MONDAY. APRIL 3, 1111
8, B
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. HTDfORD, OBX.
5
esm war
Seward Loses in Bid for Power
By MERTON T. A KERB
UPI Corre.pondant
The crisis over Ft. Sumler
at.Charleston.-, C, was at Its
peak when William' Henry
Seward, Lincoln's new secre
tary of state, made his bid for
power April Fool's Day lutfl,
but he wasn t looiing.
- Seward felt he had the situ
- ation all figured out, that he
knew exactly what - must be
i done to save. the union ana
avert civil war, A mercurial
: man of considerable ability,
Seward at this point regarded
himself as the leader of the
Republican party and the
' "strong man" of the admlnls-
. tration-thc "premierV: he fre
quently was called.
As a former governor of
' New York, a lawyer of distinc
tion with a world-wide ac
nuaintance. Seward believed
the young administration was
floundering and that it was up
to h m to provide the needed
leadership. At the moment he
was carrying on sub rosa ne-
- gotiations with a Confederate
commission about the dlsposl
tion of Ft. Sumter and from
time to time dipping into the
affairs of other -departments
About this time, Ma. Robert
Anderson's little federal gar
rison went on nan-rations.
Groping for Decision
Lincoln seemed to be' grop
ing for a Sumter decision, so
on April 1. apparently, uncon
scious of the day, Seward sent
to the President a document
remarkable in -American his-
tory; Entitled "Some Thoughts
i for the President's Considera
tion,", Seward's memorandum
pointed out that the adminis
tration was a month old and
had no policy, foreign or do
mestic, That In itself was not
so bad, he conceded, but-to
delay further "would not only
bring scandal" but danger
upon the country."
- "We must," he wrote,
"change tho. question before
the public from one upon slav
ery, or about slavery, for a
question upon union or disun
ion . . . from a party question
to one of patriotism."
The Ft. .' Sumter ' question
"although not In fact a slavery
or party question, is so re
garded . . .
... "I would therefore termin
ate It by withdrawing the fed-
-
A ii'i' t -h T
r
SEWARD WASN'T FOOLING The crisis over Fort Sumter
was at its peak when William Henry Seward, above, Lin
coln's new secretary of state, made his bid for power on
April Fool's Day, 1861, but he wasn't fooling. Seward and the
ed himself as the leader of the Republican Party and the
'strong mfn " of the administration. On April 1, he sent to
Lincoln a remarkable document-entitled 'Some Thoughts
for the President's Consideration," In the letter he said that
Lincoln didn't know how to run hit office and offered to
take over the President's duties. Lincoln refused and an
swered "I must do it." :.,; M ; ; . . (UPI Telephoto)
eral garrison t . . I would si
multaneously defend and re
inforce all the forts in. the
Gulf and have s the Navy re
called. . . for a blockade."
Would Declare War : : !i ) i
On foreign questions Sew
ard wrote, "I would demand
explanations from Spain and
France at once, also, from
Great Britain," and if satis
factory explanations are not
received from Spain and
France, would convene Con
gress and declare war against
them." :. . ;; .-'tr-S ! -:wJ-'
; Tlhat added up to a fantastic
scheme for fomenting a, for
eign war to solve 'domestic
problems. (Spain and France
were acting as, if ,they wwre
-about to move into the Carib
bean and . Central America.
Britain was friendly to the
move but no overt a'cts against
the Monroe Doctrine had oc
curred.) i i '
i Someone ; must .administer
this policy of nis, Sewt rd pro
posed, "either the President
. . and be all the while ac
tive in it . ..." or some mem
ber of the cabinet..
"It is not in my especial
province. But I. neither seek
to evade or assume responsibility."
This was a secretary of
state telling a President that
the chief executive did not
know how, .to run . his office,
that he would do well to let
someone take over who knew
how, preferably his secretary
of state.. Presidents have fired
cabinet members out of hand
for less, but that was not Lin
coln's way of dealing with dis
sident colleagues.'
He answered Seward the
same day'
. Pointing out that bis Inau
gural - address had-, covered
Seward's suggested domestic
policy with the exception of
Ft. Sumter, Lincoln replied:
. -"I do not perceive how.' the
reinforcement .of Ft. Sumter
would be done on a slavery or
party issue, while that of Ft.
Pickens: (at Pensacola, Fla.)
would be on a national or pa
triotic one." s ,
Proposal Dismissed '
Lincoln dismissed Seward's
proposal to challenge the Eu
ropean powers to war With a
noncommittal paragraph and
then drove home the clincher.
- "Upon your closing proposi
tion , . . 'that the President
must do it himself' (administer
the Seward policy) or give the
task to a cabinet --member-!
remark that if this must be
done, I must do it." ;
If a general . policy , was
adopted, Lincoln continued,
and debate came "upon points
arising in its progress, I wish,
and I suppose I unentitled to
have, the advice of all the
cabinet."
Seward could refcd between
the lines-Lincoln was Presi
dent and intended to remain
president. He wanted advice
but he would maxe ms own
decisions.-
The Seward letter and Lin-
Coin's reply came to light 33
years later. Both letters .were
in Lincoln's papers, indicating
the reply may hot have been
sent. But it seems likely that
Lincoln had a heart-to-heart
talk with Seward,-using his
reply as notes. No word of the
episode came out at the time.
The secretary of state took
his . rebuff gracefully. .He
would come to have great re
spect for his chief, even affec
tion. (Later he would write to
Mrs.- Seward that ' "the Presi
dent is the best of us all.")
This small rebellion in his
own household out of the way,
Lincoln moved to the bigger
one.-
He ordered two expedition
being fitted out In New York
to sail on their missions. The
fleet to relieve Pickens sailed
April 7 and the one to relieve
Sumter April 10. There was
much confusion in the sailing
orders and the makeup of the
fleets with Seward dabbing in
Navy affairs, but eventually it
was straightened out.
Lincoln had another card to
play and here Robert S. Chew,
a State Department clerk,
made a brief and dramatic en
try on the stage of history and
exited to be heard of no more,
Chew, was d i s p a t c h t d to
Charleston with a message for
Gov. Francis Pickens.
On the -evening of April S.
Chew stood in Pickens' office
and read this to the governor:
. "I am directed by the Presi
dent of the United States to
notify you to expect an at
tempt will be made to supply
f t. Sumter with provisions on
ly; and that, if such an attempt
be not resisted, no effort to
throw In men, arms or ammu
nition: will . be mad - without
further notice, or in casa of an
attack upon the fort.'?
Chew left a copy without
signature. :
Advised Davit
Pickens hastily advised Jef
ferson Davis and his cabinet
in Montgomery. Only Robert
Toombs,: Confederate secre
tary of state, opposed action.
"The firing on that fort will
inaugurate a civil war greater
than any : the world, has yet
seen; and I do not feel compe
tent to advise you."
Davis chose war. He advis
ed Gen. Pierre Gustave Tou
tant Beauregard, Confederate
commander at Charleston; to
select his own time and meth
od, first demanding the fort's
surrender. :
1 . Lincoln's card had won the
trick.'. The South would fire
the first shot of the Civil War.
HOME RADIO
' Freshwater, Isle of Wight -(On
- A radio in a store 'here
will not be sold, the proprietor
assured townspeople, until
robins move out of the nest
they built. inside it. -
Jiidean Documents Dated in 1 34 A.D.
Jerusalem, Israel -.(OH'.:-
The first papyrus' documents
of those found In -the' Judean
desert a few miles weiV of
the Dead Sea in the past fort
night have been 'opened tod
discovered to be legal trans
action from the period Of the
Jewish revolt againw Kome.
The leaders of the Judean
desert archaeological expedi
tion told a press conference
Sunday, that one of the first
tnree documents unroiiea was
dated the second of Klslev, the
Jewish- month corresponding
to December, of. the third year
of. Bar Kochbas,' or 134 A.D.
-: There are an estimated . SO
$200,000 in Gold
Stolen From Firm
' Grand Rapids,. Mich. - (UW-
Police pressed -a search today
for daring professional "gold
bugs" who braved tear gas
on Easter Sunday to loot $200,
000 in gold and tome dia
monds from one of the nation's
largest makers , of school and
fraternity rings.
The burglary of eight safes
shut down '.the H. R, Thorn
berry Co., also a top manu
facturer of jewelry emblems
for', fraternal and scholastic
groups,, pending an inventory
of the exact loss. ' 1
C. R. Armstrong, co-owner
of the firm, said it "may take
weeks" to find out what the
thieves got. An estimated 300
gold sheets were known to be
missing plus an unknown
number of silver sheets.. ;-
HANG ONTO THAT HAT V
I Albuquerque, N. M. - (DM -The
U. S. - Weather Bureau
here, reporting on the weather
in New Mexico Sunday night,
commented:'
i--''Afternoon breezes were
brisk enough to offer slight
hazard to the - more crudely
engineered and less securely
attached Easter bonnets."
Auto Insurance Trouble?
i i i
Uninsured Accident? VtolaKontT
Teen-Aga Problems? Confidential Service .
CAST IOW RATES
'i .'- ..''..! . ' i Atao
Preferred Rates for Preferred Driven -
Atkin-McCullough Insurance, Inc.
321 So. Central Phono SP 3-7441
other documents , still
checked, they said.'
to'be
OIL FOR FOOD f '
AtltnU-About 80 per cent
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the United States is diverted
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FARM COUNTRY
Athens Greece has little)
manufacturing. Agriculture it
still the important industry..;
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Th Kids lav It-Grown-ups too You Will find Matey
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