The Sequel of Appomattox, A Chronicle of the Reunion of the States | Page 5

washed away. Steamboats had almost
disappeared from the rivers. Those which had escaped capture as
blockade runners had been subsequently destroyed or were worn out..
Postal facilities, which had been poor enough during the last year of the
Confederacy, were entirely lacking for several months after the
surrender.
The railways were in a state of physical dilapidation little removed
from destruction, save for those that had been captured and kept in
partial repair by the Federal troops. The rolling stock had been lost by
capture, by destruction to prevent capture, in wrecks, which were
frequent, or had been worn out. The railroad companies possessed large
sums in Confederate currency and in securities which were now
valueless. About two-thirds of all the lines were hopelessly bankrupt.
Fortunately, the United States War Department took over the control of
the railway lines and in some cases effected a temporary reorganization
which could not have been accomplished by the bankrupt companies.
During the summer and fall of 1865, "loyal" boards of directors were
appointed for most of the railroads, and the army withdrew its control.
But repairs and reconstruction were accomplished with difficulty
because of the demoralization of labor and the lack of funds or credit.
Freight was scarce and, had it not been for government shipments,
some of the railroads would have been abandoned. Not many people
were able to travel. It is recorded that on one trip from Montgomery to
Mobile and return, a distance of 360 miles, the railroad which is now
the Louisville and Nashville collected only thirteen dollars in fares.
Had there been unrestricted commercial freedom in the South in
1865-66, the distress of the people would have been somewhat lessened,
for here and there were to be found public and private stores of cotton,
tobacco, rice, and other farm products, all of which were bringing high
prices in the market. But for several months the operation of wartime
laws and regulations hindered the distribution of even these scanty
stores. Property upon which the Confederate Government had a claim
was, of course, subject to Confiscation, and private property offered for
sale, even that of Unionists, was subject to a 25 percent tax on sales, a
shipping tax, and a revenue tax. The revenue tax on cotton, ranging

from two to three cents a pound during the three years after the war,
brought in over $68,000,000. This tax, with other Federal revenues,
yielded much more than the entire expenses of reconstruction from
1865 to 1868 and of all relief measures for the South, both public and
private. After May 1865, the 25 percent tax was imposed only upon the
produce of slave labor. None of the war taxes, except that on cotton,
was levied upon the crops of 1866, but while these taxes lasted, they
seriously impeded the resumption of trade.
Even these restrictions, however, might have been borne if only they
had been honestly applied. Unfortunately, some of the most spectacular
frauds ever perpetrated were carried through in connection with the
attempt of the United States Treasury Department to collect and sell the
confiscable property in the South. The property to be sold consisted of
what had been captured and seized by the army and the navy, of
"abandoned" property, as such was called whose owner was absent in
the Confederate service, and of property subject to seizure under the
confiscation acts of Congress. No captures were made after the general
surrender, and no further seizures of "abandoned" property were made
after Johnson's amnesty proclamation of May 29, 1865. This left only
the "confiscable" property to be collected and sold.
For collection purposes the states of the South were divided into
districts, each under the supervision of an agent of the Treasury
Department, who received a commission of about 25 percent. Cotton,
regarded as the root of the slavery evil, was singled out as the principal
object of confiscation. It was known that the Confederate Government
had owned in 1865 about 150,000 bales, but the records were defective
and much of it, with no clear indication of ownership, still remained
with the producers. Secretary Chase, foreseeing the difficulty of
effecting a just settlement, counseled against seizure, but his judgment
was overruled. Secretary McCulloch said of his agents: "I am sure I
sent some honest cotton agents South; but it sometimes seems doubtful
whether any of them remained honest very long." Some of the natives,
even, became cotton thieves. In a report made in 1866, McCulloch
describes their methods: "Contractors, anxious for gain, were
sometimes guilty of bad faith and peculation, and frequently took
possession of cotton and delivered it under contracts as captured or
abandoned, when in fact it was not such, and they had no right to touch

it . . . . Residents and others in the districts where