committed himself by the veto, in January, of "A bill to
authorize the Secretary of War to receive into the service of the
Confederate States a regiment of volunteers for the protection of
the frontier of Texas." This regiment was to be under the control
of the Governor of the State. In refusing to accept such troops,
Davis laid down the main proposition upon which he stood as
military executive to the end of the war, a proposition which
immediately set debate raging: "Unity and cooperation by the
troops of all the States are indispensable to success, and I must
view with regret this as well as all other indications of a
purpose to divide the power of States by dividing the means to be
employed in efforts to carry on separate operations."

In these military measures of the early months of 1862 Davis's
purpose became clear. He was bent upon instituting a strong
government, able to push the war through, and careless of the
niceties of constitutional law or of the exact prerogatives of
the States. His position was expressed in the course of the year
by a Virginia newspaper: "It will be time enough to distract the
councils of the State about imaginary violations of
constitutional law by the supreme government when our
independence is achieved, established, and acknowledged. It will
not be until then that the sovereignty of the States will be a
reality." But there were many Southerners who could not accept
this point of view. The Mercury was sharply critical of the veto
of the Texas Regiment Bill. In the interval between the Texas
veto and the passing of the Conscription Act, the state
convention of North Carolina demanded the return of North
Carolina volunteers for the defense of their own State. No sooner
was the Conscription Act passed than its constitutionality was