HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. gress. He suggested that the questions at issue be "removed from In this message, the President reasserted the sentiment that "the If this energetic announcement had been accompanied, as no doubt was intended, by the news of a successful reinforcement of Fort Sumter, it might have produced a salutary effect, and perhaps have changed the course of events. Unfortunately, the news came of the failure of Such of the the attempt, and of an insult to the flag. That event caused much alarm, and aroused fears of the actual approach of war. Northern State legislatures as were in session-and all were so, except those of New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, and Indiana, some of which meet only once in two years, and the others either in spring or autumn-received the message of the President with favor, and tendered prompt assistance in support of the Government. In the legislature of New York were passed the following resolutions: “Whereas, The insurgent State of South Carolina, after seizing the post-offices, custom-house, moneys, and fortifications of the Federal Government, has, by firing into a vessel ordered by the Government to convey troops and provisions to Fort Sumter, virtually declared war; and whereas, The forts and property of the United States Government in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, have been unlawfully seized, with hostile intentions; and whereas, Their Senators in Congress avow and maintain their treasonable acts; therefore, "Resolved, That the legislature of New York is profoundly impressed with the value of the Union, and determined to preserve it unimpaired; that it greets with joy the recent firm, dignified, and patriotic special message of the President of the United States, and that we tender to him, through the chief magistrate of our own State, whatever aid in men and money may be required to enable him to enforce the laws and uphold the authority of the Federal Government; and that, in the defence of the Union, which has conferred prosperity and happiness upon the American people, renewing the pledge given and redeemed by our fathers, we are ready to devote our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honor." These resolutions were communicated by Governor Morgan of New York to the President, and also to the Governor of each State. The action of other States was similar, and illustrates the extent to Maswhich zeal outran ability. When New York passed her resolution, she had not military resources to equip thirteen thousand men. For when, early in December, she sachusetts had been more active. tendered her volunteers to the Government, she had five thousand men under drill; but of these only three thousand were armed with Springfield muskets. When the call at a later date actually came for troops, both New York and Massachusetts were obliged to send agents to Europe to purchase arms. The views of the President, as expressed in his annual message, were received with various manifestations of dissent or approval, according to the light in which they were viewed. The importance of some mode of adjustment early impressed itself upon Congress, and on the 10th of December, the day on which Mr. Cobb resigned from the Treasury Department, a House Committee of thirty-three, or one from each State, was appointed, and also a Senate Committee of thirteen, on the State of the Union. A variety of propositions were discussed by the latter Committee, without uniting a majority. A plan proposed by Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, met with considerable favor. It practically re-established the Missouri Compromise, declared that Congress shall not interfere with slavery where it exists, and provided for the faithful execution of the fugitive slave law. This did not, however, meet the views of either side. The Republicans were willing to recommend an amendment to the Constitution declaring that Congress shall have no power to interfere with slavery in the States, but refused the demand of the Southerners that slave property should be recognized in the Territories under the decisions of the Supreme Court. The Southerners contended that an amendment to the Constitution, declaring that the Federal Government had no right to interfere with slavery, was only declaring what was nowhere disputed, forgetting apparently that the leading secessionists had directly charged the Republicans with asserting the existence of such a right, and with preparing to exercise it. The judiciary of the United States had, however, they said, declared that under the Constitution the South had a right to the protection of the Federal Government for their slave property in the Territories. They wanted assent to that decision. This the Republicans were not prepared to give. The following is the Crittenden plan of adjustment, offered in the form of immutable amendments to the Constitution: “First. In all territories north of 36 deg. 30 min. slavery is prohibited; in all territory south of that latitude, slavery is recognized as existing, and shall be protected as property during its continuance. All the territory north or south of said line shall be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the Constitution of the State shall prescribe. "Second. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the States permitting slavery. Third. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia while it exists in Virginia and Maryland, or either. "Fourth. Congress to have no power to hinder the transportation of slaves from one State to another. "Fifth. Congress to have power to pay for a slave when the marshal is prevented from discharging his duty, the owner to sue the county in which the rescue was made, and the county have the right to sue the individuals who committed the wrong. "Sixth. No further amendment or amendments shall affect the preceding articles, and Congress shall never have power to interfere with slavery in the States where it is now permitted." The last resolution declares that "the Southern States have a right to the faithful execution of the law for the recovery of slaves; and such laws ought not to be repealed or modified so as to impair their efficiency. All law in conflict with the fugitive slave law, it shall not be deemed improper for Congress to ask the repeal of. The fugitive slave law ought to be so altered as to make the fee of the commissioner equal, whether he decides for or against the claimant; and the clause authorizing the person holding the warrant to summon a posse comitatus to be so as to restrict it to cases where violence or rescue is attempted. The laws for the suppression of the African slave-trade ought to be effectually executed." Another proposition was framed by a Committee of the Border States, including Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and North Carolina; and New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. This contained nearly the suggestions of the Crittenden resolutions, with the addition of an amendment to the Constitution that no territory shall be acquired by the United States without the consent of "three-fourths of the members of the Senate;" and also a resolution that an act be passed directing that the demand for the surrender of a fugitive slave should be made before the United States judge of the district in which the fugitive might be found. Neither the Crittenden resolutions nor the Border State propositions were, however, destined to pass Congress, notwithstanding that a considerable body of the Northern people, in their anxiety to avoid civil war, were loud in their demands that one or both of these propositions should be adopted. New York city, the great commercial metropolis of the country, showed an unfeigned anxiety to put off the evil day, which it required no prophet's eye to see, was now rapidly approaching. Two memorials, the one signed by her capitalists and leading men, and the other, which emanated from the Chamber of Commerce, having upward of forty-five thousand signatures, were laid before Congress. They both suggested renewed guarantees to the Slave States, that no interference should be attempted in their domestic institutions, and advised a general policy of conciliation and compromise. The country had been for so many years in a state of profound peace, that men, who afterwards afforded noble examples of self-sacrificing patriotism in defence of the integrity of the Union, were now prepared to concede almost every thing, in the hope of averting civil war. Fortunately for their country, and for free institutions all over the world, this enervation of spirit was more apparent than real. In Boston, meetings were held in favor of the Crittenden compromise, and a petition, more than one hundred feet long, bearing, it was stated, more than forty thousand names, was carried to Washington by Messrs. Everett, Winthrop, Lawrence, C. L. Woodbury, and Foley, asking for the passage of the resolutions of Mr. Crittenden by Congress. In many other parts of the North a like energy was manifested, and petitions were signed by great numbers of voters for the Crittenden resolutions, or for any resolution that would restore harmony. Neither this delegation nor those from New York had, however, much influence upon Congress. Those who opposed the passage of the resolutions argued, that nothing had been actually done to need compromise; that the constitutional election of a President was not a matter for compromise, and that, until Southern rights had been actually assailed, there was no need of volunteering amends. Moreover, there was no evidence that the South wanted any compromise, or would be satisfied with those presented. In the mean time, the Border States were apparently very earnest to bring about some mode of settlement. On the 17th of January, the legislature of Virginia passed resolutions, inviting all States, "whether slaveholding or non-slaveholding, who are willing to unite with Virginia in an earnest effort to adjust the present unhappy con⚫troversy, to appoint commissioners, to meet at Washington, February 4th." They stated that "the resolutions of Mr. Crittenden embraced the basis of an adjustment that would be acceptable to this commonwealth." The President, in a message to Congress, January 28th, communicating these resolutions, warmly seconded them, and urged Congress to abstain from passing any law that might tend to bring on hostilities. The Virginia resolutions were forwarded to all the States, and members were appointed from twenty-one of them to attend. The States represented in the Convention were Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, each of which sent from three to twelve delegates. The Convention met on February 4th, chose John Tyler, of Virginia, President, and sat until March 1st; and having then adopted a plan satisfactory to the Border States, adjourned. Section 1, divided the Territories by the line 36° 30'; north of which there were to be no slaves; south of it, slaves or no slaves, according to the people's wish; Congress and the legislature to have no power of prohibition. Sec. 2. No territories to be acquired without the assent of a majority of the senators North and of those South, and of two-thirds the whole Senate. Sec. 3. Congress to have no power to interfere with slavery in any State, nor to abolish it in the District of Columbia without the consent of the owners and that of Maryland; nor to abolish it in any place under Federal jurisdiction; nor to prevent transportation of blacks from one State to another; nor to tax them higher than land. It provided, also, that certain clauses of the Constitution should not be altered without the consent of all the States; that Congress should pay for slaves not remanded according to law; and that the citizens of each State should have the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several States. The various propositions looking to conciliation or compromise continued to be discussed in Congress, without any very satisfactory results. Several State legislatures meanwhile volunteered conciliatory action. Rhode Island repealed her personal liberty bill, and the legislature of Ohio, and those of some other States, made modifications in their respective personal liberty bills, tending to soften asperities. Mr. Stanton, of Ohio, February 19th, introduced a bill into the House, to authorize the President to accept the services of volunteers, but it was not passed. On the same day, Mr. Fenton, of New York, offered a resolution for a convention of the States, and this was also defeated. The Thirty-sixth Congress was now drawing rapidly to a close, and nothing had been done either to sustain the authority of the Government, or to promote a settlement of the difficulties. A notable element of irritation was the occupation of Fort Sumter, which could not much longer hold out without supplies. The expiring Administration would not take the responsibility of withdrawing the troops, and were averse to assuming the risk of collision by reinforcing them. In a military point of view, the holding of the fort was of little moment, and in a political sense still less so, since the great question to be settled was separation, or continued union. If the fort should be abandoned, and union should ultimately triumph, it would be reoccupied. If separation should be determined upon, it would be settled for in the general terms of peace. The duty of the Executive was, however, very clear. He had no power to give up possession of the property he was sworn to defend. The whole question, therefore, passed over to the incoming Administration. The most important action of the Thirty-sixth Congress was in suspending the postal service in the seceded States; in erecting three new Territoires, viz.: Colorado, made up of parts of Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah, having an area of one hundred thousand square miles, and a population of twenty-five thousand, including Pike's Peak gold region; Nevada, from Utah and California, including the fertile Carson Valley; and Dacotah, formerly part of Minnesota, with an area of seventy thousand square miles. Congress passed several loan bills, and also the tariff bill. The finances of the Federal Government had been in a very disordered condition owing to the revulsion in business, which resulted from political disturbances, and which, by reducing the imports of goods, had cut off the customs, the chief source of revenue, from the Treasury. In June, 1860, a loan of twenty million dollars had been authorized; of this ten million was offered in October in a five per cent. stock, and it had been taken at a small premium. Before the installments were paid up, however, the panic that attended the election had affected credit, and many bids were withdrawn. This so seriously af fected the means of the department, that as the 1st of January approached, it seemed likely there would be no funds with which to meet the interest on the National debt. By the act of December 17th, 1860, an issue of ten million dollars, in treasury notes, was authorized, to bear such a rate of interest as might be offered by the lowest bidders, but so shaken was credit, that but few bids were made, and some of them at a rate of thirty-six per cent. interest, per annum. The capitalists interested in the Government credit finally took one million five hundred thousand dollars of one-year treasury notes, at twelve per cent. per annum (the amount was subsequently raised to five million dollars), on condition that the money should be applied to paying the interest on the debt. This was certainly a dark day in the Republic, when the Federal Government, which had earned the honor of being the only nation that had ever paid its debts in full-principal and interest-and which in 1856, with an overflowing treasury, had paid twenty-two per cent, premium for its own six per cent. stock, to get it out of the market, was now reduced to give twelve per cent. interest, for a few millions, and to engage to protect its credit with the money. In January the rest of the authorized treasury notes were issued, at rates of interest ranging from eight to twelve per cent. In February, Congress authorized a loan of twenty-five million dollars in six per cent. stock, a portion of which was negotiated at sixteen per cent. discount. The question of raising the tariff duties in order to provide more reve A |
