Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1861-04-20
The Retiring President.

lWo OF tnree uayS Deiore nr. Duonau- |
an retired from the Presidential Chair,
that able, dignifed, and impartial journal,
the Washington National Inteligencer,
published the following brief, yet compro-
hensive review of the life of the President.
While the small politicians of the country,
following in the lead of Forney's Press
howl like Jackalls on the chase, and deny
to the retiring chief Magistrate, either in
tcgrity or intelligence; the most able and
reliable journal of the opposition, shaming
the bascness ofits colleagues of the press,
puts on record its deliberate endorsement
of the honesty integrity and ability of Mr..
Buchanan. We commend the article to
the attention of those men who are accus-
toned to see nothing good, and nothing
right in the acts of the late president
The distinguished individual who is
about to retire from the administration Of
the Government of the United States has
lived in eventful times and performed
conspicuous part on the stage of public
events. No incumbent of the highest of.
fee in the gift of the people has been more
honored and none deserves to be held in
more grateful remembrance for the bcne-
fits he has actually conferred upon the
country, for the impulse he has given to
our commerce and manufactures, for the
frmness with which he has repelled the ag
gressions upon our rights by foreign ma.
tions, and for the skill with which he has
often disentangled the web of difficulties in
which our domestic affairs have been in
volved by the wars of parties and the con
ficts of section, with each other.
| Mr.. Buchanan has united the advanta-
ges of clear and vigorous understanding
and thorough information with large cx.
perence, acquired in eminent and RESPONSE
bic positions, both at home and abroad
His purposes have been uniformly pacific
and liberal, embracing the interests of the
whole country. In one of the earliest
speeches which he made in the House of
Representatives, the subject under consid-
Grafton being the tariff on imports he said {:
"If l know myself, l am politician nei-
ther of the East nor of the West, of the
North nor of the South. l therefore shall
forever avoid any expressions, the tenden.
cy of which must be to create sectional
jealousies, sec ional divisions, and at length
disunion, that worst and last of all politi-
cal calamities,"
He supported revenue tariff, revenue
being as he said, the rule and protection
the incident. He fought against general
bankrupt law as equally demoralizing and
unconstitutional. lie was, at the COM
mencemcnt of his Congressional career
and always has been, in favor of the ac'
QUESTION of Cuba. lie advocated in 1926
Gen. Jackson's election to the Presidency
and sustained most of his measures. Du-
ring his Administration he was placed a
the head of the Judiciary Committee in
the House of Representatives and, being
appointed one of the managers to conduc
the prosecution of Judge Peck, made il
that case most able and eloquent argu'
ment In 1921 Gen. Jackson appointed
him Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary to St. Petersburg, wher'
he negotiated treaty o. great value to ou
commerce and navigation in the Baltic ant
Black Seas. On his return from Russia
in 1888, he was elected to seat in tn
United States Senate. In 1885 the re
csption OF abolition petitions had become
subject of angry controversy between tn
North and South. His idea was that til
petitions should be received, but ther
should be distinct and positive declara
ton on the part of Congress, that it had n
power to legislate on the subject Of slavery
He desired to leave it, he said, where tn
Constitution had leftit, to the States them
selves. On this subject his course ha
been uniform, and he has ever manifesto
an unAinching determination to maintai
the rights and institutions of the Sout
against all opposition. He was among tn
earliest of the Senators to urge the recog
milton of the independence of Texas all
her admission into the Union. lie main
tanned the justice of the claims of Ameri
can citizens for indemnity against tn
French Government, reviewing the Who'll
subject with mastelly ability.
On Van Buren's accession to the Presi
dency he supported his great measure q
an Independent Treasury. During MI
Tyler's administration he successfully ad
vocated the veto power OF the fresldel
under the Constitution against Mr.. Clay
efforts to abolish it. When Mr.. Polk wa
elected to the highest Office in the country
he invited Mr.. Buchanan to the most hon
orable seat in his Cabinet, that of SecretG
ry of State. Occupying this high position
Mr. Buchanan entered into negotiatio
with Mr.. Pakenham, Her British Maje'
tvs Minister Plenipotentiary to the Amel
ican Government, for the settlement Of th
claims of the two Governments to tf
Northwestern Territory, each claiming tt
entirety. Mr.. Buchanan proposed tt
compromise line of 49deg. north, previou
is ly offered by Mr., Tyler, and it was ult
IS mately adopted. In the prosecution of ii
Mexican war Buchanan was the adviser
the President, and at its conclusion aide