that a continuous study of the
Northern newspapers for the period of the Civil War is unnecessary, for
their size and diffuseness are appalling.

But what I have said about the press of the North will not apply to that
of the South. Though strenuous efforts have been made, with the diligent
cooperation of Southern men, to secure the utmost possible amount of
Confederate material for the "Official Records," it actually forms only
about twenty-nine per cent of the whole matter. Other historical
material is also less copious. For example, there is no record of the
proceedings of the Confederate Congress, like the _Globe_; there are no
reports of committees, like that of the Committee on the Conduct of the
War; and even the journal of the Congress was kept on loose memoranda,
and not written up until after the close of the war. With the exception
of this journal, which has been printed by our government, and the
"Statutes at Large," our information of the work of the Confederate
Congress comes from the newspapers and some books of biography and
recollections. The case of the Southern States was peculiar, because
they were so long cut off from intercourse with the outer world, owing
to the efficient Federal blockade; and the newspaper in its local news,
editorials, and advertisements, is important material for portraying
life in the Confederacy during the Civil War. Fortunately for the
student, the Southern newspaper was not the same voluminous issue as the
Northern, and, if it had not been badly printed, its use would be
attended with little difficulty. Owing to the scarcity of paper, many of
the newspapers were gradually reduced in size, and in the end were
printed on half-sheets, occasionally one on brown paper, and another on
wall paper; even the white paper was frequently coarse, and this, with
poor type, made the news-sheet itself a daily record of the waning
fortunes of the Confederacy.

In the history of Reconstruction the historian may be to a large extent
independent of the daily newspaper. For the work of reconstruction was
done by Congress, and Congress had the full support of the Northern
people, as was shown by the continuous large Republican majority which
was maintained. The debates, the reports, and the acts of Congress are
essential, and little else is required except whatever private
correspondence may be accessible. Congress represented public sentiment
of the North, and if one desires newspaper opinion