The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-01-17

Is too late or too soon for compromises, would
only come bravely up to the full measure Of
compromise securing the South for the future
within the Union and if Mr.. Lincoln would
assist Ia this movement, If passed or not passed
by Congress good results would be sure 70 fol-
low. If passed, the door Of reconciliation
would be thrown wide open; if lost the incom-
ing administration would enter upon liz duties
with the appreciation and support of every
| Union maa within the boundaries of the United
| States.
| We call, therefore, upon Mr.. Seward, in be
half Of the Union, the peace Of the country and
the incoming administration, to try at once the
experiment Of great practical compromise
II is not too soon and it is not too late to try It
The Decision Of the President-Fors SUM
ter 10 he Retained.
Our Washington dispatches on Tuesday in
formed us Of the arrival at the federal capital
Of Colonel Hayne-a special messenger from
| the Governor Of South Carolina to the Presi-
dent Of the United States. Colonel Haynes
GRAND was to demand the surrender Of Fort
Sumter to the authorities Of South Carolina.
| The decision of the President, announced this
morning. is that under no circumstances will
the government resign possession OF Fort
Sumter; and ii il understood that Major An
derson will be instructed to defend the post
at all hazards
1t is very unfortunate that the question
as to this comparatively unimportant point
should have been raised just at this mo-
| ment when there is an opening for com
promise. Except Sumter and some obscure
works in Florida and Texas, the entire line of
Southern seacoast defences are in the hands
IF the disunonists. Now, the Charleston peo-
pie hold that, to be consistent they must re-
move the federal flag from Sumter, even if
they are compelled to accomplish the act by
force. As a matter of course, they would be
sustained by all the Gulf States wherein fede-
raj property has been seized. Sumter might be
taken by exhausting the garrison, or general
naval fight ensuc, in which the city OF Charles
ton would suffer severely and the best blood Of
Carolina flow in torrents. The cotton States
would then come to the rescue, and the result
would be a frightful civil war Now, the So
Der, earnest, thinking men of all parties regard
with aversion any movements that look to the
arbitrament of the sword AT the same time
il is point of honor with all of us who still
adhere to the Union that Fort Sumter should
not be taken, and we believe that the forbear-
ance of Major Anderson in the matter of the
Star Of the West should lead to equal conside-
ration on the part of the Charleston authori-
ties. They, however, seem to think
that the presence Of the federal flag
on Sumter is tacit defiance of the
government which they have set up, and
they feel the matter more deeply than any Of us
at the North can possibly imagine.
sumter ha, been e.lled the key to thu de-
fences Of Charleston harbor. 1t is something
more just now. 1t is the turning point in the
crisis of the Union. There can be mo doubt
that the action Of the President upon Haynes
rather cool proposition will be received with
appreciation in the border slave States and
that the Union party in the South will secretly
approve it
AT the same time that we receive this news
from Washington we have important intelli-
gence from Springfield, to the effect that Mr.
Stewards speech receives the endorsement Of
the President elect: and il is by no means i'm
probable that If affairs could be kept in statu
quo ante Jell,tm for short time longer the re-
publicans would offer some plan of compro-
mise, based upon the Crittenden amendments.
The radical wing Of the party is already get
ting frightened at the weakness, as they term
it, Of the republican members of Congress.
Greeley a Co. howl vigorously over Stewards
speech-the very best possible proof that it has
hit the right spot. So we find the extreme re-
publicans and the thorough going fre-eatcrs,
as usual, unitea in the cndcavor 10 break up
the Union Between these two fires the con-
servatiyes North and South are unable to stir
hand or foot They are as effectively shut up
as Anderson IN Fort Sumter.
Suppose the worst comes to the worst (for
we must look at these things squarely) and
Sumter is attacked, what then. Then the North
will be aroused as one man, and, until reason
regains its sway, we shall be compelled to
suffer all the horrors Of a fratricidal conflict.
which will destroy the industrial interests OF
all sections and put US back at least hundred
years in the estimation of the civilized world.
We will assume, for the cake Of argument, that
in the event of war the border States would
cast their lot in with the North. although the
tenor Of all our advices from Virginia, Ken,
lucky, Tennessee, Maryland and vir-
ginia are infexibly the other way; and thea
il is not so clear that the army of the North
could subjugate the cotton States. And If they
did succumb, of what value would their forced
submission be? Then, again, where are the
troops to come from. Where will the general
government find volunteers to fight against
men who take up arms on their own soil to
defend their own rights Can We depend upon
officers of the army and navy when they are
commanded 20 turn their guns against their
own relatives. or their comrades, with whom
they have shared the bivouac or Joined in the
assault upon a foreign foe: Are we to take