The San Francisco call., 1904-03-03
by
Other Nations
Prevented
HiStOPV'S Record
Of0ld Time
Friendship.

-. Cnieed States Government at the crit
Heal time Of the civil War, most of
which Is an advance. Of sentiment and
personal. opinion without regard to
facts.
In a recent letter TO MARQUIS Ito.
Premier Of Japan. Henry Clews, the
3VasJ-street fnancier. wrote that Rus
. sia, gave the United States no help
during The Civil War, and that. the
. presence Of the. Russian fleet in New
york harbor in 1868 was not an indi-
a. cation Of good viii toward US Many
other writer's have. followed this lead
and made continent without taking the
-. trouble to.look' uD the facts Of the
case. which stand altogether in con-
tradictfon
n the Memoirs Of Thurlow Weed"
:. most .prominent statesman Of his
time and an intimate friend of Presi-
dent Lincoln. Mr.. Weed is authority
for a. conversation during the winter:
Of lSe3-f4 between Admiral. Farragut
and Admiral -LAssovsky. who became
. WARM friends when. as young officers,
they served. in the Mediterranean to-
getber Says Mr.. Weed:
-:sitring in. my room one day after
dinner Admiral Farragut said TO his
Russian friend:
WHY are you spending the winter
here In idleress?'
80 7. am. here. replied the Russian ad-
miral 'rnder' sealed orders, TO be
broken only in a contingency that has.
not yet occurred.
He added that other Russian war
vessels We're lying at San Francisco
with. similar orders. and admitted that
. the seals were 10 be broken on receipt
. Df news of the United States becoming
involved in war with foreign nations"
RUssIA's FIRM ATTITUDE.
M. Weed said further: Louis Ma
polecn had invited Russia, as he did
= England. to unite with him in de-
Taanding the breaking Of our blockade.
p The Russian EmbassadOr at London
Informed his Government that Eng
land was preparing for war against
the United States. and the two fleets
were sent 10 America under sealed or
ders. 81 that If their services were not
needed the. intentions of Gar Alex
ander II and his Premier. Prince Gort-
.scha31ofi. would remain secret"
.-A AIr- weed adds:
1t is certain, however, that when
our Government and the Union were
imperiled by a formidable rebellion.
we SHOULD have found a powerful ally
IN. Russia had an emergency oc-
-cIlrred.'
The statements Of Mr.. Weed and his
deductions therefrom are corroborated
by authenticated letters and documents
cf Secretary Seward himself, Prince
o Gortschakof, Bayard Taylor Omitted
States Charge ID 'Anaires at St. Peters
- burg. at the tineD, the late Cassius NJ.
Clay. Minister TO 1,ussia; a resolution
Of Congress Of April, 1864. presented to
the czar in August Of the same year,
and --uary others accessible TO the pub
lie Though the medium Of our Libraries.
Thomas Willing BaIch Of PhiladeI-
phia in his recent book. The Alaskan
Frontier gives a number of authorita-
tive quotations from various American
anG Russian statesmen on the subject
r. House Ex. Doc. No. l. Thirty-sev-
enth Congress. third session, page 4e4
IS given a letter 10 Bayard Taylor,
.Charge d'Afaires in St. Petersburg
OS2), from Prince Gortschakoff, in
which the latter says:
'Itussia has declared her position and
viii maintain it, There win be pro-
-posals for Intervention. We believe that
intervention would do no good at pres
ent. Proposals viii be made TO Russia
TO Join in some plan Of interference.
She win refuse any intervention Of any
:ldnd."
CAR WARNS OUR FOES.
Emperor Alexander II, speaking to
= W harton Barker in 1879. said that when
invited by France and England to join
in Recognition Of the Confederacy his
answer was:
7 viii not. cooperate in such action
and 1 win not acquiesce but on the
contrary. + shall accept recognition of
the Confederate States by France and
Great Britain as a casus belli for Rus
sia: and that the governments of
France and Great Britain may under
stand that this is no idle threat I
:wiH send q Pacific feet to San Fran
cisco and an Atlantic feet TO New
York. Sealed orders were given to both
-admirals."
The substance Of the whole story is
10 be summed UP as follows:
In January. 1863. Louis Napoleon
made an offer Of mediation which the
COilte De Paris iVol. VI, p. b6, History
~ the Civil War'D says was a threat
which might be carried into action AT
any time" Mr.. Seward received the
offensive dispatch on February 3. and
answered ii on February in what
is described C"Nicelay and Hays Abra-
ham Lincoln" vol. vi. p. ID as "one of
= the most important state papers writ
ten. during the war" As soon as the
contents Of the French note were
known in Europe. Russian fleets were
ordered TO New York harbor and San
Francisco.
President Lincoln and Secretary
Seward and the other members Of the
Cabinet. and the members Of the for
eign committees in the two houses of
Congress knew why they came.
FLEET AT SAN FRANCISCO.
-1o first cf he TQa,cciar, troeeo1- =, -.