Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-01-28
STANTON.
STANTON'S POLITICAL
POSITION IN 1863.
Il "reminiscences OF the Close OF BuCh-
anaH's Administration.
THE HON. JEREMIAH BLACKS CARD
TO THE PUBLIC.

To the Editors ofthe Ne1o Y0rh Herald:
Since the death of Mr.. Stanton some
/ newspaper writer's have revived the scan.
dalous accounts which began to be propa
: gated, think in 1862, concerning his con
: duet while member of MI. Buchanan's
Cabinet It is asserted that he came into
that Administration with views entirely OPP
posed to those of the President and the
men who were to be his colleagues, all OF
! whom, except Messrs. Holt and Dix, were
,, in favor of the Southern COnfederacy, and
ready to sacrifice the Union that sup
ported by these two he bullied the rest
that he terrified the President by threats
of resignation into measures which other
J wise would not have been thought Of ; that
he urged immediate war upon the Sc
ceding States, to crush out the rebellion 4;
that though defeated in this by the treason
of his associates he carried with high
hand other points of sound policy: that
by these hardy displays Of hostility to the
Administration which trusted him he pro
noted the interests and won the gratitude
of its enemies.
This is the substance expressed in my
own plain English OF many statements,
coming from various sources, extensively
circulated and so generally believed that ii
not soon contradicted they are likely to be
received as authentic history. They arc
not only false, but they must be injurious
to Mr.. Stanton's reputation and they are
grossly unjust to Others, dead as we'll as
living.
am not the special defender Of Mr..
Stanton, and certainly would not assail
him. Before he fell away from the Demo
cratic faith our friendship was intimate
and close. There was no separation after
wards except the separation which is inc
vitable between two persons who differ
widely on public subjects believed by both
to be vitality important. Our coTespOn-
dence of last summer and autumn (began
by himselD shows that I was able to for
give him my particular share of the injury
he had done to the liberties of the cOun-
try, and he had NY sincere good wishes for
his future health and welfare. His pOliti-
cal attitude towards the Buchanan Admin
istration previous to his appointment as
Attorney General is wholly misunderstood
Or else wilfully misrepresented. He was
fully with Us at every stage Of the
Kansas question, and no man felt more
| lOathing contempt than he did for the
knavery OF the abolitionists in refusing to
vote upon the Lecompton Constitution,
when nothing but vote was needed to
expel slavery from the new State, and thus
| terminate the Dispute by deciding it in
the way which they themselves pretended
| to wish. He wholly denied Mr. Douglass
/
unreasonable and mischievous schism which
he had created in the party. The know
nOthingism Of Bell and Everett found no
| favor in his eyes. In the canvass of 1860
he regarded the salvation of the country as
| hanging upon the fOrlorn hope Of Brock
| inridge's election. We knew the Aboii
tionists to be the avowed enemies OF the
Constitution and the Union, and We
thought the Republicans would necessarily
be corrupted by their alliance with them.
AS we saw the march of these combined
forces upon the capital we felt that the
constitutional liberties of the country w re
IN as much peril as Rome was when The
Gauls were pouring over the broken de-
fences Of the city. Whether were
right or wrong is not the question now
It is enough TO say that Mr.. Stanton shared
these apprehensions fully. He more than
shared them to some extent he inspired
them for he knew Mr.. Lincoln personally
and the account he gave of him was any
thing but favorable.
The 9th of November came, and Mr..
Lincoln was legally chosen President of
the electoral machinery of the Constitution,
though the majority of The popular vote
was against him by more than a million
The question was now to be tested by
! actual experiment whether party which
existed only in one section and which was
organized on the sole principle of hostility
to the rights, interests, and feelings, of
the other. could or would administer the
Federal Government in righteous spirit
of Justice, or whether the predictions of
all our great statesmen for thirty years
must be verified that the Abolitionists, |
when they got into power, would disre-
gard their sworn duty TO the Constitution, |
break down the judicial authorities, and
claim obedience to their own mere viii as
q 'higher law than the law of the land
The danger WIS greatly aggravated by the
criminal misconduct of large bodies in the
South, and particularly in South Carolina,
where preparations were openly made for
resistance. What YVES the Federal Execu-
tive TO do under these circumstances p
Make war? He had neither authority nor
means to do that, and Congress would not
give him the one or The other. Should he
compromise the dispute He could offer
no terms and make no pledges which
would not be repudiated by the new Ad-
ministratlon. Gould he mediate be-
tween the parties ? Both would refuse
his umpirage, for both were as hostile to
him a6 they were to one another. Never,
theless, he was bound to do them the
best service he could in spite of their
| teeth; and that service consisted in pre-
serving the peace Of the nation. It was
his special and most imperative duty not
to embroil the incoming Administration
by civil war which his successor might be
unwilling to approve or prosecute. It was
undoubtedly right to leave the President
elect and his advisers in situation where
they could take their choice between COM
promising and fighting. In fact, Mr. Lin
coin was in favor of the former, if his in
augural be any sign of his sentiments.
| The mind of no man was more deeply
imbued with these opinions than Mr.. Stan
tons. The idea never entered his head
| fcertainiv never CaSSe6 his 1iOsl that the
President ought to make war upon States,
or put the whole people out of the protec-
ton of the laws, and expose them all to
indiscriminate slaughter as public enemies
because some individuals among them had
done or threatened to DO what was incon-
sistent with their obligations to the United
States. He knew very well that no such