Buffalo Daily Courier, February 12, 1861

The selection of Col. Davis and Mr. Stephens as President and Vice President of the Southern Confederacy strikes us as the best that could have been made—whether we look to the ultimate reconstruction of the Federal Union, or the welfare of the new organization, there are no two abler men than Davis and Stephens in the South. They assented to the secession of their respective States with great reluctance, and only because they found it impossible to breast the tide of revolution. If affairs shall take such a turn as to make the re-admission of the retiring States a question for consideration, the efforts of those gentlemen may be relied upon to secure that result, provided always that admissible terms shall be offered them. On the other hand, if the separation of the two sections of the country shall be permanent, then the eminent practical and statesmanlike abilities of those gentlemen will be of the greatest importance in shaping and consolidating the new government. Besides, if the counsels of such men are permitted to have weight in the Southern Confederacy, there will be less danger of a collision, and a better prospect of just treaties between the North and the South.