Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-01-14
To the President of the United States
THE rREuDEsr's REILLY.


WASHINGTON Cry, Dec 80, 1860.
GENTLEMEN; have had the homer to receive
your Communication of 2Sth inst, together Will
a copy Of "your full powers from the Conven
ton of the people of South Carolina, "authorizinQ
you to treat with the Government of the United
States on various important subjects therein
mentioned, and also a copy Of the Ordinance,
bearing date on the Goth inst declaring that
"the Union now subsisting betwesn South Car.
olina and other States, under the name of the
United States of America, is hereby dissolved "
In answer to this communication, have to
say that my position as President of the United
States was clearly defined In the message TO
Congress on the Sd inst In that | stated that
"apart from the execution Of the laws, SO far as
this may be practicable, the Executive has no
authority to decide what shall be the relations
between the Federal Government and South
Carolina. He has been invested with no such
discretion. He possesses no power 10 change
the relations hitherto existing between them,
much less to acknowledge the independence of
that State. This would be to invest mere
Executive officer with the power of Recognizing
the dissolution of the ConRderacy among our
thirty-three sovereign Statei. 1t bears no re-.
semblance to the recognition Of foreign de
faeto overnment-inyolvinS no such RESPONSE
bility. Any attempt to do this would, on his
part, be naked act of usurpation. 1t is there
fore, my duty to submit toCongress the whole
questionin all its bearings." io - .f
Such is my opinion still. | could, therefore,
meet you only as private gentlemen Of the high.
est character, and was entirdy willing to commu-
nicate to Congress any propoition you might have
to maketo that body upon the subject OF this
you were we'll aware. IL was my earnest desire
a,, ab diano s;tfnn ;oht IA n, ID rhoIo
subject by Congress, who abne possess the pow
er, as to prevent the Inauguration of civil war
between the psrties in regard To the possession of
the Federal forts in the hstbr of Charleston,
and /, therefore, deeply regret, that in your
opinion, Hthe events Of last tyenty-tour hours
render this impossible" Ip conclusion, you
urge uton me "the immediate withdraw of the
troops from the harbor Of Ch,rleston," stating
that sunder present circumstances they are
q standing menace, which renders negotiation
impossible, and, as our recent experience shows,
threatens speedily to bring 10 bloody issue
questions which ought to be settled with temper
ance and judgment" asH,r
The reason for this change in your position
is, that since your arrival In Washington, "an
officer of the United States, acting az we (you)are
assured, not only without, but against your
(my) orders, has dismantled one fort and occu-
pied another-thus altering to most important
extent the condition Of afairs under which we
(you) came" You also ,llege that you came
here "the representatives " an authority which
could, at any time withinthe past sixty DAYS,
have taken possession oftie forts in Charleston
harbor, but which. upon pledges given in
manner that we (you) canht doubt, determined
to trust to your (my) honG rather than to its
power" -. ~
This brings me to confederation of the ma
ture of those alleged pledges, and in what man.
ner they have been observed In my message Of
the Sd Of December last, Stated, In regard to
the property Of the United States In South Car.
olina, that IL ''has been purchased for fair
equivalent, by the consent ,f the Legislature of
the State, for the erectionof forts, magazines,
arsenals, SO and over th,se the authority tto
exercise exclusive Legislation" has been express.
| " granted by the Constitution to Congress. Il ia
mot believed that any attempt will be made to
expel the United States from this property by
| force; but if In this ahuld prove to be mis-
taken, the officer in command Of the forts has
received orders to act strictly on the defensive.
In such contingency, The responsibility for con.
sequences would rightfully rest upon the heads
| Of the assilants." This being the condition oil
the parties, on Saturday, 9th December, four ol
| the Representatives from South Carolina called
upon me, and requested an interview. We hat
an earnest conversation on the subject Of these
forts, aud the best means ofpreventinga collision
between the parties, for the purpose Of sparin(
the effnson OF blood. suggested, for pruden
| tial reasons, that II would be best 10 put IL
writing what they said to me verbally. The
did 80, accordingly, and on Monday morning
the 10th inst, three of them presented to me
paper signed by allthe Representatives from
South Carolina, with single exception, 0
which the following IL copy: st ei. ~ ~