nt--as the new Governor, Andrew
G. Magrath, said in his inaugural address in December, 1864,--was
the aim of the dominant party in South Carolina. How far the State
Government and the Confederate Government had drifted apart is shown by
two comments which were made in January, 1865. Lee complained that the
South Carolina regiments, "much reduced by hard service," were not being
recruited up to their proper strength because of the measures adopted
in the southeastern States to retain conscripts at home. About the same
date the Mercury arraigned Davis for leaving South Carolina defenseless
in the face of Sherman's coming offensive, and asked whether Davis
intended to surrender the Confederacy.

And in the midst of this critical period, the labor problem pushed to
the fore again. The revocation of industrial details, necessary as it
was, had put almost the whole male population--in theory, at least--in
the general Confederate army. How far-reaching was the effect of this
order may be judged from the experience of the Columbia and Augusta
Railroad Company. This road was building through the interior of the
State a new line which was rendered imperatively necessary by Sherman's
seizure of the lines terminating at Savannah. The effect of the
revocation order on the work in progress was described by the president
of the road in a letter to the Secretary of War:

"In July and August I made a fair beginning and by October we had about
600 hands. General Order No. 77 took off many of our contractors and
hands. We still had increased the number of hands to about 400 when
Sherman started from Atlanta. The military authorities of Augusta took
about 300 of them to fortify that city. These contractors being from
Georgia returned with their slaves to their homes after being discharged
at Augusta. We still have between 500 and 600 hands at work and are
adding to the force every week.

"The great difficulty has been in getting contractors exempt or
definitely detailed since Order No. 77. I have not exceeded eight or
nine contractors now detailed. The rest are exempt from other causes or
over age."

It was against such a background of economic confusion that Magrath
wrote to the Governor of North Carolina making a revolutionary proposal.
Virtually admitting that the Confederacy had been shattered, and knowing
the disposition of those in authority to see only the military aspects
of any given situation, he prophesied two things: that t