Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-09-17
PRESIDENT sucHsNAs,s LOYALTY.

of .disloyalty to rest upon him, 1t musf
now be fully admitted that his vindioati' IN
| is complete. But the recent attempt. Of
Judge Holt to place Buchanan in the same
favorable light which now invests Judge
Black, must be regarded as weu.mesnt
act of generosity, but none the less a con-
spicuous failure. We reproduce the best
Point in Judge Hollis defense of Buchanan
| in the following extract: 1t would take
.some better evidence than the word of
"Jef. Davis or any other testimony have
"to convince me that Mr. Buchanan had
ssany sort of understanding with the rebels
upon that subject. Mr.. Buchanan was
eminently man Of peace. He abhorred
"the thought of war during his Presi-
adential term, and was doubtless willing
"to do whatever he could to pre-
"serve the peace within the range of his
"duty under the Constitution and laws
'sof the United States; but I should
"deny emphatically that he ever had any
understanding with the Southern people
which would prevent him FROM carrying
"out the expressed and well.known policy
8" of his Administration, to refrain from
"hostile acts, if possible, but to defend the
"Southern forts to the last extremity if
"they were assailed. have often thought
"while looking back over that stormy
period that Mr.. Buchanan acted most
" wisely and judiciously in his treatment
"of the Southern question"
It is one thing to say that Buchanan's
treatment of the case resulted fortunately,
and quite another to assume that its &C.
cidental good result was an evidence of
patriotic intention and motive. The policy
of Buchanan was just such as was most
heartily approved at the South. He re-
fused to reinforce the Government fortifi-
cations in Charleston harbor. He permitted
Sumter to be invested by batteries built
under the muzzles of its silent guns, with
which that stronghold was easily reduced.
He knew that hostile works were being
erected, and well knew the purpose of their
erection. The mistake of Buchanan was
that he lived in times demanding heroic
action without perceiving his opportunity
to become the hero of the hour. The life
of the nation was imperiled by trea-
son and rebellion. With reasonable
indecision he weighed the legal technical
tiles in the way of asserting the right of
the nation to live by resisting the assassins
who held the knife at her throat. Patriot
ism asserted the existence in the Constitu-
ton of the right of national self. defense
treason denied the existence of any such
constitutional right. Buchanan agreed
with treason. Patriotism asserted the
right to coerce State in the enforcement
of national unity; treason denied that
right, and Buchanan, fe-long apostle
of the doctrine of State rights,
agreed with treason. The question
of the time was, "Would the peo-
"ple find authority in the Constitution
" to preserve the Union of the States by
" force of arms, and Patriotism found it
| in the great reserved and natural right of
self-defense ; treason chung to the letter of
the text and 1.-the Resolutions of 9S,"
With treason Buchanan searched for the
subtle technicalities Of legal construction
lest Patriotism should offend against meta
| physical deduction. In the interview by
which Judge Holt has sought to place
President Buchanan in new light, he was
asked, "Was Mr.. Buchanan weak man ?"
To this he replied "By no means. In
tellectually he was very strong. Mr..
Buchanan was getting old before he be-
"came President He understood very
"well that war during his Administra-
" ton meant ruin to the Union, and he was
therefore exceedingly anxious to avertit.
" No man can tell the trials and struggles
"Mr. Buchanan had after Mr. Lincoln
'twas elected and before he was inaugu-
Grated President. The Secessionists were
latter him constantly. AS we went in
1--WE would find them coming out, and as
"we went out we would find them going in.
"They were persistent with and at times
"almost bullied the President In the
morning ofttimes you could see traces of
"the suffering he had endured during the
might. He naturally felt that he owed
"those people some consideration. They
"were his political friends, and to them he
twas indebted for the exalted position he
"held, and he struggled to keep them sat-
"isfied and quiet as well as he might with
tout abating his fidelity to the Union. It
"was trying place and perplexing times.
"No man before or since has been sur.
Grounded by such chaos of conflicting
demands and purposes as Mr.. Buchanan.
No one has attempted to deny the pres
ence of great crisis at the close of Mr..
Buchanan's administration or to belittle
the difficulties which beset him. But
it was a crisis which could be
met only by taking a firm, unequivocal
stand on the side of national life and unity,
and the difficulties were multiplied thou
sand fold by giving audience to the i'm
portunities of treason. President Bu-
chanan was captain of the ship in the ap-
proach of great storm, and it isnow sought
to excuse his INDIGESTION by representing him
as listening to the opportunities of repre-
sentatives and advocates of the
storm. He had asked Judge Black,
his Attorney General, whether he
had a legal right to save the
national craft from sinking, and that officer
had replied "The Union is necessarily
perpetual. No State can lawfully with
draw or be expelled from it. The Fed
81 eral Constitution is as much part of the
Constitution of every State as if it had
"been textualfy inserted therein. The