Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-09-10
people may know the exact attitude of my

MY mistake"
"'How shall il be done--by proclama
| tiou or in the message to Congress |'
asked the president.
I" Iu the message" was my response.
! spoke, perhaps, without proper reflection
| bat Congress was soon to convene and the
message was being prepared. A grave
| question was to be dealt with and grave
crisis to be met Therefore my first i'm
preston was that IL would be moro digni.
fed to deal with it in the message aud 50
| answered. IL had said by procama-
ton he would have undoubtedly said,
| Write it : or. IL he had written 1t him
self the result would have been the same.
A ringing document from tho first line to
the last would have been prepared, as was
| dono in the Utah case. IL need not have
been half column long. Such paper
could and would have stated conclusions SO
powerfully as possibly to have stayed the
madness Of secession, then in its infancy.
| do not say that IL would have altered
the course of the leaders, but 1t might
havc had a striking effect upon their con.
stituency. The people then would not
have pushed nor even followed them. |
did not discover the breadth of my mis-
take until it was too late. When | said
In the message had not weighed tho
powerful Influence that was TO surround
Mr.. Buchanan for the balance Of his term.
do not mean TO say that the influence
was strong enough to alter his views upon
secession or temper his fidelity 70 the
Union, for ho was as honest patriot aS
ever lived. But the Sscessionsts were
ever able and alert. They lost no oppor.
tunity to ply the president with their
seditious arts, and when he came 10 write
that feature of the message which dealt
with the Southern question they had pos
Sesscd him with the idea that he should
| argue questions that had been settled
since the foundation of the government,
| instead Of stating conclusions that the
humblest might have read and understood.
Sound though his arguments were, they
were liable TO miScpnStrucGon, and the
force of his views was lost, as hually pre-.
sentch iu the message.
They became 4 two edged sword, that
cut deepest in the wrong direction. It was
serious misplay of judgment, both on
his part and mine. was not responsible
| for his final action for did my best TO
induce him to prououucs Judgment upon
| the heresy of secession rather than I'll. his
state paper with profound arguments
which the people w0uld not read nor ap
preciate. was at fault, however, for
not taking the bull by the horns BY
advising proclamation. Such docu-
ment would have reached the people, who
nowhere at that time favored secession.
The message reached only an unwilling
Congress and those who had already deter
mined upon ebollion. It was an error Of
Judgment rather than of heart but | do
uot plead that 10 staY OF execution. The
administration should have reached the
American people through 4 single blast on
the Threshold of danger, that would have
awakened them 70 the por,ls 81 the hour
ard strengthened the arm OF the govern
meat in its pending struggle with both
the AbOltiOnists and the SeccSSiOnists.
But then,
The scales are rarely self adjusted
when self the wIyeTing balance shakes
Perhaps most men would have done
Just what was done in this instance for
the SecessiOnists had not then shown their
hands, and began hedging the president
about with their iusldiuus plottings.
When they began, what they could not DO
by direction they were willing 20 do by
indirection, and NJ Davis was leading
actor in this game. He even assumed -
speak for South Carolina in her attempt 10
negotiate with the president about the
| forts in Charleston hGroOr. By his Owu
10 hand over the government property in
| the South TO the men who had then stolen
| the best part of it, and were cOuspiriug
TO destroy the government, aud even then
were openly and shameesSly defyiug
+ its authority. This patriot pledged his
life as a ransom for the care and pTeseTva
ton of the portable property in the forts
| OF Charleston harbor provided the prosi
dent would yield to the demand Of the
SecessiOniSts and turn this property over
| 70 them. It WAS the most impudeut prop
| oSitiOu ever made by mortal mal, to ask
the executive of nation to yield up post
| capable Of defence 10 the enemies O the
government no represented. Once in oabi-
net meeting | said that there had never
been period in the history Of the Eng
lish nation when any minister could
propose 70 give up % an enemy Of hs
government military post which was
capable of being defended without being
brought to the block. This was exactly
what Mr.. Davis solicited the president to
do while he was a senator of tho United
States. Yet he now, as then, pleads his
cunning words in stay of judgment and to
prove his peaceful intentions They will
not stand to his credit when contrastcd
with his acts"
AFTER found that the president was
convinced that it was his duty to argue
these questions in the message tried to
recover lost ground. So, when he called
upon me for my legal opinion upon this
subject, tried to prepare such paper as
should have been issued as the proclama
tiOn. When the president saw it he found
that its term were entirely too strong fOI
him. He did not dissent from my con
clusions, but he said II he followed them
he 1t would increase the bitterness DO
tween the factions. recall an expression
he made while discussing IL, and it Illus.
trates his position exactly. Idesre' said
he, to stand between the factions like q
daysman, with my hand on the head Of eacl
counselling peace We had our first rea
difference over this paper. He took Il
and ms sted upon a formal legal opinion
upon the right Of secession. Thus failed
to impress upon his state paper OF tha
year the strong yiewsl knew he entertain
cd on the subject of secession, but hesita
ted to express for tear of further arousiul
the temper of both factions, who sa
growing and ready to spring at eacl
others throat.
Against Slavery.
You speak of the Abolitionists and Sc
cessionists in one BREATH"
"Yes, they were both alike. Neithe
had any respect for the constitution wheI
1t stood in the way of their schemes Ga,
proclaimed 1t league with death and
covenant with hell and the other as grossl
insulted the fundamental law of the lant
by asserting the right of secession. | 70
| ,,a.o tho constitution and "A -