The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1861-02-09
WHOLE NO. 1913.

TIE forces in Charleston. eanso, do it,
will no, do it-and take the responsible.
said, and the next day this glcrioas old
Premier .en, ia hi. resigna,ion. Then, gen
tlemen, chopped my haads osdis, bas
/ when he left, I could not help cooking ny
eyes and saving, ssGod sreed you, old nas,
to the North.s Laughter and applause
Thus stoed the controversy. In the mean
time another had been called upon the tapis.
Another man had made his appearance.
There was . proposition made to me By the
President to send for General Scott IN thi0
emergency. What could feel, and what
could says lssid send for General Scott;
and as quick as lightning could carry IL
from the metropolis to the great CONNER
eiai emporium Of the country, . summous
was sent for General Scott to come on and
in good time the old General Was on the
spet. The General had ideas upon the
great question involved very different from
mine. General Scott was soldier. ! had
not thoughs Of what would be the sensi.
ments Of soldier who had been . soldier
winning laurels in the Geld from the time
that was an infant in my swaddliug clothes
to this time. Gen. Scott is . soldier, he 10
a general, he has fought our battles every.
waere-he is great general, the captain Of
the age beyond doubt. Gen. Scot, had
programme, it was what | might cal an
Abracadabra; itproposed to allay all spec.
tres Of trouble and disagreement and bring
peace to the country. He laid 1t before me,
as the Secretary OF War, as his superior.
| did not like it. Applause and laughter
| told him did not like it, in very uumis-
! y,kahla IL svns sAt NJ ale
before the President and submitted it to
| him, and he did not very much like il at
that time. will tell you what it was, and
why I did not like IL. Gentlemen, Fort
Sump,er was to be taken possession Of, also
Castle Pinckuey, and Fort Moultrie was to
| be strengthened. The forts in Georgia
were to be occupied and held the forts Of
| Florida were to be taken Possession OF and
manned; the forts in Alabama were to bs
dealt with in like manner the forts in Lou.
isiana were to be occupied by the troops OF
the United States and, in addition to this,
ships. of-war and revenue cutters were to Be
stationed in the waters Of the South. There
was the programme and there was the plan.
There was the coerciye policy, which is Gen.
Scott's policy. On the other hand, the
North, when Congress assembled, had been
| for pacifcatiop. for peaceablc secession, at
least many of their leading men 80 expressed
| themselves. ..'.. ..-.... .., .--
| When General Scott came and revealed
his plan of coercion, presto chauge-instant.
| ~ the whole North rallied upon another and
counter proposition, which was propo-
! sition Of force. The plan Of agreement in
| the administration had been up to the point
when the Commissioners from South Caro-
lima should come and fail. Then We would
take care Of tho question Of property
Gentlemen, l never supposed that could
stay in the Cabinet after that; but to stay
in it up to that point l thought would be
well. As soon as this plan was understood
the whole North changed front, Mr.. Dixon
of Conn.,, made speech for psaceable %.
cession. Senators Wade and Hale, under
the pressure ofhome influences, took grounds
in opposition. The New York Tribune
soon after the election Of Lincoln, declared
more than once that coercion was fallacy
and the Republican party were rallying un.,
der this banner until this proposition Of
Scott's began to get wind. and then instant
lv they changed their front to the rear, and
they demanded power, they demanded mil
itary rein:Orcements, and thus dema manded
coercion to break up the southern disunion
movement. Then this unfortunate affair
of Major Anderson's precipitated tho decis.
ion at once with the administration. Bus
Major Anderson from some cause deter
mined one night to swap forts, and he seized
Fort Sumpter, and thus precipitated this
necessity OF my resigDipg. The President
concluded to sustain him, which rendered
1t impossible for fne to stay in the Cabinet
and | left it. And the premature act OF
Anderson's has deranged the whole South
/ ern programme, but our cause is not thereby
lost. How easy our friends in Charleston
could have gone to Fort Sumpter any bright,
sunshiny evening md taken possession Of
it; it was open, the portals were wide-
spread, and they had nothing to do but to-
march the troops into Fort Sumpter, when
the harbor of Charleston would Be iIhpreg-
nable to the world, the flesh and the devil.
Laughter and appiause.] But there was
barrier in the way, Anderson was the mar
plot of all our plans. [Groans for the
Maior.l
There are few instances on record Of
Cabinet Minister out Of place reveslisg
State secrets, a. FLoyD has done in his
Richmond dinner speech. 1t 10 regarded
as disgraceful in the highest degree but
the villain was so pleased with the part be
had played while entrusted with the War
Department, that he could net contain the
secrets. Like foul bird he is willing to
dirty his own nest, for the sake Of the e.
joyments to be derived from divulging his
crime against the Union to his fellow con-
spirators. -..... ......
The discovery Of the plot deserves to b
regarded as providential. The loyal Amer
lcan people will never appreciate the nagui.
sude Of the peril in which their beloved
Union was placed. 1t is fr,gbsfal to con-
template the consequences that might have
ensued had FLoYD h Co., remained in
power few weeks longer. They had thsis
preparations nearly completed for forci.
bic seizure Of the Capital and National
archives, and the establishment Of Pro.
visional Government at Washington. The
gun n-powder plot Of Guy favkss, 70 blow
up the British Parliament and King, was
not moro comprehensive in aim OF criminal
10 iptent.-Chicogo Tribune.
| GA disps.eh from wssbinstos, Heb.
I, says: Its Fumored that Senstors Jshn-
son and Wigfal are arranging prelininasis
for duel. ....
cTTbe Eev York Times of The 9th,
says that it 10 preposterous TO expees the