The Placer herald., 1862-10-11
Those Meddling Governors.

We learn by telegraph that convention
of the Governors Of the loyal States are in
session at Altoona, Pennsy lvania, delibera
ting upon the affairs of M nation in rela
ton to the conduct Of the war. Two prop
ositons have been discussed; st to demand
the immediate removal of McCIellan; second
the approval of the Presidents emancipa-
ton proclamation; Gov Andrew of Massa'
chuselts, making fully an hours speech in
favor of BOTH He urged that McCIelIan's
removal should be demanded, and thought
Fremont could fill his p ace. Those Govern
ors were generally elected under the abol-
ian pressure and. are mostly of the smalh
est Of the small beer kind Of country poll.
ticians. Since the breaking ont Of the war
they have organized themselves into board
and assumed supervisory direction of
the Federal Government entirely unau
horzed bv their position and altogether
uusuied to their capaci'y. BY their imper
tinent meddIing they have marred much
more than they have made. Utterly inca
pable of co,nprehending national policy bel
yond its party bearings, they reveal the mo-
tive of their action in an attack upon Nc
Clellan, expose their mental caber in the
suggestion of placing John G. Fremont at
the head of the army, and 'eShlbt their in
solent and impudent stupidity in assuming
to dictate in matters not at all in their OH
ciaI province.
But for the intermeddhng Of a part of
these same Governors we believe that the
Union would have been finally restore'i upon
amcabe terms. Before the attack upon
Fort Sumter the Cabinet had agreed upon
the policy OF non coercion, and Mr.. Seward
had unohcaly assured the Southern Com.
mssoners that the garrison should be with
drawn from Fort Sumpter The order to
that effect bad b en- made out and agreed
upon and only awaited the signature of the.
President, 1t was reasonably believed that
this policy would he the means If retaining all
but the Gulf States and that the seeded States,
if let alone, would eventually return Of their
own accord when they found they could not
prpcipiiate all of the slave States into the
revolution This policy,"i1 will be recolect-
ed, was violently opposed by by Sumner,
Zach Chandler and all of the Abohtionists,
and was advocated by Senator Douglas in
lie bes efforts of his mastery mind Just
at This juncture, when the issue of peace
or war was trembling in the balance, the
self constituted commission of patriotic
Governors precipitated themselves upon the
President with the Chicago platform and
turned t scale. The whole argument was,
that such policy was in violation OF party
pledges; that the temporizing If the admin
slraion had already lost them nearly every
northern city in which the spring elections
had been held, and nothing but war wou'd
save the party from dissolution. They pre-
vailed with the President against the earnest
protest Of Mr.. Seward, who CO.. sidered his
honor pledged by hls commitments to the
Southern commissioners. To avoid this, and
at the same time tasten the onus OF conn
meucing the war upon the South, that st:a
getic movement WAS resort d to which was
afterwards exposed by the seizure of the
telegraph office at Washington One Har
vey, an attache of the New York Tribune,
was employed to send message to the au
thorilies at Charleston that Fort Sumpter
was about to be reinforced, for which secret
service he was rewarded with the appoint.
ment of Minister to Portugal. This notice
was deemed an acQntta OF Mr.. Seward OF
bad faith towards the commissioners; and
then only feint Of reinforcing was nj dc to
provoke an attack upon the fort, under a
belief that destruction Of the garrison
would infame and unite the public senti
ment of the north p favor OF the war The
government vessels lying off the harbor in
the meantime offering no assistance to the
devoted band whose sacrifice had been prel
deteunlned for purpose. The garrison
esca ed almost mraculously the fate intend
ed for them, but the ruse had the conlem
plated effect in lnaugura'ing the most terri
bic war that the world has ever witnessed, bv
the influence and at the in~igat N OF men
who under ordinary circumstances have not
the ability or weight of action to influence
the action OF board of supervisors. To
Judge of the ability of these men to direct
10 the affairs in which the exstance of our
nation is involved, the people Of California
have only to make the comparison with their
owp governor, who is, probably, IN point OF
ability, about an average of the class which
the aggregation of factions making up the
Republican party have brought into power.
1t is almost enough to make a man forswear
his country to see it under such dictaIion.
Has intelligence died out in the land that
stupid audacily should he left to rule the
nation? 1t needs but Fremont at the head
of our armies to complete our humiliation
and turn the war into a strife of factions fer
dominion and plunder.
s. j. Republican.