American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1881-09-10
The Early bays OF Secession.

| Considerable surprise and not a little
annoyance are manifested by Repub-
lican newspapers Mt the statement OF
Judge Bla k. recently made public, in
reference to the attitude of cX-PreSi-
dent Buchanan and his Cabinet toward
the secession movement during the
period intervening between the me ting
of Congress in December, 1870, and the
18th of March, 1861. These journals
| have been SO accustomed to misconstrue
| the motives of the deceased eX-PreSi-
dent and so assiduousv engaged in
misrepresentin1 the views and actions
of his Administration in regard to the
incipient rebellion that they are as
founded to find that their distorted and
malignant accounts of what occurred in
the sessions of the Cabinet during that
| event ul period are utterly without
foundation in fact. Judge SLACK was
member of the Buchanan Cabinet dur
ing all that time and is therefore one of
| the few men yet living, if not the only
one, who is a competent historian of
the views and acts OF the Buchanan Adj
ministration during the last three
months. of its existence. Ex-Governor
Philip Francis Thomas, OF Mary land.
was associated with Judge Black in the
| Cabinet as Secretary OF the Treasury
after the resignation of Howell Cobb.
and his recollection of what TRANSFERRED
in the Cabinet meetings while he was a
member of the Admin IstratiOn is also
entitled to belief. He has just added
| his testimony to that of Judge Black
and SO far as it goes it corrObOrateS the
statement of the latter in every partic-
| ular.
The marrow of Judge Blacks state
ment consists in his assertion that he
| favored the reinforcement of Fort Sum-
| ter from the beginning. that Floyd. the
Secretary of War, failed to carry out
the understanding of the President and
| Cabinet to that effect, and that after
| the reconstruction of the Cabinet with
| Stanton and Holt as members, General
Scott failed to send the necessary REIN
forcements. Judge Black was so en-
| phatic in his expression of the opinion
that Sumter should be reinforced that
during the discussion OF the subject in
Cabinet meeting he declared that
"there never was time in the history
of the English Nation when a Cabinet
officer could propose to give up fort
capable of being defended without
being brought to the block" EX-Gov-
ernor Thomas states that he was present
when these impressive words were
spoken, and also declares that Judge
Black used every effort to dissuade JEFF
ferson Davis and other secession leaders
from the course they had chosen to
pursue. So far therefore, as Judge
Blacks position on the subject of Sc
cession is in question, and, indeed, SO
far as the attitude OF the Buchanan Ad-
mnistration toward the proposed rein
fOrcement of Fort Sumter is concerned,
the allegations of Judge Black must be
regarded as proved.
That (,anara1 Scott dacirpd avoid
the necess ty OF sending re nfOreements
to Sumter is not at all incredl BILE. Nor
is the statement that he endeavOred to
evade the responsibility in that regard
to be taken as reile ction upon his
patriotism, when considered in the light
of all the circumstances by which he
was surrounded. Until the overt act
of war was committe bv the Secession
lists in firing on Sumter there was
strong hope of peaceful solution of
the difficulties which threatened the in
tegrity of the Union. At the very time
when General Scott was expected to
send troops to the relief of Major An
derson the Peace Commission was in |
session at Washington and Congress
was busily engaged in considering the |
"Crittenden Compromise" as basis |
for the settlement of the slavery ques- |
ton. 1t was almost a universal belief |
then that ii war came final dissOlu- |
ton of the Union would certainly fol- |
low. Stephen A. Douglas, in the United |
States Senate, voiced the general senti-
ment when, in the course OF debate on
the Crittenden resolutions, he gave ut
terance to the memorable words: '.War
is d.sunion, certain and inevita
BILE, final and irrevOcable." General
Scott no doubt was influenced by the
prevailing opinion that war would be
the certain precursor of disuniOn. Be-
sides, his political association with the
ultra free-soiers" of the Greeley and
Sumner school, who openly encouraged
secession in order that slavery might
be taken out Of the Union, unquestion-
ably inclined him against armed coer-
cion of the incipient Instruction. His
famous expression in regard to the Sc
ceding States, LET the wavward Sis
tiers depart in peace proves that dur
ing the early days of secession he pre-
ferred peace without slavery to Union
restored by military conquest. But
when war did come, when the whole
country was hurled by the passion of
the time into an irreconcilable conflict,
he proved his fidelity to the cause of
the Union and died as he had lived, a
true soldier and patriot. Harrisburg
pa Patriot.