The National tribune., 1907-02-28

towering superiority, and to subordin-
ate himself lYally to him, which Mr.
Chase nevef hlld To the very last Mr..
Chase intrigued against Lincoln and
hoped to be able to supplant him in the
affections of the people. Mr.. Bates
was made A$torneyGeneral; Sim IN
Cameron. veteran political manager
of Pennsylvanfa., received the portfolio
of War; Gideon Welles. of Connecticut,
represented New England as Secretary
of the Navy; Caleb r. Smith. of Indi-
ana. was made Secretary of the Inter.
ior. and MSntgomery Blair Postmaster
General. ~ a.:
1t was a cause of Irritation" to the
Southerners that there was not slave
holder in the new Cabinet. All pre-
vious Cabinets. had been conspicuous
by a decided ma jority of these, which
was the more remarkable since, after
all, the slavn- holders were. numerically,
an insignificant portion of the popuia-
ton. There never were more than
100000 shareholders in the United
States at any time. and of these at
least one-fourth only owned one slave.
AS there were at that period about 81
600. 600 people in the country. only one
man in every 106 owned slaves. There
Were two Southern born men in the
Cabinet who sprang from families fully
identified with the South, and had been
so themselves during their whole ca
reers. Bates and Blair were as truly
Southerners as Jefferson Davis and
Robert Toombs.
1t was assumed that Stewards pre-
miership Of the Cabinet committed 1t
to extreme radicalism. At heart, in
spite of his utterances, Seward was as
conservative as anyone; he did not be-
lieve In radical measures on his own
Aknk tNa
other side intended them. This led
Seward into sad se1f-deception as 70
the intensity of purpose of the men
who were talking and acting rebellion.
Until the truth was sharply forced upon
him, he could not make himself be-
lieve that they were not bluffing and
clustering, as he had seen them do for
decades This attitude Of Stewards had
an important influence upon the ear
lier operations Of the war.
Plans to Relieve Fort Sumter.
The critical situation of Maj. Ander-
son excited the sympathy of the loyal
people Of the Nation to the utmost, and
everyone was thinking deeply how he
and his heroic garrison could be re-
lieved. Buchanen's Cabinet, now con :
tanning such ardently, loyal men as j.
8. Black. Joseph Holt, Edwin M. Stan
luctant tc go out OF ONCE without do
ing something to succor Maj. Anderson,
and every day new plans were censid-
cred and rejected. Jan. IS, Secretary
Black wrote to Gen. Scott discussing
the situation, and setting forth that un-
less something could be done for Maj.
Anderson at once. the question of his
surrender was one of only short time;
He was convinced that the danger OF
entering the harbor had been greatly
exaggerated. and that pirate. SLAYER.
or a smuggler. who could be assured OF
making $500 by going into the harbor
in the face Of all there was to prevent
him, would simply laugh. and make the
effort with probable success. He be-
heved that II Maj. Anderson were ia
structed to tell the South Caroliniana
that he would open nre upon :nem II
they dared fire unon any vessel bringing
him relief. they you'd refrain from do
ing so. Or a strong war vessel. such as
the Brooklyn or Macedonian. could be
sent there to force her way in in spite
of ali obstacles. fl Or, again, the Navy
| might buy four or five light draft YES
sells OF great, speed which could dash
in, notwithstanding the efforts OF the
clumsy artillerists. Capt Ward, Of the
Navy. an officer o,of great merit, pro-
posed to run, in, supplies by steamers
belonging to the Coast Survey. and his
plan had the sanction of Gen. Scott
Mr.. @. V. Fox, afterwards Assistant
| Secretary Of the, Navy, formerly con-
| nectsd for years with the Coast Sur
vey, during which time he became very
familiar with Charleston harbor, pro-
posed TO take - a fiotilla of cutters OF
| light draft and large dimensions. This
proposition had the approval Of Com
modore Stringham. Nothing, however
| came of these suggestions nor of many
| others which Buchanan's Cabinet took
up, considered at length, seemed upon
| the point of adopting. and then became
Sicklied DER with the pale cast Of thot
Their currents turned awry
And lost the name of action.
President Lincoln Takes Counsel.
March Is, President Lincoln address
| ed the Secretary of War. asking him u
give his opinion in writing as TO wheth.
err, assuming II to be possible to pro.
vision Fort Sumter. IL was wise TO dc
| SO. Secretary Cameron replied that HI
did not believe that adequate relie
| could be extended to Maj. Anderson
without at least a support OF 10000
| we'll organized, we'll disciplined men
! Gen. Scott said that the time for Eeiiel
( had past fully a month. and that to en-
| ter the herbor, and reinforce the fort
| would now require neet or war yes
sells and transports. which could not b.
collected in less than four months. d
we'll as 5000 additional Regular troops
and 10000 volunteers. which could no
be raised, organized and disciplined II
less than from six to eight months.
Within four weeks the South Caro-
linians had strengthened and rearmet
Fort Moultrie. and built so many bat
teries on the Islands commanding th'
channel that what was possible In Jan
uary was absolutely impossible il
March The Secretary inclosed mem
orandum of opinions Of the officers Ii
Fort Sumter In February as to wha
force would then be necessary to sue
cor the fort This was:
j George w. Snyder. Lieutenant o
Engineers, Feb. 2S. 1861: Four re5i
ments, or 1000 men: four vessels o
war.
"R. X. Meade, Jr.. Second Lieutenan
I of Engineers. Feb. 30. 1851: 5000 men
1 at least; supported by gunboats.
] "s. w. Crawford. Feb. %. 1881
1000 men supported by the Navy.
;, Norman J. Hall, Second Lieutenant
1st Art, Feb. 2e. 1851: $500 men
seven war vessels.
~. C. Davis, First Lieutenant, Is
Art. Feb. 2s, 1851: 5000 men; six wa
vessels.
!. Theodore Talbot, First. Lieutenan,
: 1st Art, Feb. 2S. 1861: 5000 men an
naval vessels.
!, "a. Doubleday. Captain. 1st Art
Feb. 2s, 1851: 10000 men, and Navy.
II ..v n To II er Cantajn ~ Engineers