Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-06-07

SIMON CAMERoN's REcoLLEcTIoNS OF MEN AND |
EyENTS

'ihVN 'AAA"oN hhooLLh' iioN' Vi MEN AM
Ais'
The New York Times nrints a long and
enterta;n;no ;n,erv;ew with that veteran
-.
Puoiic man. SIMON cameron from winch We
make some interesting extracts. As might
be expected, Mr.. Cameron celebrates himself
l.-,.,,, In, .ho ;,,o,,;, :; Mama Tho loss
" -,
livery reauins On tna' account. Aiter ue'a'i-
ing many interesting events of his early life
and voutbfnl strpcgles Mr. Cameron said
"a, 81 h,, h,o o;,,oa
"' a'''' "aa '''n "PPn
secretary oil Var ny PRESIDENT Lincoln the
war broke out, and from nv intimate ac
oua;ntancc and (reouent conversation with
NJ nj; -. - S..ho S,,,,o
MI '"''s anu o'"e' 'ou'ne'' ''sn"'o''
was convinced that the struggle was to be
long and determined one. Neither Presi-
dent Lincoln nor Mr.. Seward shared that
op.nion, however. If | am not greatly mis-
taken, they both thought that the disturb
ance,' as the rebellion was at first called,
would soon blow over. Nearly nil the peo-
pie were of the same opinion. Indeed, it
was almost impossible to find a man who had
any intelligent idea of the magnitude of the
struggle which was then begun. Oh, it was
a terrible time" Gen. Cameron continued,
with increasing warmth and earnestness, "a
terrible time. We were entirely unprepared
for such conflict, and for the moment a. least,
absolutely without even the simplest instru-
lnents with which to engage in war. We
had no guns, and even if we had, they would
have been of but little use, for VIC had no
ammunition to put in them-no powder, no
saltpetre, no bullets, no anything that was
needed. did the best | could under the
circumstances, working day and night, to be
ready for the great fights which knew must
come But still there were very few per-
sons who believed that the war would last
for more than few weeks, or months Mt the
most. chung to my original opinion, how
to nut down the rebellion. People laughed
at me, thought was mad. Even Mr.. Sew
ard, keen-witted and far-slghted as he was,
still believed that the trouble was to be
SHORTENED, and mentioned I5,OOO men as IN
army sufficient for all the needs OF the ma
ton. After time, however, both he and
the leading members OF congress began to
see their error, and the Government was
gwen authority to raise ooo'ooO men, the
number Whichil at inst suggested.
As the struggle progressed, continued
MIR. Cameron, 1.-The War Department became
more and more distasteiul to ME. Indeed,
my position was most dlsagreeablc one. AT
first having no means at my command; then
be long and bloody one; and all the time
no roSsad hv ptrnntorl and others W hO
bent on making all they could out OF the cri-
sis, was certainly not In place to be en-
wed. Still held on. dong what could,
until, sincerely believing that 1t would be
for the best, | recommended that the negroes
OF the South be armed and employed In the
service OF the Union. That idea was trl1e
too advanced Tor the time, and the end oil 1t
was that | went out OF the Cabinet.
SECRET EFFORT TO isfkAch PRESIDENT LIN
ooLS.
"But you did not retire into private life ?"
| asked. "No, no" Mr.. Cameron replied.
"SOon after the occurrence have related to
you, | was appointed Minister to Russia, and
| spent some months in St. Petersburg. |
was not satisfied there, however: nearly ev-
cry day heard OF some misfortune which
had heiallen our army. and at last, more
alarmed than cared to admit to even my
most intimate friends. determined to return
home. ! reached Washington toward the
close OF lS62, and found that was not
mistaken in the belief that it would
require extraordinary effort to get us
out of our difficulty. And Just here.
continued MIR. Cameron, 81 will tell
you OF secret effort which was made
to unseat President Lincoln, an effort
which was even then known to but lew peo-
pie. 1t was shortly alter ! came back to
America, he went on. " and while l was
resting at my home IN pennsylvania, that l
received from number oil most prominent
gentlemen an invitation to visit ashington
and attend consultation which was to DO
held IN regard to national affairs. after
ward discovered that this invitation was ex-
tended to me because 1t was believed that my
somewhat unpleasant exit from the War
Department had rendered me hostile to Mr.
Lincoln and his Administration. Knowing
A.. Al Al Id Al