Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1861-01-18
STATEMENT OF MEssRs. MILES AND
KEITT.

STATEMENT OF MEssRS. MILES AND
KEITT.
Of ehat tr"npircd Jet~ecm TIN President ana
tie Somth Caroi;"a U,hyntion
In compliance with the request Of the Con.
vention, we beg leave to make the followin.
stat ement:
On Saturday, tho Slh of December, several
of the South Carolina Delegation including
ourselves, waited upon the prc>il..n,. At this
time there was IL growing belief that reinforce,
ments were On the eve of beng sent n the i"r
in Charleston hnrbor. 1t wus known ,hat tn,
subject was frequently and earnestly discussed
| IN the Cabinet. II was ruinorcd that General
Cass and Mr.. Holt were urgent tha. reinforce.
raents should be sent. -
Upon our being announced, the Pre- alen,,
who was then in Cabinet Council. out t2
us in tic ante room. We =, u,:cc ,a,.;.l i:.,o
n conversation upon tl:c tnkc, which was s.,
closely occupying his thong e US well as ours.
The Presdcn. seemed much tlistfbcd aud
moved. He told. us that he had "a painful in
tcrview with the wife of Major. Anderson, whu
had come from New York To see him. She
hnd manifested ggeat anxiety ard distress at
the situation of her husband, whom she seemed
to consider in mcmentarv danger If an attack
from an excited and lawless mob. The Prcsi-
dent proiessed to feel deep responsibility rest
| ing upon him to protect The lives OF Mai. An
derson ard his Command. We told him ila,
The news that rcinfOrcemcnts were on their
! way to Charleston would he III. surcst means
ofprovoking what Mrs. Anderson a,prehcnde,l
und what he go much deprecated.
We snid, further, that we did MOI believe
| that Major 4nderson was in any danger OF
such IN attack; that the general sentiment oI
! the State was against any such proceeding
| That. prior to The action Of TIE State Conv-n
tion. then only ten days OF. We felt satisfied
taat there would DC no attempt 10 molcst the
| forts i'll any way. That, after the Convention,
mct-whilc We could not possibly undertake tn
say what dhat body wui!IL see ii;'io ia--wr
| yet hoped and believed that n"tim. w"rl,: i.e
done until We had first cndeuvorc.i, by iuIy
accredited Comm iss"ncrS. to negotiate for II
! peaceful settlement OF all matters inciu,lin.
| the delivery of the1forts, between South Caro-
| Ina and The Federal G"""Yanrnt. At the
SHINE time, we again reiterated our s"lcimn he
lief that any chunge in the then existing con-
edition of things III Charleston harbur. would,
| IN the excited state of ie-ln" AT home, ineyita
| bly, prcaiPitute. n collision. The impression
made upon us was, that the President was
wavering. and bad not decided what cou,se he
| would pursue. lie said he was glad 10 have
had this conversation with us, but would prefer
that We should give him written melmornn.
| dunn of the substance of what We had said
This we did on Monday, the 10th. 1t was in
these Words.
10 his Brceliency James buchanan
President Of THE United Stutes:
In compliance with our statement to you
| yesterday, We now express to you our strong
convictions that neither the constituted authori.
tiess nor any body Of the people Of the State
sol: South CarolinaS will either attack or moest
the Uuited States forts in the harbor of Char
lesion, previously to the action of the Conven.
tlop, and We hope and believe not until an of.
feFhas- been made, through an accredited re.
representative. to negotiate for an uncable ar
rangement Of all matters between the State
and the Federal Government; provided that no
achievements shall he sent into Those furts,
and their relative military status shall rema in
| asat present. JOHN MCQUEEN,
WN.. PORCuER MILES,
NJ. l.. BONHAN,
w. W. BOYCE,
LAURENCE. Al. ,KEITT,
WASHINGTON, 9th December, 1850.
The President did not like the word "pro-
| vided, because it looked as if we were bind
ing him, while avowing that we had n5author.
ity TO commit the Convention. We told him
that we did not so understand it. We were
expressing our oonvictibus aud belief, pre- dica
ted upOBstHfE maintenance oI n certain .eun-
Edition Of MHEs, which maintenance wassabso.
lutely and entirely nhis pocer. Ifhc maintain
ED such condition, Ilisp we believed that coils
ion would be avoide.i until the attempt ut o
peaceabts negotiation had failed. If he did
moi, then we eoIelnuly assured him that We be-
Viewed :5of1issioD must inevitably, aHdVac once
be psRaip5tn, ed. lie seemed satisfied, and said
it rs Intention to send Treiniorcements
or max Ed3S a8han We explained to him what
we mes f sby tHass11ords "relaliye military
.Atatus' M applfaGto the forts; mentiahcd til.
difference GelWee9 Major Anderson. occupy
ing bis 1s Esr. ss Fort Mea w ard
"a tkaSkhfto IaYfar sfdrf wauld hu I,,,t
rsjiforchs GGse6. and would Just as ce r
tain IL ,aaT6Ss s6ildf6& OF fresh traous lead n
the resultwhich;$e both desired to avoid.
When we rose to 60 the President Aoia in
subatanee,.. fter all. .tIiisis matter.ef honor
among gentlemen. do no, A56sat aav
paper or writing isneeessary 10 WeaHderstand
each, other" One Of the delegation, lust he. |
fore Ieasieg the room. remarked, ,s.Mr. Presi.
dent, youshave determinedto let tiiskps remain
ed they are, and not to send reinforcene tss
but. suppose that you were hereafter to change
year Paiiny :tor any reason, what then That
wenld ppt ue who gre, willing to lse our Dor.
sopal inflpenrA io prevent any attack upon the
fosts SbsfoEe Commissioners are sent on To-
in rather an embarrassing posi-.
tion Then" said siss President, "fwould
tssfeturn you this paper" We do not pre-
ten1to give the exact words on either aide. |
eauk @e' arsAare we give Che sense of both. 81
Nhst passsAd between .etss; Presidsot ana thai
Delegation sidspa; is hs' ist.sF 10 our our
commissioners siriss TO give the impression tb nt
bur Sg ndrrsta1t1 ding or "agfesmehs, was.nst
9 pledge. Wetecnfeas we are NOT suif;is;entIy
ssssxd tn the swiles {of diplomacy To- feel ths
!oTce Of this lion withoht q disrance III
> Ner can we Ssindsfs lard hos 10 "a nhttef Of
e asp9r = smeng gentlemen p shict mo .papert
WAS Hing to nut m III IN q