New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-08-13
"A scaflting Exposition OF LEnceauss sgs~
t=a.s.e as stss Slttass. 54
from ths Eondon relegrsnh. Inlr ID

OF tue war, his message to Congress on openinat
ms e&traoFdinary session comprises 8 historical
glahce az the origin of the civil war an ezpIaHa-
tioh, an argument in favor of his own policy, and
an announcement for the future The bistorjcaI
retrospect IS chiefly remarkable for the broad ai.
missions which are involved though they ara nor
intended. The express object il ta alsovy that fI
states which profess to have seeded have !" re-
oeAed:" Ii any art is used in the composition il
~ eH'feiy employed in the endeagoF TO diminish
the Snow OF NUMBERS power, resolution and unan-
lrn!ty among the Confederate Ssates Sfx States
are named as having joined the Confederacv Viz
gIna Is spoken Of as if she still balancing be-
tween secession and the Union consentine 10 make
herself s. nest for invaders" faorn the seeding
states. Men who have been in the Federal Gov.
eF1Iaeut or Legislature, or in the Federal arrnv
aho nave Joined the Confederation, are fnplfadIy
oeacfloeQ as knot of coIspiratoTH, aiming to
carry OF muskets belonging to the central Gov
e!!51lhent, and to put pressure upon their ihdf-
staa sates IN order to suborn public opinion. Tn
S,ioFt lhe aim of the message is to represeut the
confederation as limited to a small Territory, a
iaiisotty OF Iaalcontents with that territory aud
ine ~ assenhled around President Jefferson Davis
az = = l9e saIo Richmond being mentioned
a. 2 e It. = :" eEe sun within the United states This ia
ny lar the best part of MESSAGE gfieh rer1frlIs
at, i ~ VI me worst compositions that have
@ Sdlt '''Su ifohl the White House at Washington
recent occupant of the Presidential nf1air rad rs
stored S0mathing Of the correetnesa ana aIags4io
Wihch al one time marked the messages Sent n H
congress. some fey Presidents before If. m
chanan acceded to Office had not bean ver-g 10 ~,
IN their style; bu5 We must confess fhat 1ha jsast
feiicIt!ous Of them never bordered npon tie very
| fore us. e s-'Ip 20
The second portion is a volunteered ezntanat;or
| OF the reasons why the Federal Government de-
| tended Fort Sumter. We do not remember f;laf
hr. ijncofn and his friends have ever Eeen d.
satiteG oy the charge against which they are now
50 an&ousy defending themselves ana Il cir plead
ing is as earions as tEer thus spontaneously stand
ing IN the dock. II they had not defended the
fort, they say q the act might have heen oan-
atrued by many part Of a voluntary r1offcv ).
while at home, it would q discourage the friends
OF the Union embolden its adversafiss and 90 far
TO insure to the latter recognition abroa5-that
in fact, it wonld be National destruction con-
summated.H 1t is difficult to imagine any more
exaggerated or Impolitic admission than the one
we haye here-that il i any portion Of the Union
could pc Recognized" as an Independent State
" our National destruction would be sDDsumn1a-
ted" So, on the strength of that fear, President
Lincoln did venture to defend Fort Sumter
The third and longest section of the message is
the pleading against the right OF secession, CON
dneted in fashion which would not obtain much
credit IN any district attorneys office there or in
the Old Bailey here. The secession Of the States
commonly called the slave States u is again men
toned as an offence, which is begging he whole
question at issue, and at the same time confassing
| how incapable the Federal Government has shown
itself OF Of retaining any hold upon the Southern
| members Of the late Union. Yet, aa cur readers
| are well aware, the Southern States have been
| only too anxious to keep open path for friendly
Communication with the North while it is the
|
nications, and has rendered the secession SO tho
rough-going and complete as it D. One argument
upon which Mr.. Lincoln and his friends appear
strongly to rely is that the States never existed
Independently and that therefore shey cannot
lawfully and peacefully Withdraw from tie Union
" without the consent of the Union Or of auv othsf
States This is an assertion directly in the teeth
of the Constitution, which provides for any amend
nent, even of the Constitution itself, nn vote
taken by the Legislatures of the States, or by a
convention to be called throughout the States
that is to say, any amendment OF the Constitution
would become law if it were affirmed By speci-
fled majority either Of the State LegEla tuTes Or Of
National Convention. Yet Mr.. Lincoln makes
the astounding assertion that no STATE can With
draw from the Union, if the Withdrawal be vetoed
by any one State. Perhaps lie does not mean
what his words express, for we must f.Tgays make
allowances on the score of his manifest iaexpes
rience and inaptitude in WELDING the pen.
The argument, however, against the iudepend-
ence OF the States, in any period Of their political
growth, is carried to the pitch of The sahlime,' and
the proverbial trfe beyond. II Mr.. Lincoln had
read the history OF Virginia for himself, he would
know better than to put on record this IEdiefons
; essay for the ridcule Of posterity.
The personal idtosyncracy Of "the Executive, !" as
the President calls HIMSELF comes cut fully in The
} concluding ard shortest section of the message,
where he processes announce what is to be The
course of the Government after its victory in the
present civil war. If there is to be coercion and
conquest, or subjEgaton, he does not perceive y
!, that there is to be any such thing in any just
+ sense OF these terms.'' 4
It is indeed impossible to follow the Presidential
. bungiug through all its intricaces for while Mr..
Lincoln is utterng for each State this broad and
unqualified right of dictatOn, he allows that the
Y people themselves, and not their Servants, can
: safely reverse their own deliberate decisfonn
/ | which is precisely what the seGedug States pro
claim, If it is Mr. Lincolu's purpose 10 mitigate
the ustlust and hostility which his administration
e has raised in the Southern States n5 planning
what course he should pursue after the conclusion
OF peace, he has most udicrously failed to carry
out his own purpose On the contrary, he has Just
J. alluded to the subject sufficiently to show con-
seriousness that satisfaction oBghS to be given to
e the public on both sides of the Potonao while irr-
tatng at least the Southern States BY withholding
S the information which he promises.
We can imagine one reason toT thI5 reverse.
From latent sense that it is at diaoord with the
majority in the Northern as we'll as tha Southern
r. States, Mr.. Lncolns party has done It's best to
suppress the friendly overtures Of the Confederate
Government and now it is endeegoring 10 conceal
| from the leading men in the South the growing
Il disposition in the Northern States TO re0pn the
J. | question OF peaceful negotiations. Hence, un-
/ doubtedIy, the astbundngly vague and prevaricat-
e ing language which he employs at the very time
that he protested to alleviate the unaasuess in the
d mind of candid men, by ntmating what is to be
l. the course of Government towards the Southern
y States after the conclusion OF the War. But he
e promises that the war shall be done cheapy, he
IS will contract to get it finished off hand nc only =
It four hundred millions of dollars" only Y two
), thirds of the expense incurred by the whole War
Y | of Independence. and he thinks that his cute
n subjects will duly believe their oracle and auto
S crat, the Executive, unquesti0nably making up
their minds that the bill offered them before the
beginning of the war will precisely tally with the
bill to be prevented at the end. The Yankees
J. may be very obedient people, but We doubt yet if
+ | they are quite so much enslaved as Mr.. Seward
n | and his President seem to think.