Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-23
STANTON.
Secretary StantOn's Political PO-
sitiOn in 1860.
"reminiscences of the Close of
Buchanan's Administration.
The Hon. Jere. Blacks Gard to
the Public.

newspaper writer's have revived the scar
dalous accounts which began to be props
gated, think, in 1862, concerning his cor
duct while member of Mr.. Buchanan
cabinet. 1t is asserted that he came int
mat administration with views entirely or
posed to those of the President and tn
men who were to be his colleagues, all @
whom, except Messrs Holt and Dix, wer
IN favor OF the Southern Confectionery ant
ready to sacrifice the Union; that support
ed by these two he bullied the rest that b,
terrified the President by threats of resig
natlon into measures which otherwis,
would not have been thought of; that h,
urged immediate war upon the secedine
States to crush out the rebellion thai
though defeated in this by the treason O
ms associates, he carried with high hand
other points of sound policy; that BY these
hardy displays of hostility to the admins
tratlon which trusted him he promoted
the interests and won the gratitude of its
enemies.
ms Is the substance expressed in nv
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
are not only false, but they must be iniuri-
GUS to MIR. Stanton's reputation; and thew
are grossly unjust to others, dead as well
| as living.
am not the special defender of Mr..
stanton and certainly would not assaiI
him: Before he fell away from the Demo-
cratic faith our friendship was intimate and
close. There was no separation afterwards.
except the separation which is inevitable
between two persons who differ widely on
public subjects believed by both to be vital
ly important. Our correspondence of last
summer and autumn began by himself
shows that was able to forgive him nv
particular share of the injury he had done
to the liberties of the country, and he had
my sincere good wishes for his future
health and welfare. His political attitude
towards the Buchanan administration pre-
ylous 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 loathinp
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 dis
pute by deciding it in the way which they
themselves pretended to wish. He wholly
denied Mr.. Douglas notions, and blamed
him severely for the unreasonable and
and mischievOus schism which he had
created in the party. The Know Nothing
ism Of Bell and Everett found no favor in
his eyes. In the canvass of 1860 he re-
garded the salvation of the country as
hanging upon the fOrlorn hope of Breckin-
ridges election. We knew the abolition
lists to be the avowed enemies of the Con-
stitUtion and the Union, and we thought
the Republicans would necessarily be cor
rupted by their alliance with them. As we
saw the march of these combined forces
upon the capital we felt that the constitu-
tional liberties of the country were in as
much peril as Rome was when the Gauls
were pouring over the broken defenses of
the city. Whether we we're right or wrong
is not the question now. 1t is enough to
say that Mr. Stanton shared these appre-
tensions 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 anything
but favorable.
The 9th of November came, and Mr..
Lincoln was legally chosen President by
the electoral machinery of the Constitution,
though the majority of the popular vote
was against him by more than million.
The question was now to be tested by &C
tual experiment whether a party which ex-
listed 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 Fed
eral Government in a righteous spirit of |
justice, or whether the predictions of all |
our great statesmen for thirty years must |
be verified that the AbolitOnists when they |
got into power would disregard their sworn |
duty to the Constitution, break down the |
Judicial authorities, and claim obedience to |
their own mere VIII as ''higher law than /
the law of the land. The danger was |
greatly aggravated by the criminal miscon-
dHct of large bodies in the South, and par
tcularly in South Carolina, where prepare
tons were openly made for resistance.
What was the Federal Executive to do
under these circumstances Make war i?
He had neither authority nor means to
do that, and Congress would not give him
the one or the other. Should he compro-
mise the dispute He could offer no terms
and make no pledges which would not be
by the new administration.
Could he mediate between the parties?
Both would refuse his umpirage, for both
were as hostile to him as they were to one
another. Nevertheless he was bound to
do them the best service he could in spite
of their teeth; and that service consisted in
the peace of the nation. 1t was
right to leave the President
elect and his advisers in a 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
nugural be any sign of his sentiment
The mind of no man was more deeply
lmbued with these opinions than Mr. Stan
toms The idea never entered his head
never passed his lips-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 in
slaughter as public enemies
because some individuals among them had
lone or threatened to do what was incon-
sistent with their obligations to the United
States. He knew very well that no such
hing was either legally or physically pos
sible. Gen. Scott had reported officially
hat five companies constituted the whole |
available force which could be sent to the |
South for any purpose offensive or defen-
i've. Is it possible that Mr.. Stanton |
would have undertaken to conquer the |
south with half a regiment? He was |
thoroughly convinced that a war at that
ime of that kind and under those circunl-
tances would not only ''fre the Southern |
leart, but give to the secessionists the
of all the world and ultimately
insure their success, while it could not help !
,ut cripple, disgrace and ruin the cause Of
he Union. Nor did he feel pleasure in the
of any civil war between the
wo sections of his country. From the
tandpoint which he then occupied he said
hat war was disunion; it was blood, con- )
lagration, terror and tears, public debt
nd general corruption of morals, all end
ng at best not in the union of the States, |
ut in the subjugation of some to the des-
otic will of the others. He was apt to
axe a sombre view of things, and he looked \
t the dark side of this subject The glory,
roft and plumber, the political distinc. :
ion and pride Of power which brighten it
ow, were not included in his prospective
urvey.
On the goth Of November answered the I
residents questions concerning his legal
overs and duties, holding that the ordi- 4
ances of secession were mere nullities v
hat the seeding States were and would {
e as much in the Union as ever; that the n
'ederal Executive was bound there as well y
S elsewhere to execute the laws, to hold
be public property and to collect the reve-
ne; that if the means and machinery
FINISHED by law for these purposes were S
Inadequate he could not adopt others and S
surp powers which had not been dele 3,
ated; that neither the executive nor legis- n
tive departments had authority under the !,