Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-08-19
NIB. BUCHANAN'S CABINET.
Ex-seerefaTy Of the Treasury Thorn.
as RecOlfecGions OF the Fort SUM
ter ReInfoE cement Discussion.

The Philadelphia Press supplements
its interview with Judge Black with one
with Hon. Phillip Francis Thomas, of
Maryland, who was Secretary of the
Treasury during the last few months of
Mr.. Buchanans administration. The
following, from the interview with Mr..
Thomas, is of interest
my service in the Cabinet was any
thing but an agreeable part of my public
life. We were almost continually in
session during the time was at the head
of the Treasury, ready to meet any emer-
gency that might arise, and there were
grave responsibilities coming upon us
every day. While held that this gov
| ernment was a compact between the
States, and that each was sovereign, and
therefore having the right of secession,
was and still am believer in the doc.
triue of notification as expounded by
Mr.. Calhoun. l also believed that an
officer of the government had no right 10
hold his position and do any act calcula-
ted to bring discredit upon its authority,
and Judge Blacks criticism of JEFF.
Davis proposition to surrender the forts
in Charleston harbor to South Carolina
meets my entire appreciation. My posi-.
ton upon the duty of an officer can be
found in the records of the department,
where an officer of a revenue cutter ran
his vessel into Charleston harbor and
turned her over to the South Carolina
authorities and then sent in his resigna-
ton. | ordered that it should not be
accepted, and that dispensed with" be
written over his record in the depart
ment, and that he be dishonorably dis
missed the service"
'Can you call to mind the position
you took in relation to Mr. 'Buchanan's
reply to the South Carolina Commits.
siOners?"
Il cannot very distinctly. 1 doubtless
made the point that the paper denied the
right of a State having a grievance
against the government to be heard by
the Executive of the nation. / never for
a moment held that a State could be
treated with in the same manner as a
foreign power. As near as can remem-
Der there was very little said about the
paper at the time, as Mr.. Buchanan was
a very positive man and by no means
easy to influence or get along with. 1t
was no unusual thing for him to get into
a pet upon the slightest provocati0n.
"Were the Cabinet meetings of those
days harmonious7"
Naturally there was more or less
feeling displayed in the discussion of the
Southern question. Floyd at times got
boisterous. l call to mind one occasion
especially when the President chlded
both Black and Stanton for some re-
marks calculated to provoke heated dis
cusslon. Judge Black had said there
never was a 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. Floyd got very much
excited at this, and Buchanan
thought the expression an exceed
ingly barsh one, and rather
took the Judge to task for making such
positive expressions, likely to stir up dis.
sensions. Then turning to Mr.. Stanton
he called his attention to some vigorous
remarks made some days before in rela-
| ton to Southern affairs, and proceeded
to express his emphatic disapprobation
of such harsh expressions. Indeed he
spoke very sharply to- Stanton, but he
took it without reply. Mr.. Stanton had
very little to say during those days,
rather seeming to stand behind Judge
Black, who was his friend. 1t is a usual
thing to talk about Mr.. Buchanan's
weakness. When he made up his mind
he was a very stubborn man, and at
no time was he a very easy one to get
along with, He had a good opinion of
his own abilities and Judgment, and
prided himself upon his statecraft. Judge
Black could come nearer managing him
than any man ever knew. but he could
not always do It by any means. Neither
did he take his advice at all times Of
all the men in the Cabinet in those days
Judge Black was the one who never lost
his head. He was the one positive and
conservative force in that Cabinet" Mr..
Thomas added that Judge Blacks recol-
lection about the circumstances sur
rounding the Cabinet discussion about
the reinforcement of Fort Sumter en-
tirely agreed with his own.