Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1861-03-13

A Unpleasant Rosieioa.
He who would for moment envy Mr..
Lincoln his position - President Of the
United States, must either know but
little of the awfully harvesting condition
attending the position, else his love Of
penance must be Of . most inordinate
character. Sworn to execute the laws
of the nation, declaring that the power
confded in him evil be used to hold,
occupy and posssss the property and
places belonging to the government"
and yet being reduced to the "ecess'sy
Of foregoing his oath and officially stated
determinations, even before he has made
auy definite effort to carry either into
effect. must, indeed, be most humiliat-
ing and unpalatable. From present
indications, it would appear that it is
not such an easy matter after oil, TO
"Aold' the property Of the Government,
to cay nothing about possess'ng that
which has heretofore passed into the
keeping Of the various States which have
seeded. Forts Sumter and Pickens,
two Of the most important strongholds
Of the Government, it seems, must fall
into the hands of the seeding States,
and that without so much % . single
blow being struck, or . single effort to
hold or capture being made on either
side. With but . few days provisions
at either port and with the physical
impossibility of providing supplies, star
ing Mr.. Lincoln in the face, how can he
do otherwise than to order an evacua-
ton. The thing is too certain to i'd
init Of rising doubt. Nothing short
Of q miracle can save the President
from asserting to such step. Deplore
it - he may, nevertheless the dire necss-
sity rises up before him and defies any
alternative. A sad condition truly.
What will the country say Of him
when the event shall have transpired
What will the masses of the Republican
party, who have been SO morally certain
in their own minds that those forts
would be held in the iron grasp of their
chief, and that the captured forts would
be wrenched from the grasp Of their
captors in the most unceremOni0us man.
ner-what will they say of the sad fail
ure to accomplish either object? What
will Democrats say They will say,
we believe, that the most sensible thing
the President can do under the circum-
stances, is to let those forts 60. They
will likewise say that their belief is most
fully confirmed that Abraham Lincoln is
nothing more than any ordinary man.
The beatific attributes which the mass
Of the Republican party have claimed
for him, have vanished like dream.
miserably short Of proving himself equal
to the emergency. Who is there SO lost
to self-respect as to envy him his
position The best thing which Abra-
ham Lincoln can do to-day, is to attach
himself firmly to the Democratic plat
form, and from that administer the
Government, leaving the Republican
party to float down the current of time
into tho dark sea OF political oblivion.
Question FOX THE GAZETTE.-Will
the Gazette inform the public how Hon
est Old Abe expects to collect the rev.
enue, and "hold, occupy and possess the
forts ?"
Does MIR. Lincoln mean by this that
he is going to hold those forts which re-
main in the possession Of the U. S.
troops, or does he mean to possess those
which arc now under the control Of the
Southern confederate authorities, and il
so, how It 10 important that these
questions should be answered.
In our Monday mornings paper We
published tho following item:
Tux pay Of Major. General in the
United States Army is equivalent to
something more than $500 = year; .
Brigadier-General's to q little over g.
100 q year.
A gentleman, Of this city, well versed
III military matters, informs us that the
figures are entirely too low. The pay
OF Lieutenant General Scott Is s9,24O;
Of Major General, S5,62S Of q Brig
adler General, 1882. Besides this
these officers enjoy pcrquisites Of con-
siderable value which swell their in.
comes to much larger sum. They draw
their pay, perquisites. etc., ID gold.
SECESSION OF THE RED RIvRR.-The
New Orleans Delta says the communi-
cation between the Red river and the
Mississippi is being gradually cut of.
The former is taking itself off to the
Gulf by way of the Atchafalaya into
berwick's Bay. Every year the volume
OF water pouring down this new chan
mel 10 becoming larger, while the old
N~A> Al