G R-. 568 
 
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 4tX20 
 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 D03212467P 
 
MINOUITY REPORT 
 
 CV THE 
 
 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 
 
 PRESENTED BY MR. S:>IITII, OF ALABAMA. 
 
 The undersigned, members of the Committee of Foreign AQaira, to 
 which was referred certain resolutions introduced into the llouss, 
 touching the propriety of " recalling our Commissioners to foreign 
 powers, and of expelling those persons acting within the limits of tho 
 Confederate States as Foreign Consuls," not being able to agree with 
 the majority of the said Committee, and being unwilling to endorse 
 their report, beg leave to present this minority report. 
 
 As it seems to us that the report of the majority reflects by impli- 
 cation upon the President of the Confederate States, and upon t!ie 
 Secretary of State, the undersigned deem it due to themselves and to 
 the House, to refer to such portions of the documents laid before the 
 Committee as will serve to place the subject in its proper light before 
 ihe House. 
 
 In order that the Committee might be enabled to act most advisedly 
 on the subject, the House at the Committee's request adopted the fol- 
 lowing resolutions : 
 
 Besolvcd, That the President be respectfully requested, if not in- 
 compatible with the public interest, to communicate to this House the 
 number and names of all persons engaged in the service of the Con- 
 federate States in foreign countries, cither as diplomatic, consular or 
 commercial agents, or in any other capacity, stating the places to 
 which they have been sent, the date of their appointment, the salaries 
 they receive, the duties they are expected to discharge, and how far 
 they have been officially or otherwise recognized by any foreign Gov- 
 ernment, Also the number and character of foreign agents, whether 
 consular, commercial or other, known to our Government, representing 
 in any capacity foreign Governments within the limits of the Confed- 
 erate States, and whether in communicating with this Government, 
 they do so under an exequatur from our own Government or that of 
 the United States, and whether they arc subordinate or subject to the 
 
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 control and direction in any way, and to -what degree, of the ministers 
 of their respective countries, accredited to, and residing in the United 
 States. 
 
 The President is further respectfully requested to communicate such 
 instruction as may have been given our foreign agent?, and such cor- 
 respondence as may have been had ^uth other Governments, cither 
 through the Secretary of State or our Commissioners abroad, as will 
 aid Congress in its legislation regarding foreign nations, and their cit- 
 izens residing in our midst." 
 
 In response to these resolutions, the President submitted to the 
 House an ansAver, consisting of a vast amount of information, which 
 was referred to the Committee, and by them examined. This answer 
 was deemed unsatisfactory by the majority of the Committee, as shown 
 by their report. The complaint of the majority seems to be based 
 upon the idea that the answers to the resolutions are not sufficiently 
 full and explicit. Let us examine this objection. 
 
 The House resolutions called only for such information as could be 
 communicated not incompatible with the public interest. 
 
 Who is to be the judge — who is to decide what statements should be 
 made public ; certainly not the House nor the Committee, but the 
 President and his adviser, the Secretary of State. According to the 
 theory upon which our Government is based, the Secretary of State 
 stands at the head of the Cabinet. He is the President's chief ad- 
 viser. He is the keeper of the secrets of the State, and to his 
 ■enlightened judgment is committed the important discretion of pub- 
 lication. 
 
 The President was advised by the terms of the resolutions, not to 
 ■ communicate anything, the publication of which would, in his 
 opinion, be incompatible with the public interest. And thus, by the 
 legitimate interpretation of the resolutions themselves, he was bound 
 to conclude, that whatever he did communicate, might be made public 
 at the discretion of the House. 
 
 We admit and claim, that the Committee of Foreign Affairs is en- 
 titled to the confidence of the President, but not to an unlimited ex- 
 tent; and we do not believe that any Committee of this House has 
 a right to demand from him the possession of State secrets, when, 
 in his opinion, these secrets ought not to be made public. 
 
 The Committee did not request the Information aa a Committee. 
 The inquiry was preferred by the House ; and, whatever information 
 the answer might have disclosed, must, under the resolutions, be given 
 to the House; and the House could publish or not, as a majority 
 might determine. And it must not be forgotten, that the inquiry it- 
 self was upon a subject, which, from its very nature, belongs less to 
 the House than to the President and the Senate. Diplomacy is a 
 peculiar science; its very life is secrecy. It should always be crowned 
 with the Helmet of Pluto, " which maketh the politic man go invisi- 
 ible." 
 
 The report of the majority, thougli guarded and courteous in its 
 phraseology, is nevertheless a complaint that the President has not 
 communicated all the facts requested. We come to this conclusion 
 
from the expressions of regret that it contains, and its attempted ar- 
 gument, that, in making the inquiry, the House had not desired to 
 trench upon the peculiar province of the Senate, nor had transcended 
 its own powers. 
 
 Here is the argument of the majority : *' This House in no way 
 transcends its powers, when it seeks of the Executive through the 
 proper channel, a knowledge not only of the number and names of 
 our diplomatic agents, but also a statement of the fact, Avhether con- 
 sular or commercial agents have been sent abroad, and if so, to what 
 countries ; and whether they have been permitted by the governments 
 to which they have been sent, to exercise the customary powers of 
 such agents, or have been forced to forego entirely the discharge of 
 the very important duties pertaining to such appointments, and made 
 to occupy the character of extraordinary, or special, or secret agents." 
 
 If, by the use of the word ^'powers" in the foregoing extract, we 
 are to understand that it occupies the placrj of a synonym to the 
 word '^ right," we do not admit the proposition, — the very contrary 
 is true. In this connection, it must not be forgotten that the resolu- 
 tion of inquiry requested the President to communicate the " number 
 and names of all persons engaged in the service of the Confederate 
 States in foreign countries, either as diplomatic, consular, or commer- 
 cial agents, or in any othe7- capacity, stating the places to which they 
 have been sent, the date of their appointments, the salaries they re- 
 ceive, the duties they are expected to discharge, and how far they 
 have been officially or otherwise recognized by any foreign govern- 
 ment." 
 
 This argument of the majority that the House has not transcended 
 its power must be held to embrace the foregoing broad and sweeping 
 interrogatory. 
 
 As a political proposition it is certainly true that every Government 
 has the undoubted right, especially in times of war, to have secret di- 
 plomatic, commercial ind consular agents. If the Government had 
 this undoubted right, it cannot be deprived of it by any one of its co-or- 
 dinate brandies. It is impossible that the Government and one branch 
 of the Congress should have the same " power," if the existence of 
 the one is inconsistent with the existence of the other; and for a Gov- 
 ernment to reveal the names, number and functions of its secret 
 agents, is at once to destroy that power, for they would no longer be 
 secret agents. 
 
 Many of the commercial, diplomatic and other agents now abroad, 
 were appointed in the first year of the Government, under the strictest 
 secrecy ; and Congress have repeatedly recognized the power of the 
 Government to have secret agents, and has endorsed their appoint- 
 ment by appropriating money for the payment of their salaries. 
 
 It will be seen by an examination of the communication that the 
 Secretary has given the names and localities of our principal diplo- 
 matic agents, together with his instruction to them ; but that he has 
 not communicated all the names, localities and functions of others 
 than the diplomatic agents. And the Secretary says that : " It would- 
 be impossible to communicate to the House without great detriment to. 
 
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 the public interest, the names and number of all persons engaged in 
 tho service of the Confederate States in foreign countries, either as 
 diplomatiq, commercial or consular agents, or in any other capacity, 
 stating the places to which they have been sent, the date of their ap- 
 pointment, the salaries they receive, the duties which they are expect- 
 ed to discharge." 
 
 On this subject tlie Secretary adds : '^ During the pendency of hos- 
 tilities the very objects for which, other than diplomatic agents have 
 been sent abroad would be exposed to defeat by divulging the details 
 called for in the resolutions; and tliose objects are of great national 
 importance." 
 
 The undersigned recognize the force of those observations. 
 
 Can it be supposed that a Government whose pride it has been to 
 develop its mightiest energies in the prosecution of this war of sub- 
 jugation at home, could have failed to have established abroad a system 
 of espionage with detectives to track our foreign agents and to thwart 
 their enterprises ? We may well suppose, on the contrary, that wher- 
 ever a ship may be built or purchased, wherever a gun or a pound of 
 powder may be obtained, there are the agents of the United States to 
 be found. Experience has proven this ; and Avherever abroad, South- 
 ern sympathy exists, there in particular this swarm of secret emissa- 
 ries may be supposed to congregate. Would not a revelation of the 
 number, names and functions of our secret agents, under such cir- 
 cumstances, endanger the success of their respective missions. 
 
 And shall the Secretary of State be expected the step aside from 
 his high duty, even to answer the most solemn enquiry of a Congres- 
 sional Committee, We think not. 
 
 Among the many subjects of interest which the communication of 
 the Secretary of State discloses, we quote passages from the letters of 
 Commissioners Mason and Slidell, beiiring especially upon the subject 
 of the original resolutions. Upon the subject of recognition, Mr. 
 Mason says: " I am in full and frequent communication here with 
 many able and influential membei's of the House of Commons, who 
 confer with me in perfect frankness and candor, and who are prepared 
 to move the question in the House, whenever it may be found expe- 
 dient, but in the attitude of parties here, (meaning the Ministerial 
 and Opposition,) as the Ministry will not move, it is not deemed pru- 
 dent to enable it to make the question an issue with the opposition, 
 and so, motions that have been projected, ^ hang jire?'''' 
 
 '•As far as the public is concerned, all agree that there has been a 
 complete change in sentiment as the war goes on. Both my own in- 
 tercourse — which is becoming large — and information derived from all- 
 quarters, satisfy me that the educated and enlightened classes are in 
 full sympathy with us, and are becoming impatient at the supineness 
 of the government." 
 
 Mr. Slidell says, speaking of his interview with — : *' In re- 
 ply to my suggestions, that the war could only be brought to a close- 
 by the intervention of European Powers, which should be preceded by 
 our recognition, and a renewed proffer of mediation, he said, that 
 * France could not act without the co-operation of England,' but that 
 
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 -within the last few dayj there seemed to be a change in the tone of 
 the English Cabinet ; that if New Orleans had not fallen, our recog- 
 nition could not have been much longer delayed ; but that oven nfter 
 that disaster, if ive obtained decided successes ni Virginia and Tennessee, 
 or could hold the enemy at hay a month or tico, the same result Avould 
 follow/' 
 
 Mr. Mason also refers to this opinion, that if New Orleans had not 
 fallen, our recognition would not have been much longer delayed. 
 
 Thus, the undersigned show, through this correspondence, that the 
 state of things now actually exist in this country, which, in the opin- 
 ion of our Commissioners, would have probably secured our recogni- 
 tion in England and France : for we have not only kept the enemy at 
 bay a month or two, but have obtained decided successes in Virginia 
 and Tennessee. If the fall of New Orleans prevented recognition, 
 as we are bound to believe from the opinions of our Commissioners, 
 may we not now expect such a reaction in the minds of European 
 Powers as will produce the best feeling in our behalf ? To-day; while 
 we are discussing the propriety of recalling our Commissioners, it 
 may be, that the French and British Cabinets, driven by our recent 
 glorious victories, have already decreed our recognition. 
 
 What is the fall of New Orleans, disastrous as it was, when we have 
 driven off a vast beleaguering army from the precincts of our Capital, 
 and pursued the fugitives to their gates. — When Washington and not 
 Richmond is threatened; when a veteran army, crowned with twenty 
 successive victories, and led by Generals whose fame is yet unsullied 
 by a single defeat, triumphantly erect their standards in the valleys 
 and on the hills of an amazed and discomfited enemy. — If after such 
 developments as these, such demonstrations of an ability to maintain 
 our own independence, the Courts of Europe should still stubbornly 
 refuse to proclaim our rights, and to invite us to participate upon 
 terms of perfect equality at their diplomatic boards, that policy which 
 would be petulance in us now, may wejl assume the majestic propor- 
 tions of national indignation ; and Christendom would then applaud 
 a resolution on our part, to scorn those nations which had too sullenly 
 denied our association. 
 
 As to the merits of that part of the original resolution referring 
 to our Commissioners, the undersigned are of opinion that we have 
 done, as a nation, precisely as we ought to have done. — Guided by the 
 custom of ages, we sent Commissioners abroad to proclaim that we had 
 dissolved the political bands that connected us with the United States, 
 and that we claimed a place amongst the Independent Powers of 
 the Earth. 
 
 This we did with modesty and dignity; to send other Commission- 
 ers would be unbecoming, and to recall those we have already sent, 
 would be an exhibition of impatience which the world would interpret 
 as petulance. 
 
 In regard to persons claiming to act as Consuls for foreign 
 powers in the Confederacy, the Secretary of State submits the follow- 
 ing remarks : 
 
 " The annexed list, marked C, shows the names of the only agents 
 of foreign Governments known by the Department within the limits 
 
of the Confederate States, All of tliese agents, except one, had been 
 recognized by the Government of the United States, bj exequaturs as 
 the duly authorized agents of foreign Governments, by which they 
 were respectively appointed at a period antecedent to that when the 
 several Confederate States revoked the powers previously delegated to 
 the United States, and under which the Government of the United 
 States controlled the relations, whether diplomatic or commercial, 
 which grew up between those States and foreign countries." 
 
 The Secretary adds : 
 
 " According to well recognized principles, both of public and 
 private law, the agents of foreign governments, having been recog- 
 nized as such by the agent of the several Confederate States prior to 
 the revocation of the power delegated to that agent, remain so recog- 
 nized after the revocation. It was and is undoubtedly within the power 
 of this Government, as it is vfithin that of all governments, to decline 
 permitting the above mentioned agents to remain within our limits; 
 but for obvious reasons the exercise of such power has been deemed 
 unwise and impolitic. It is known to the Department that the foreign 
 Consuls within the Confederacy communicate with their governments, 
 in Europe, by sending despatches to the care of the Ministers of 
 their respective governments residing in Washington, and this De- 
 partment has thus been enabled, on different occasions, to cause cor- 
 rect information to reach foreign countries on matters which it was 
 highly important to the public interest should be widely disseminated 
 and properly understood," 
 
 The undersigned cordially endorse the wisdom of these suggestions, 
 and the propriqey of the policy therein indicated. In the present ir- 
 regular condition of our commercial affairs, arising from the blockade 
 of our ports, these persons may well be permitted to remain at their 
 posts without strict formality, doing no harm to us, and often affording 
 channels of information and communication which we might not 
 otherwise readily obtain. The few truths that have reached Europe of 
 the eventful occurrences of t'.ie Avar, within our borders, have been 
 communicated through these persons — they have promptly contra- 
 dicted the exaggerated statements of our foes — and charity compels 
 us to suppose that while some of them may be unfriendly to us, yet a 
 vast majority of them are at least sufficiently friendly to make to their 
 respective governments the most favorable and impartial reports of the 
 actual condition of things within the Confederate States. 
 
 Wkile we admit and complain that the powers of Europe have been 
 slow to be convinced of our right to be received into the fraternity of 
 nations, we cannot deny that they advised us in the earliest days of 
 our struggle that, while recognition was impossible then, still, as soon as 
 we had demonstrated our ability to maintain the independence we had declared, 
 we should be recognized. This was their ultimatum. They had a right 
 to make it. They are the judges. We must bide our time. Every 
 nation is the keeper of its own fortunes — the dictator of its own 
 policy, and we have no right to thrust our quarrels upon it. It Avould 
 be unbecoming in us to be importunate, especially when w^e can ap- 
 
proach only the precincts of foreign Courts, for importunity in claim- 
 ing favors is the basest suppliancy. 
 
 The resolutions of the House further inquire how far the agents 
 aforesaid have been officially or otherwise recognized by foreign gov- 
 ernments ? To this question the Secretary gives all the information 
 contained in the diplomatic correspondence now in the Department. 
 
 For these and other reasons, the undersigned are of opinion that 
 the communication of the President, in answer to the resolutions of 
 the House, contains information as full and explicit as the circum- 
 stances authorized. 
 
 We, therefore, recommend the adoption of the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That it is inexpedient, at this time, to take any legisla- 
 tive action on the resolutions originally introduced on the subject of 
 recalling our Commissioners, and dismissing from the limits of the 
 Confederacy such persons as arc supposed or known to act as Consuls 
 for foreign countries in the Confederate States. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 W. R. SMITH, 
 E. BARKSDALE, 
 
 JOHN McQueen. 
 
RESOLUTION OFFERED BY MR. HARTRIDGE, 
 
 As a Substitute for the Repo-ts of the Committee. 
 
 Rcsolccd, That the reports from the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
 and the resolution of inquiry upon which they are based, be re-com- 
 mitted to the said Committee with instructions to report, at as early a 
 day as possible, a joint resolution declai-ing it to be th-e sense of this 
 Congress that the Commissioners sent to certain European powers by 
 virtue of the Acts of the Provisional Congress, approved 
 
 , and August 20th, 1861, should be instructed to ask of the 
 Governments to which they are respectively accredited, an immediate 
 recognition' of the independence of the Confederate States of America, 
 and upon a refusal upon the part of said Governments of such recog- 
 nition, or a failure immediately to make it to withdraw from such 
 Governments and return to this country; also, a further resolution 
 declaring it to be the sense of this Congress that the consular agents 
 of Foreign powers, resident in the Confederate States, should not be 
 recognized by this Government as having any of the functions or 
 powers of Consuls, unless accredited to and receiving exequaturs 
 from the Government of the Confederate States. 
 
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