The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-07-17

Northern mind more truly than any
other publication, has this to say about
him in February, 1864. His shrcWd
insight. his self-poszcssion. his various
knowledge, his mOtncr-Wit ana his
@ood-humorcd heroism have enabled
llim 10 meet every kind Of difficulty
ANA solve it with success SO brilliant
that the public confidence in his
genius ana resources is profound ana
general"
Bu}Icr's dcspotfc action as military
ruler Of New Orleans. which had 50
infuriatcd the South and disguised
the world, had rather strengthened
nina ut the North for the time be
ing. one house Of Congress had ten
dcrcd him vote Of thanks for it, lie
was, it seemed to Lincoln. the very
man to bring over the Wavcring into
tn" Republican camp
Therefore in the spring of 1861
Lincoln sent his confidential friend,
Simon Cameron, to Buffers head
quarters at Fortress Monroe to offer
him the Nice-TresidcnfaI nomination.
But even Fate. iron-heartcd. iron
handed Fate interposed at this june
turc. Four years of Butlerism trans
cendcd even her NenSeful feel
ms against rs Butler As
tho senior major general i'm
the invading Federal forces in Vir-
&inia ranked next to Grant. He was
/ exceedingly ambitious of military re
InoWn. Should Il stray bullet strike
| down Grant, or popular Whims dis
place him as it had all Of his prede-
cc@sors, then he Butler, would have
La chance. And q chance, half q
chance was all that, in his opinion, he
needed, to end the war ana blaze
of glory for himself. Haloed thus in
I&Iory, he already was himself Presi-
dent in 1868. Small wonder he noutcd
the idea of being inveighed into the
! Nicc-IEcsidentiaI cul-dc-Sac, from
which virtually none had ever been
4 able to escape and reach the Presi-
Gcncy except in the two Instances
where the President had died | will
Iadd that just before Cameron came
Butler had been visited by an ennis
! tary of Chase's. Chase, though n
! Iincoin's Cabinet as Secretary Of the
/ ITreasurI. was also aspiring to the
Presidential nomination and was using
ali the power that his place gave him
Ito weaken Lincoln and strengthen
! himself. He also wished Butler on
his ticket. This, of course, increased
Cutters opinion Of himself which had
never been small.
Butler having refused to run with
/ him, Lincoln looked around for the
next strongest man. This time he
selected Andy Johnson. Johnson,
while not near 50 able, nor at that
time as influential us Butler, brought
prestige of Il unique kind as we'll as
j strength act daI and potential III 10
small degree. He. too. was 4 fife long
/ Democrat who Nas fully committed
to the prosecution OF the war. He
was at this time military governor of
] Tennessee. With the Vice Presidential
nominee from the Southern States
Lincoln's plan to count, if necessary
for his election. the votes Of the South
/ crn States of West Virginia. LOuiSi-
ana Arkansas and Tennessee would
hA leo mi ion
4 though. of course, only the truly 10y
ar in those states would be allowed to
vote.
Moreover, the Iong-headed Lincoln
say in the nomination. of Johnson op-
/ portunity for an exceedingly clever
/ diplomatic stroke. Ihe p@uIuium OF
foreign recognition then swinging
more untoWard for the Confederacy
than formerly, had by no means CeaS-
ed to Vibrato. y 5outhe victory
might carry it back into its former arc
or even further. LincoIn's foreign min
listers had 50 often assured the gov
/ trnmentS to which III :. We're ;lCCretlt-
ed that the rebellion was as good rs
/ dead, that the words had ceased TO
/ have even their common value in dip
| !rmacy. What master stroke it WIs
/ to substitute actions for words. Of
/ which Europe was not only dubious,
but tired to show Il Presidential ticct
! pledged to prosecute the war 10 thc
bitter end, one of whose nominees
came from the South, and not from
the border States either, but from q
section that by strain of words too
slight to count in diplomacy, might
| be termed the heart Of the South.
I Thus would it appear that not only
this popuIouS and influential Southern
state had come back into the Union.
/ 50 thoroughly that one of her sons WAS
on the Federal ticket. but Da The
Federal ticket pledged to carry on the
war as opposed to the one pledged to
end it. What better object lesson,
! what stronger argument could there
be than to show the world that Con
fcderacy was a mere shell and skier
Teton of government. Concrete things
like this appeal to the people at large
far more than logic does, and even to
diplomats to whom the subservicncN
OF logic is too we'll known. they have
great weight. This was the reason tnat
the fall of Vicksburg weakened us 50
much more in the eyes of Europe
than the defeat of Lee at Gettysburg.
Well. the outcome of it ali was that
when Lincoln fell by the hand oi
! Booth Andy Johnson and not Beast
Rutler succeeded him Johnson had
the inevitable plebian hatred of the
Southorn ariStOcracy. but he loved the
South i'm itself, and h2d almost reli-
cfous regard for the law and the Con
situtiOn The result was that nc
str0ye to uphold the Constitution and
he and the Radical Congress soon got
so busy fighting each other that they
in a measure, forgot +h@ SouIh and
we received comparatively little more
than the blows that they aimed at
each other That is for the time be
inc. at least But that gaVe~opportn-
nifty for passion to cool little and
for the wire edge OF hatred to be lost
The exchange of Lincoln Tor John-
son was probably unfortunate Tor the
south hl1t not as much SD. ! think. a
it is generally held to be. Lin""! 5 W's
y kind-hearted man. and would mol
viduaily have favored the most l@ni
e-nt aud conciIatory policy toward tht
South Ife would have carried Oh
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