in 1872, which would have been unnecessary if they had been cancelled. It seems probable, therefore, though not certain, that this $1,500,000 should be added to the debt incurred by the reconstruction government.

Transcriber’s Notes:

Punctuation has been corrected without note.

Other than the corrections noted by hover information, inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.

Footnote 141 appears on page 51, but there is no corresponding marker on the page.