The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-07-29

the Convention which framed the Constitution.
1t was equally plain however. In the Judgment
OF Mr.. Buchanan. that the Executive was
clothed with the authority to compel the 10.
divldual citizens Of every State 10 comply with
tho revenue regulations and other Federal
laws. and to acknowledge tho jurisdiction Of
the Federal courts.
Now. curiously enough. the promoters Of a..
cossion and tho Republican party. although
from precisely opposite motives. insisted that
tho line TINS drawn By Mr.. Buchanan was a
distinction without difference. Mr. Jefferson
Davis. for example. severely criticised this por-
ton Of the message on tho ground that tho
people OF State arc the State and that to use
q military force to execute the laws OF tho
United States upon individuals. within the
limits OF State that has seeded from
the Union. 10 to make war upon the
State. We can readily conceive how
distastsful TO Mr.. Davis and the other South
ern leaders who were contemplating tho forma-
tlon OF . Southern Confedsracy must have been
4 doctrine which, by preserving to the old
Union the right to levy customs dues. would cut
of tho new Government from principal source
OF revenue. On the other hand. the discriminn-
ton made by tho outgoing President seemed
delusive and even treacherous to most Repub-
licnn politicians perhaps to all who were not
foolish TO expect that an Executive which
firmly denied the right to coorce 4 So
coded State In its collective character could
be trusted to enforce the laws Of the United
States upon the citizcns OF such State in their
individual capacity Tho iniereice was not
unnatural. but whether It was actually justified
Ia a question to be determined by candid ex.
animation OF dates and facts; and We do
not hesitate to say that Mr.. Curtis
has succeeded in establishing q triumph.
ant negative. It Is not the less o strik-
Ing instance OF the irony OF fortune
that Mr.. Buchanan. who at this crisis seems to
have been animated by tho earnest desire to
allay sectional hostility and TO qualify himself
for tho role OF peacemaker by Strengthening
his influence over both North and South should
havo been mpslled by his judgment and con-
science to utter opinions which at the moment
very few mon understood. and which led both
sections Of the country to regard him with
suspicion and luminosity. Nor will the painful
isolation OF his position appear less striking
when We consider that tho very distinction
between coercing State and coercing indi-
viduals. which at first was greeted with de-
rsiOn. was virtually adopted by the adminlstra-
ton OF his successor. and became tho prin-
cple upon which. Notwithstanding two or three
departures the war was prosecuted. and upon
WHICH, 80 Tar as the p0lcy upneld Dy Pre6ldent
Johnson cnn DO held to have prevailed the re-
appearance OF tho seeded States within the
Union and the resumption OF their constitu-
tional rights may be said to have been effected.
1t will doubtless be maintained by some stu.
dents Of tho history OF the time. as 1t was cer-
tainly believed by many Of the keenest contem-
porary observers. that In the mutual temper Of
tho North and South after Mr. Lincoln's cleo
ton all attempts at compromise were futile.
and that 1t wns therefore grave mis-
fortune for tho Union cause that Mr..
Buchanan could not have Immediately
given place to his successor. Others may think
as did Mr.. Crittenden. and not . few conserva-
tive mon In both sections Of the country. that
in the four months which interviewed between
November. 1860. and March. 1881, the breach
between the North and South might and ought
to hAve been closed and the civil war averted.
Whether this belief were we'll founded or not.
Mr.. Curtis has made It absolutely certain that
Mr.. Buchanan cherished IL. and that all his
acts during the svsntful epoch mentioned
were dotated by ~ patriotic resolve at once TO
save the Union and avoid q fratricidal contest
We have thus far Hdverted only to the main
dnmenAl principles and mottvss. In another
the minor and more or less circumetantial ac-
cusations which were ut one time current
against the subject Of this valuable biography.
Ii