New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-21
LEWIS CASS.
ONE OF JACKSON'S FRIENDS.
LEWIS CASS. BY Andrew G. Mclaughlin. 12mo.
pp. 1858. Houghton, Mifhn e. Co.


PIP. 1858. Houghton, Mifin & Co.
The character and career Of Lewis Cass can
only be proftably studied in connection with that
development of the Northwest with which his
name is so intimately associated. He belonged TO
that class of pioneers who to great energies and
abilities joined prejudices whose strength mar
rowed their vision, and impaired to their politics
heat and apparent acerbity which in these
cooler times apt to appear provincial. In
fact he was provincial to a certain extent, though
far more SO at the beginning than at the close
If his career. 1t never was in him TO realize the
ethical significance Of the problems OF his Time
A Democrat O friend and admiring follower
Of Andrew jackson, it is quite natural that the
ant-slavery issue should not have appea4eo 10
him otherwise than as a vexatious question winch
was if possible TO be got rid OF oy any lorm vi
compromise that might prove feasible. In phe
Northwest he had come in contact with the
British, and had learned to regard them as
grasping intriguers, ever plotting to retain then
hold of American territory, ready to employ
The Indians upon sanguinary raids and in all
WAYS hostile to the young power that was grow-'
ing up in that undeveloped region. One result
Of these experiences the creation Of an enmlty
towards England, which in later life found Gu
rious manifestations, and which rendered him
liable to the charge Of acting with undignlhed
rancor Nevertheless the strength Of this an
taQonistic feeling was not without its salutary
effects AT least it made Cass an excellent
watchdog, and if at times he may have barked
too loud, he never made the mistake of giving
altogether false alarms.
The history of his development is that of
scores of Americans who have mainly educated
themselves and who have acquired during the
process knowledge Of men and things which
has enabled them to attain prominent positions
Al. Nf hA
was made colonel of an Ohio regiment. and gave
evidence of military aptitude which might have
carried him far had ne not been swamped by the
lncapacity of General Hull, whose conduct at
Detroit so disguised the young man that on the
surrender he broke his sword He was however
not destined to earn hurels in He adopted
the law as his profession, and, usually happens
IL proved the ante-chamber of politics. He in
deed rose to the rank of General, and his services
we're appreciated by General Harrison, whom he
supported, and on whose staff he acted as aide
de-camp After the battle Of the Thames. which
secured the Northwest to the Americans, Cas- was
given the command at Detroit and the portion
of Western Canada which had been captured
Soon after the President appointed him Governor
of Michigan Territory, and here for the first
time he had full opportunity to show what was
in him. The situation was difficult one, but
lass IbCcu III lHduIuly' AhV b"ND'i'"
was the most urgent. The redskins were rest
less and excited. having tasted blooe in the cam
paigns Just closed, and though armstice had
been arranged the recently hostile tribes could
not TO be trusted without constant watching On
The other hand the white victims of Indian raids,
hundreds of whom were homeless and without
property or subsistence had to be cared for and it
soon became necessary to apply TO the General
Government for aid
Nothing observes Professor Mclaughlin, can
be said in exaggeraton of the desolate state
Of Michigan for about two years after its re-
eovery by the Americans. The French at the
River Raisin who with all their ignorance of farm
ing had had comfortable cabins, as well as fields
and orchards which supplied their humble wants
were reduced to such perjury on their return to
their farms that even very meagre food was
obtained with difficulty. They lacked the ner-
vous tension and vigor which tones up the Amer
can pioneer to resist expected danger and sur
mount difficulties Lghthearted and cheerful
in all ordinary trials their easy-gong d1spo-
stions. their unfamiliarity with the common de-
vices which necessity begets in the frontier
life of the inventive Yankee, their con-
tent with the past, and faith III
the unearned blessings of the future, kept them
penniless and breadless when keener intelligence
might have lifted them above want. The settlers
near DeUrO1U were III WOlul Dub tNtlN
seems to show that the French of the River Raisin
were more ignorant and less thrifty than the
'habtant' TO the north, and upon them had come
the extreme cruelty and destruction Of the war.
Cass worked for his hungry Territory with untir-
ing vigilance, distributing largesses from the pub
lie stores, calling upon the Government for aid,
organizing and instructing with zeal and energy.
No portion of his career is mole worthy of admira-
ton than this, when his direct enemies were
archy and hunger" 1t might indeed be said that
the eighteen years Of his Michigan experience form
the most praiseworthy part of his career and
that while he occupied wider stage, afterward,
he never surpassed the work of those days.
Hunger and distress were not the only sources
of trouble. The Indians continued to make scat
tered raids, and it necessary to give them a
lesson Cass led an attack upon them and in
ficted severe defeat Then came the end of
the war, and with it opportunity to begin other
and more enduring enterprises The French set
tlement above all had TO be Americanzed and put
in such shape that they would progress. The
whole Territory had to be opened up to settle
ment, and colonization had to be facilitated In
all these difficult undertakings General Cass sue
ceeded beyond expectation. He moreover, paid
due attention to popular education, and the school
house sprang up in virgin lands. Much promise
attached TO an act of Congress appropriating two
millions of acres in Michigan TO be distributed as
bounty TO volunteers. But for some unexplained
reason the surveyors who were charged with the
duty of running the meridian line from the An
Glaize River due north returned with so dismal
an account of the Territory could not but tend
to discourage settlement They described the in.
terror of Michigan as one vast morass "itS mo-
notony occasionally broken by sandhills without
the covering of attractive vegetation" They de-
clarcd that scarcely acre in thousand was fit
for cultivation, and accordingly the President ad-
vised Congress that the quota Of bounty lands as
signed TO Michigan might better be located in
other parts of the Northwest. This a serious
injury to the Territory, the reputation Of which
suffered from it for years. 1t a cruel SANDER
upon a rich and fertile region, and Cass "was
never entirely successful in relieving the Territory