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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1961)
10 A MONDAY. MARCH 27, 1961 MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. ORE. ... . . .frutfUk-g ft ,' ..II -1 f LINCOLN FACED WITH DILEMMA The twilight of the Union came in late March, 1861. President Lincoln was faced with the dilemma of Fort Sumter and other govern ments forts should they be reinforced with men, or just provisions? Secretary of State Seward, through a Supreme Court Justice, was negotiating with a "commission" from the Confederacy. The "commission" tried to Sumter Dilemma to Lincoln By MERTON T. AKERS UPI Correspondent The twilight of the Union came in late March, 861. And Ft. Sumter at Charles ton, S.C., commanded by Maj. Robert Anderson and his short-rationed garrison of 85, was a symbol. President Lincoln and his divided cabinet wrestled with the problem. The question could be boiled down to sim ple terms. But the answer was not so easy. Should Ft. Sumter be re lieved with provisions only? Or should It be both provision ed and reinforced? Or should it be abandoned to the young Confederacy? If the fort were provisioned only and Confed erate forces shot at any mercy ships such as the Star of the West as they had two months before, then the South would be guilty of "firing on bread." Southerners Would Fire -, If an attempt was made to provision and reinforce Sum ter with troops and ammuni tion, then the southerners most certainly would fire on the expedition. The result was to be civil war, of course. But the Confederacy would bear the responsibility of firing the first shot.. If the hungry garrison were removed as the Confederates were demanding and would be happy to facilitate, then the Lincoln administration would Wiltless Wonder ON THE GO from summer through Scptcmbcr-tho shirt dress with a wide collar above, soft flares below a neat waist. Choose the coolest cotton-freshest stripe, check, or print. Printed Pattern 9321: Misses' Bles 12, 14, 16, 18, 20; 40. Size 16 takes 4n4 yards 35 Inch. Send FIFTY CENTS (coins) for this pattern-ndd 10 cents for each pattern tor first-class mailing. Send to Marian Mar tin, Medford Mall Tribune, Pattern Dept., 232 West 18th St., New York 11, N.Y. Print plainly NAME, ADDRESS with SIZE and STYLE NUM BER. 100 FASHION FINDS -the bi'st, newest, most beautiful Printed Patterns for Spring Summer, 1061. Sec them all in our brand-new Color Cata log. Send 86 cents now! CIVILWAR 't V-.' .n"L.": ' gain time, but Lincoln acted. He prepared an expedition for the relief of Fort Pickens, above, in Pensacola Harbor, and another to reinforce or provision Fort Sumter. In the montage above, Lincoln Is Inset over Fort Pickens, and the Confederate "commission" is shown, from left, A. B. Roman, Louisiana; John Forsyth, Alabama, and Martin Craw ford, Georgia. (UPI Telephoto) be backing down and In effect admitting its impotency to solve the crisis. Northern pub lic opinion would not stand for that. Most of the cabinet favored pulling out of the fort to avoid conflict. William H. Seward, secre tary of state, was negotiating most unofficially and most quietly through a justice of the U.S. Supreme court with a commission from the Con- federate government. He could not receive them offi cially. That would have con stituted tacit recognition of the right of secession. Knowledge Mystery How much Lincoln knew about these talks remains a mystery,, but certainly he knew that Seward was talk ing to the southern delegates through the go-between Jus tice John A. Campbell, who remained on the job in Wash ington despite the fact his state had seceded. Seward committed himself unofficially to the "commls- Newest Slip Covers Docs your room need a new look? Rejuvenate your chairs, sofas Willi fresh slip-covers easy to make with these clear step-by-stop directions! Instructions 7168 has step-by-step directions for making slip covers for chnirs, sotas. Send THIRTY-FIVE cents (coins) for this pattern-ndd 10 cents for each pattern for 1st- class mailing. Send to Alice Brooks, enre of Medford Mail Tribune, Necdlecraft Dept., P.O. Box 183, Old Chelsea sla tlon, New York 11, N.Y. Print plainly NAME, ADDRESS. PATTERN NUMBER. JUST OUT! Our 1961 Nee dlccraft Book. Over 125 de signs for home furnishings, for fashions-knit, crochet, em broider, weave, sew, quilt toys, gifts, bazaar items. FREE-six designs for popular veil caps. Quick-send 25 cents TODAY. Easter Cards for All Your Friends 217 I. Main St, M.dlord sion" that Sumter would be abandoned. As time wore on and the capital was filled with rumors of expeditions being fitted out for some sort of ac tion to hold federal forts in the South or to regain the ones already lost, Seward found himself more and more at loss to explain why he was unable to deliver on his prom ise. Justice Campbell, caught in the middle, demanded a de cision. The Confederate "commis- sion"-M a r 1 1 n Crawford of Georgia, John Forsyth of Ala bama and A. B. Roman of Louisiana -was under orders from the provisional Confed erate Congress to gain as much time as possible. The C.S.A. needed every minute to prepare if the ultimate ver dict was to be war. The long er Seward wanted to bargain around Robin Hood's barn the better for them They would trade talk for time-up to a certain point. But their own estimates of northern senti ment and reports on the situa tion were so muddled that Jefferson Davis and his cabl net and the South Carolina authorities finally had to ap peal plteously for clarifica tion. Had To Make Decision Const ltutionnlly, Lincoln had to make the decision on Sumter-reinforce or abandon In the last weeks of March, 1861, he made it, step by step. First he decided to assert fed eral authority by making a demonstration of strength at Ft. Pickens at Pensacola, Fla. still in Union hands, but ringed by Confederate forces. Pickens had not been built into the symbol of Sumter. But by making Pickens se cure, Lincoln reasoned, the loss of Sumter could be charged off to military neces sity. Northern public opinion just might accept that. He ordered two expeditions prepared; one was for the re lief of Ft. Pickens, the other would stand by to reinforce and provision Ft. Sumter if circumstances called for it, Some reinforcements for Pick ens were standing off the fort. They were ordered to land. If the Pickens move succeeded, then the Sumter problem could be resolved in time. Position of Virginia Another factor governing Lincoln's thinking was the touch-and-go position of Vir ginia, key state of those southern states which had not yet seceded. A convention in Virginia to decide on secession marked time with Union dele gates seemingly in the major ity but wailing to see if the federal government would use force against South Carolina. The same situation existed in North Carolina and Tennessee Mortgage Looking for money to boirowj ConmiomuMlth oflcti module Kmo on homes, commercial ami indmhi.it property, np.utmcnti and projects for senior citizens. We represent 17 life insurance companies, eastern sav ings tanks and pension funds. We hate the money. terms and ritcs to meet your requirements, Quick, etVwieni, courteous service. Contact our nearest oMice: Commonwealth, Inc. 'OO tquilibU Building. 411 S. W ilh ., Portland Ifl liberty ttrttl, S. I.. Stltm 1111 Vina Avinua, loin. Idiht Lenten Message By THE REV. R. J. McCRACKEN, D.D. Minister, The Riverside Church, New York (Written for UPI) Why is it that we hear so much about Lenten observ ance in the matter of diet and so little about Lenten observ ance in the matter of the dis position? A woman said rue fully, "It isn't his tobacco my husband needs to cut out; it's his temper." There are men who are never tempted by wine or women, but who has no con trol over their tongue. Touch iness, fault-finding, readiness to take offense are indulg ences and should be brought under control. An old lady professed spe cial fondness for the passage of Scripture, "In My Father's house are many mansions." Asked why, she answered, "My son-in-law William is a good man and well-deserving of the heavenly mansions, but I have no desire to live with William." It takes little imagination to picture the type of person William was, a good man, not addicted to sins of the body, but with a disposition that made him difficult both to like and to live with. Lent is a challenge to curb the tongue, control the tem per, humble .vanity and pride, get rid of prejudices and ani mosities. Completion Date Set for Highway Completion date for the Lake of the Woods section of the 'Winnemucca-to-the-S e a" highway has been set for fall, 1962, according to W. C. Wil liams, state highway engi neer. Williams pointed out that. on the west side of the moun tain, the 5V4-mile Henley Ranch -Forest Boundary sec tion is under contract and is half completed. The $658,000 project is to be completed by August. From the forest boundary to about five miles east, grad ing has been completed. For the next 12 miles, to connect with the end of the paved road at the Lake of the Woods, the bureau of public roads has contracted the work. The $1,200,000 project is expected to be finished this fall. All In all, under present plnns, . . we will have a completely surfaced highway by the fall of 1962," Williams said. Construction on the Red wood highway, the nearly six mile section between Grants Pass and the Applcgate river, was contracted last fall. The majority of the work is ex pected to be completed by November, 1961, with minor construction to be finished in 1962. The cast Grants Pass inter change, a $545,000 project, is to be contracted late this year, providing the right-of-way is obtained. too. If coercion were used against South Carolina, Vir ginia surely would secede, and as Virginia went so would go the other slave stales - Ken tucky, Missouri, Arknnsns and perhaps even Maryland in ad dition to North Carolina and Tennessee. At one point Lincoln must have agonized over the possi bility of trading Sumter for Virginia's loyalty for he told John B. Baldwin of Virginia that "a state for a fort is no bad business." But Baldwin, a Union sympathizer and a dele gate to the Virginian secession convention, could make no such promise. There hung the problem In the last week of March 1861, the last March for four years that the country would know pence and the most fateful one in Its history. LOANS for I f TREE LAMPS B $088 A 1 yWHNe They One More Big Week of Our Floor Sample Sale- All Items Are on the Floor! 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