[252] the people have been such heavy sufferers by the calamities of the war for the last four years that it is at least questionable whether they would be willing to engage in such a contest, unless forced to endure its horrors in preference to dishonor and degradation.The terms of the convention imply no dishonor, impose no degradation, exact only what the victor always requires—the relinquishment by his foe of the object for which the struggle was commenced.
Seeing no reasonable hope of our ability to conquer our independence, admitting the undeniable fact that we have been vanquished in the war, it is my opinion that these terms should be accepted, being as favorable as any that we, as the defeated belligerents, have reason to expect or can hope to secure.
It is further my opinion that the President owes it to the States and to the people to obtain for them, by a general pacification, rights and advantages which they would, in all probability, be unable to secure by the separate action of the different States. It is natural that the enemy should be willing to accord more liberal conditions for the purpose of closing the war at once than would be granted if each State should continue the contest till separate terms could be made for itself.
The President is the chief political executive of the Confederacy, as well as the Commander-in-Chief of its armies. In the former capacity he is powerless to act in making peace on any other basis than that of independence. In the latter capacity he can ratify the military convention under consideration, and execute its provisions relative to the disbandment of the army and the distribution of the arms. He can end hostilities.
The States alone can act in dissolving the Confederacy and returning to the Union, according to the terms of the convention.
I think that if this convention be ratified by the United States, the President should, by proclamation, inform the States and the people of the Confederacy of the facts above recited; should ratify the convention so far as he has authority to act as Commander-in-Chief, and should execute the military provisions; should declare his inability, with the means remaining at his disposal, to defend the Confederacy or maintain its independence, and should resign a trust which it is no longer possible to fulfill.
He should further invite the several States to take into immediate consideration the terms of this convention, with a view to their adoption and execution as being the best and most favorable that they could hope to obtain by a continuance of the struggle.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of State.
Views of Mr. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy:
Charlotte, N. C., 24th April, 1865.Mr. President: In compliance with your suggestion I have the honor
