The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1861-03-14
Fort SuRs pser.


The chief cause fer this step is, that Ma
ior Anderson has only about fifteen days
provisions, and the question has therefore
arisen as to whether reinforcements should
be attempted-o or the fort evacuated. Gen.
Scott advises that reinfoTcements cannot
now be thrown into the fort without an
enormous sacrifice of life. The question
is wholly military one, and must be de
cided on military grounds; and however
much we may dislike to see the order for
evacuation issued, wessail know where the
responsibility rests. Thirty days ago the
fort could have been re-enforced without
any serious difficulty, and measures had
been taken for that purpose, but James
Buchanan, the then President of the Uni
ted States, refused to have them executed
Let him and his Administration be an
swerable for the consequences.
On this subject, the New York Tribune
says: If, as is predicted with some con-
fdeuce by our Washington correspondent,
Fort Sumpter is to be evacuated, no doubt
the humiliation viii be great, and the or
der for such movement will be given by
the Government with regret quite equal
to that with which the people Will receive
the tidings. But let it be borne in mind
that this humiliation comes, IL it must
come, not from any negligence or feeble
ness Of the present administration, that it
is not an evidence Of a retreat from d we'll
defined and strong position; that it is a
concession neither to the Rebel power Of
the South nor to the timid expostulations
Of the few in the North whose counsels
are weakness but that il is one Of the
last bitter drops in the cup left in our
hands by the Government which has so
long weighed US down, and which has
now hardly passed out of our sight. The
evil which Administrations as well as men,
do, lives after them, and we must expect
to feel the curse. The duplicity, the mean
scheming, the Uncomfortable bascness which
have brought us TO the present complica-
ton OF cur national affairs cannot lose their
poison at once.
The people will be prepared, if this
Withdrawal of troops takes place, for a
yell Of exultation from every traitor in the
land, for taunts, and swelling selfcongrat-
ulations from the men who have labored
more earnestly than any others for the
destruction of the Union by crying out
for concessions and compromises but let
all remember that the strength has not
yet departed from our flag, and that this
movement may be only as the crouch
which is to precede the decisive leap
No matter if the treason which has woven
around US its tolls compels step which
no one wishes to take no matter fire
bellion seems to have advanced its banners,
or if Treason turns more confidently to-
ward US its brazen front. The policy of
the Government remains unchanged, and
its firm foot is just as immoveable as ever
on the Constitution and the laws
In case the predicted event happen, the
people viii place on the proper heads the
responsibility of the act. They will fol-
low the late President to his retirement
with a sharper indignation than they have
before felt; they will, moreover, ask, with
an earncstness which calls for a reply,
why the repeated assurances went forth
from the beleaguered fort that the COM
manding officer needed oaid, no supplies !;
they will demand from all who have borne
a part in the transactions of the past two
months with relation to this important
place strict account OF their stewardship
They viii none the less renew their conf
dence in the power they have set over
them at the National Capital, and will by
that confidence strengthen the hands of
the Administration for vigorous action in
The future and forward
Esy- Crawford and Forsyth, Commits
sioncrs in behalf of the Southern Oligar--
chy, are in Washingt, ,n, and will enter at
once upon the business Of negotiating with
the Administration for the surrender of
the forts, etc. Hang them
Hga. Mr.. Foster has introduced a reso-
luton into the United States Senate to