Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-02-01


this hmons controversy. II needs n,
review; the truth is as manifest a
The sunlight, and benceforth no man
not oven the most mendacious an,
"loyaP will ever deny It. We pro
pose merely TO offer few hints iha
may be improved upon at another
time
Who in Mr.. Buchanan's cabine
were loyal in the just and honest sens,
OF that abused word-that is, wht
were for yielding to sustain the gov
ernment against their designs? =? Suro
" nls Stanton, for he told the soces
sioAfe;s that he was with them, ans
the abolitionists that he was Will
them, at the very moment that b,
was in Democratic cabinet and pro
Tossing to be a devoted union man
He could be loyal TO nobody and moth
ing. With the proof lying in over
whelming abundance on the table be
fore us, we aver that Judge Black
the maligned, prescribed, long-silen
Judge Black-was the ever faithful
and vigilant leader of the union squaC
in that Cabinet at the beginning of.tht
troubles, and the leader of the whole
Cabinet, as he was its official head
through the last weeks Of that gloomy
period. And this man, he to whom
belongs of right all the glory of that
memorable strugglc--hc who drove
Floyd out Of the Cabinet, and dragged
Stanton by the ears into it to give his
patron "two votes instead of one !" he
who refused to 60 out with Cass
when Cass asked him TO 90, because
he thought his duty required him to
retfiain at bis post, and save what he
could he who suggested Holt for the
War Department and got him there
with great difficulty; he who stood
by Major Anderson as the last hope OF
the cause he who strove day by day
TO kindle a spark of fire in the dry
brain and the drier heart of old Scott;
be who modified the Presidents mes.
sage of the Sth of January, and saved
him from fatal error in the answer
TO the South Carolina commissioners
he who was instant in season and out
of season, while Congress stood mute
and stolid, while old Scott talked about
letting the "wayward sisters depart
in peace" while Stanton foregathercd
with unionists in the MORNING, the
seccssionists at noon, ard the aboli.
tionists at night--this man, this singu.
lar man, has, through ten years OF
dreary personal defamation, chosen TO
employ all his splendid talents as a
writer and an orator in doing justice
to everybody else but himself. Why
Was it from sense of fidelity 10 Mr..
Buchanan, whom he always honored
as n pure and upright statesman 1t
may have been so, although here is n
letter from Mr. Buchanan, of March
4, 1862, in which the old differences of
opinion are fully recognized, and he
dis not nt all astonished to learn" that
Judge Black is still of the same mind.
But what are these proofs, which
shows unmistakably Judge Black
leadership in the Union in The councils
of 1850 and '6l, when the Abolitionists
were ready to DIET the Union slide"
when Congress would do nothing to
save it either by force or Cancellation,
and the President could look for no
support for his efforts to sustain the
Constitution but in the Northern Dc
mocracy2 They consist of numerous
letters from Mr.. Buchanan and va.
rious members of his cabinet; and of
many original manuscripts, some of
them in the handwriting of Judge
Black, some in tho handwriting of
Edwin NJ. Stanton, and some in the
handwriting ofa clerk. To our loyal
(ncw school friends that one in The
handwriting Of Mr., Stanton would
probaly be the most convincing. Ii
bears no date but is headed "Memo.
randum for the President on the sub
ject of the paper drawn up by him
in reply to the commissioners of South
Carolina" 1t is written on eight pages
ioolscap, and is a strong, nervous and
somewhat passionate review Of all the
points in issue between South Carolina
and the government, and on each one
Judge Blacks advice is of such
sort that every sentence would be an
everlasting fortune 10 Radical poll.
tician if he could show such thing
in his record. 1t concludes: "These
are points on which | would advise
that the paper be amended. | am
aware that they are too radical 10
permit much hope of their adoption
II they are adopted the whole paper
will need to be rccast. But there is
one thing not TO be overlooked In this
terrible crisis. entreat the Prcsi.
den. 20 ordrr tbe Brooklyn and Ma
ccdonia to Charleston without the
least delay, and, in the meantime,
send trusty messenger TO Major
Anderson TO let him know that his
will not desert him. The
rcinforccments of troops from New
York or Old Point Comfort should
follow Immediately. lfthis be done
at once, all may yet be--not we'll
butcomparatively safe. If not | can see
before us bnt disaster and
ruin to the country As said before
this paper is entirely 10 the hand wri-
ting of Edwin NJ Stanton. II is caro-
fully folded and endorsed on the out
side, in the same handwriting: cob
sorvations and corrospondenoe-Pres.
ident with South Carolina commits
sioners-by ]. s. b."
That was before Mr.. Stanton was
the 'groat secretary" and when he
was content TO be the amanuensis of
another secretary.
But Judge Black, while Attorney
General, advised the President that |
be had mo right to make war on a
State y So be did, but ho never said |
that the President had no right TO
suppress instruction and break mp
unlawful combinations OF individual
men against the laws of the Unlon.-
On the contrary, every word and line
Of his advice, public aud private, was
the reverse. In the drafl of
a message which he prepared for tho