Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-17

| TO retreat before the uSurpatlOnS Of seced-
ing States, and that powerful govern
ment might be quietly oYerthrOWn
| without striking one blow of resist
ance or uttering one word eff protest.
| Gen. Cass was the first Of the Cabinet TO
feel the pressure of loyalty from the
North. The venerable Secretary of State.
whose whole life had been one of patriotic
devotion to his country, suddenly realized
that he was in false position. When it
became known that the President would
| not insist upon the collection of the ma
| tional revenue in South Carolina. or upon
the Strengthening OF the United States
forts in the harbor Of Charleston, Gen.
Cass concluded that justice to his own
| reputation required him to separate from
| the administration. He resigned on the
18th of December, nine days after Mr..
| buchanan had sent his fatal message to
| Congress.
The change of position on the part Of
Mr.. Buchanan was not left to inference.
! or to personal assurance of the loyal men
| who composed his reorganized Cabinet.
He announced 1t himself in a special mes
! sage TO Congress on January s, 1861. The
| tone was so different from the message of
! December that it did not seem possible
that the two could have been written by
the same man. 1t was evident from many
IlcbS116
| was trying to reconcile it with the first
This was the natural course suggested by
the pride of one who OVerrated the virtue
OF consistency. The attempt was useless.
The North, with unaffected satisfaction
the South, with uncOncealed Indignation.
realized that the President had entirely
escaped from the influences which dictated
the first message. He now asserted that.
''aS the Chief Executive under the con-
Il
no alternative but "tO collect the public
revenues and to protect the public prop
erty so far as this might be practicable
under existing laws" Remarking that
his province was to execute. and not TO
make the laws" he threw upon Congress
the duty "Of enlarging their provisions to
meet eXlgencies as they may occur" He
declared 1T as his own conviction that
''the right and duty to use military force
defensiyely against those who resist the
Federal officers i'll the execution of their
legal functions, and against those who
assall the property of the Federal Govern
ment, are clear and undeniable." Con-
cedlng so much, the mild denial which the
President reasserted of "the right to make
aggressive war upon any State" may be
charitably tolerated; for, under the de-
fensive power which he so broadly ap-
proved, the whole force of national
authority could be used against a State
aggressively bent upon secession.
The President did not fail to fortify his
own position at every point with great
force. The situation had become so seri-
Gus, and had assumed such vast and
alarming proportions, as to place the sub
ject entirely above and beyond executive
control" He therefore commended e'the
question, in all its various bearings, to
Congress. as the only tribunal possessing
the power to meet the existing eXigency''
He reminded Congress that ''tO them be-
longs exclusively the power to declare
war, or to authorize the employment of
military force in all cases contemplated
by the constitution" Not abandoning
the nope Of an amicable adjustment the
President pertinently informed Con-
gress that ''they alone possess the
power to remove grievances which
might lead to war, and to secure peace
and union..' AS a basis of settlement, he
recommended a formal compromise by
which "the North shall have the eXclu-
siYe control of the territory above a GER
tain line, and Southern institutions shall
have protection below that line" This
plan, he believed, "ought to receive uni
Versal appreciation" He maintained
that on Congress, and son Congress alone.
rests the espOnsibility." AS Congress
weuld certainly in few days be under
the control of the Republicans in both
branches-by the withdrawal of Senators
and Representatives from the seeding
States-Mr. Buchanan's argument had a
double force. Not only was he Yindicat-
ing the position of the executive and
throwing the weight of responsibility on
the legislative department of the govern
ment, but he was protecting the position
of the Democratic party by saving, in
effect, that the President chosen by that
party stood ready to approve and to
l1x A.
government and the safety of the Union
which Republican Congress might
enact.
A certain significance attached to the
date which the President had selected for
communicating his message to Congress.
1t was the Sth day Of January, the ami
VersarY of the battle of New Orleans, Gel
ebrated that year with enthusiastic de-
mOnstratiOn in honor of the memory of
Andrew Jackson, who had on a memora-
bic occasion not unlike the present, sworn
an emphatic oath that ''the Fedral Union
must and shall be preserved" There was
also marked satisfaction throughout the
loyal States with Mr.. Buchanan's assur-
ance of the peace Of the District of Co
lumbia on the ensuing 4th of March, on
the occasion of Mr.. LincOln's Inaugural
tiOn. He did not himself ''share in the
serious apprehensiOns that were enter
tanned OF disturbance" on that occasion,
but he made this declaration, which was
received in the North with hearty ap-
plause: SIN any event, it will be my duty
to preserve the peace, and this duty shall
be performed"
The change of sentiment toward Mr.
Buchanan after the delivery of the special
message, was as marked in the North as
as it was in the South, though in the op-
pOsite direction. 1t would not be true to
say than anything like popularity attend
ed the President IN his new position; but
the change of feeling was so great that
the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the
23d of January, 1861, adopted resolutions
in which they declared that they regarded
''with unmingled satisfaction the determi-
nation evinced in the recent firm and pat
riOtic special message of the President of
the United States to amply and faithfully
discharge his constitutional duty of en-
forcing the laws and preserving the in
tegrity of the Union" The Legislature
'prOffered to the President, through the
Governor of the Commonwealth, such aid
in men and money as he may require to
maintain the authority of the National
Government" These resolutions were
forwarded to Mr.. Buchanan by Governor
Andrew. They were only one of many
manifestations which the President re-