The President's AN EXCITING to commence it, nor to furnish 1 an excuse for it in any act of this Government. My opinion remains unchanged, that justice as well as sound policy requires us still to seek a peaceful solution of he questions at issue between the North and South. Entertaining this conviction, I refrained even from sending reenforcements to Major Anderson, who commanded the forts of Charleston harbor, until an absolute necessity for doing so should make itself apparent, lest it might be regarded as a menace of military coercion, and thus furnish a provocation, or, at least, a pretext, for an outbreak on the part of South Carolina. No necessity for these reenforcements seemed to exist. I was assured, by distinguished, upright gentlemen of South Carolina, that no attack on Major Anderson was intended, but that, on the contrary, it was the desire of the State authorities as much as it was my own to avoid the fatal consequences which must eventually follow a military collision. "And here I deem it proper to submit, for your information, copies of a communication dated 29th December, 1860, addressed to me by R. W. Barnwell, J. H. Adams, and James L. Orr, Commissioners of South Carolina, with the accompanying documents, and copics of my answer thereto, dated December 31st. [See pages 145-149.] In further explanation of Major Anderson's removal from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, it is proper to state that after my answer to the South Carolina Commissioners, the War Department received a letter from that gallant officer dated December 27th, 1860, the day after his movement, from which the following is an extract: “I will add as my opinion, that many things convinced me that the authorities of the State designed to proceed to a hostile act (evidently referring to the orders dated December 11th, of the late Secretary of War.) Under this impression, I could not hesitate that it was my solemn duty to move my command from a fort which we could not probably have held longer than forty-eight or sixty hours, to this one where my power of resistance is increased to a very great degree." "It is said that serious apprehensions are to some extent entertained, in which I do not share, that the peace of the District may be disturbed before the 4th of March next. In any event, it will be my duty to preserve it, and this duty shall be performed. 46 In conclusion, it may be permitted to me to remark that I have often warned my countrymen of the dangers which now surround us. This may be the last time I shall refer to the subject officially. I feel that my duty has been faithfully, though it may be imperfectly performed; and whatever the result may be, I shall carry to my grave the consciousness that I at least meant well for my country. 46 (Signed) "JAMES BUCHANAN. Washington City, Jan. 8, 1861." Davis, of Miss., called for the reading of the accompanying papers. He referred to the peaceful nature of the mission, and to the amiable character of the Commissioners. The country, therefore, had a right to expect something good from their presence. But they had returned, and the President had not even referred to the termination of their mission. He added: "He," (the President,) "stops with the letter which he sent to them, and which I must say, with all respect to the high office which he holds, was wanting in fairness, and was a perversion of the arguments which they had presented. They replied to him, and exposed the unfairness of his treatment of the facts which they stated, certainly in a manner most uncomfortable to him, and he returned their letter as one which he could not receive. In his communication to us he does not even permit us to know that these Commissioners had attempted to reply to the positions he had taken. But, with this great misstatement of his paper to them, he sends that paper to the world without even a reference to the fact that he was answered. I have an authentic It will be recollected that the concluding part of copy of their answer, and I send it to the the orders was in the following words: "The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts, but an attack on, or attempt to take possession of either one of them, will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them, which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. You are also authorized to take similar defensive steps whenever you have tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act. desk that it may be read." Mr. King-These men were here with a treasonable purpose. 46 Resolved, That all attempts to dissolve the Union, or overthrow the Constitution, with the expectation Mr. Davis-I call the Senator to order. I of constructing it anew, are dangerous and illusory, Mr. Davis-If the Senator has the meanness to object, let it come back. Mr. King said he objected to the reading. He did not want to hear the papers read. A long discussion ensued on a point of order, and the yeas and nays were called on the decision of the Chair that the paper was understood to be part of the Senate papers. Mr. King said he objected to the reception of the paper, as he supposed it was to supply a defect in the President's Message. The decision of the Chair was sustained31 to 19. And it was also ordered to be read -36 to 13. The reading of the last letter again called up Mr. Davis. In the course of his remarks he said: "I feel now, even more than before, pity for the Chief Executive of the United States. Fallen, indeed, is that Executive, who so lately was borne into the high office which he holds, upon the shoulders of the Democracy of the land, when he comes down to depend upon the Senators from New York for protection." He then asked: "Why, after the reception of the last letter, the President had not called upon the Commissioners for the means by which peace could be restored? Thus he would have initiated a measure which might have led to auspicious results, and might have turned away civil war. Then we should not have stood waiting hourly, as we do to day, for what the telegraph may bring us to decide whether we are to have peace or war." and in the opinion of the Senate no reconstruction is practicable; and, therefore, to the maintenance of excitement. At the reception and read- Howard's Special the United States have been or are now treat- ther any efforts have been made to recover This stirred up the opposition to a determined resistance. Mr. Crawford, of Georgia, ineffectually sought to introduce a substitute. Mr. Garnett, of Virginia, sought to have the Message considered in the Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union. Mr. Phelps, of Mo., would oppose the resolution as offering, instead of a remedy for evils, a mere effort to indict somebody. Mr. Florence, (Dem.,) of Pennsylvania, opposed the resolution, believing it to be productive of no good. So of Hill, of Georgia, and Mared, and an extrication from our present difficulties tin, of Virginia, the latter of whom deemed it a firebrand. The resolution finally passed Mr. Crittenden called up his resolutions. Mr. Clark, of N. H., moved to substitute the following: “Resolved, That the provisions of the Constitution are ample for the preservation of the Union, and the protection of all the material interests of the country; that it needs to be obeyed rather than amend is to be looked for in strenuous efforts to preserve and protect the public property, and enforce the laws, rather than in new guarantees for particular interests, or compromises, or concessions to unreasonable demands. 133 to 62. On further motion of Mr. Leake, the Special Committee, now ordered on the Message, was instructed to inquire whether any arms have recently been remov MR. HUNTEB'S SPEECH. 185 Hunter's Speech. ed from Harper's Ferry to Pittsburgh; and apply to those cases when we if so, by whose authority and for what reason. annex a country, and they are In the Senate, Friday, the Crittenden resnot quite ready to come in as a olutions were called up. Mr. Turnbull moved State. The next exception is, that Congress may dian amendment, approving the conduct of vide the Territories, so that Slavery shall be prohibitMajor Anderson in withdrawing from Forted in one portion; and be recognized and protected in Moultrie to Fort Sumter; also approving the determination of the President to maintain that officer in his present condition, and avowing that we will support the President in all Constitutional measures for the enforcement of the laws and for the preservation. of the Union, Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, then addressed the Senate at length on the state of the country. He reviewed the course of events, and assumed that the South had but one path to pursue—either to obtain a concession to her demands or to withdraw from the Union. The nature of these demands he thus stated: "I now ask what should be Hunter's Speech. the nature of that guarantee that would effectually protect our social system from such assaults as these? They must be guarantees of a kind that will stop up all the avenues through which they threaten to assail the social system of the South. There must be Constitutional amendments which should provide, First, That Congress shall have no power to abolish Slavery in the States or the District of Columbia, or the dockyards, forts and arsenals of the United States. Second: Congress shall not abolish, tax, or obstruct the Slave-trade between the States. “Third: It shall be the duty of each of the States to suppress combination within its jurisdiction, for the armed invasion of any other State. "Fourth: States shall be admitted, with or without Slavery, according to the election of the people. the other; provided the law is sanctioned by a majority of Senators. This exception is intended to apply to cases when unpeopled Territory is annexed, and is subject to fair division between sections." But these were not all that were necessary to preserve the South from encroachments. He assumed the unequivocal position that she must have guarantees of power as well as guarantees of principle, otherwise the South would be at the mercy of the majority of the North. It would, therefore, be necessary to modify section a constant representative in the Presithe system of government, so as to give each dential chair. As this scheme has found some favor among "re-constructionists," we may give the Senator's propositions on this head: "In the first place I would resort to a dual Executive, as proposed by Mr. Calhoun, but in another form. I would provide that each section should elect a President, to be called the First and Second President, the first to serve for four years, and the President next succeeding him to serve for four other years, and afterward be reeligible, During the term of the President the Second should be President of the Senate, having a casting vote in case of a tie. No treaty should be valid which did not have the signature of both Presidents, and be sanctioned by two-thirds of the Senate. No law should be valid which was not signed by both Presidents, or, in the event of a veto, be passed by the sanction of a majority of the Senators from the section from which he came. And no officers should be appointed unless with the sanction of both Presidents, or the sanction of a majority of the Senators from whence they are appointed. And, Sirs, I would change, if I had the power, the mode of "Fifth: It shall be the duty of the States to restore fugitive slavés, or pay the value of the same. Suth: Fugitives from justice shall be deemed to be those who have offended the laws of a State within its jurisdiction, and have escaped there-electing these Presidents. I would provide that from. "Seventh: Congress shall recognize, and protect as property, what is held to be such by the laws of any State, in the Territories, dockyards, arsenals, forts, and wherever the United States has exclusive jurisdiction. These are, of course, liable to exceptions-First: Congress may leave Slavery to the people of the Territories, when they shall be ready to pass into the condition of a State, with the usual sanction of a majority of Senators from the nonSlaveholding States. This exception is designed to each State should be divided into Presidential electoral districts. Each district should elect one man as Elector, and these Electors should meet in one chamber, and the two men who, after a certain number of ballots, should receive the highest number of votes, should be submitted as candidates to the people, and he should be declared President who should have the majority of districts. I would do this to destroy the chances of a combination, for purposes of power and patronage. I would substitute this instead of a National Convention. I would diminish Hunter's Speech. the temptations to all such corrupt combinations for spoils and patronage, by the fact that one of the Presidents that would be elected would have four years to serve before he could take the power. Meantime he would be in training for four years, as President of the Senate, and using the veto power. "But I go further. I believe the working of our present Executive system would destroy this Government by dissolution, or by turning it into a despotism, in the end, if some amendments are not made. The working of this Executive is such as to bring up a party whose very existence depends upon spoil and plunder. I have heard Mr. Calhoun say often, that the conflict in every Government would be conflicts between two parties, which he called the tax-paying party and the tax-consuming party- the one dependent entirely upon the spoils of office, and the other, the tax-paying party, which made the contributions to the Governnient and expected nothing in return except from the general benefits of legislation. He said, and wisely said, in my opinion, that whenever this tax-consuming party got entire possession, disunion would follow, and the Government must cease or take an entirely different form. I say the working of our present system is such as to give rise to such a party in the country, and some change must be made, or else it will eventually end in despotism. charg gatio found then, that a citize merce vide a ment States charg curred be ren ring. provid each s from t pointin He great of sec the la was a power lieved the q rights most a ber. 1 sible. ing up deduct "But I ask if to the l have to they hav Constitu this Gov not it sa "Now, Sir, the check which I propose not only remedies this evil, and gives a sectional check, when a sectional check is necessary, but it would do much to purify the general legislation of the country, and renovate the public morals of the land. I do believe that this single change would do more to give us a permanent Government than any other which could be made, but it is not the only check which ought to be introduced, for some of the most important objects of this Constitution are now left simply to the discretion of the States. There is a large class of rights for which there is no remedy, or next to none. Those provisions which are designed to secure free trade and free intercourse between the States-most of them are left to the States. They can pass laws to tax the commodities of an obnoxious State. I believe, myself, it was intended by the framers of the Constitution that the States should be instrumental in restoring fugitive Slaves, and we know it is in their power to obstruct and actually to impede the Government of the United States. Now, Sir, I proposed, in order to secure the proper enforcement of these rights, that the Supreme Court should also be readjusted so as to consist of ten members, five from each section, the Chief Justice to be one of the-when t five; and I would allow any State to bring another arise from State before it, on a charge of having failed to dis-plaint aga How will How wil crushed to develo Sir, what them for you four an Empi fragments will they many a b tle field, a MR. SEWARD'S SPEECH. * * * shall plead against them, for her | the preceeding session, and Hunter's Speech. wounded honor, in her speech- the calamities which were less woe and despair-how will impending at the moment, they account for it before man and before God, before earth and before Heaven, if they close in blood this great American experiment, which was inaugurated by Providence in the wilderness, to insure peace on earth and good will to men? It is said that the very smell of blood stirs the animal passions of men. Give us time for the play of reason. Let us see, after the States have secured in themselves their old organization and their old system-let us see if we cannot bring together once more our scattered divisions, if we cannot close up our broken ranks, and cannot find some plan of conciliation. And when those columns come mustering in from the distant North, and the further South, from the rising to the setting sun, to take their part in that grand review, there wili go up a shout that will shake the heavens, and which shall proclaim to the ends of the earth that we are united once morebrothers in war, brothers in peace, ready to take our place in the front of that grand march of human progress, and able and willing to play in that game of nations where the prizes are wealth and empire, and where victory may crown our name with deathless and eternal fame." the 187 Mr Seward's Speech. he confessed that the alarm was appalling. Union is not more the body than Liberty is the soul of the nation. The American citizen, therefore, who has looked calmly at revolution elsewhere, and believed his own country free from its calamities, shrinks from the sight of convulsive indications of its sudden death. He knew how difficult it was to decide, amid so many and so various counsels, what ought to, or even what can, be done. But, it was time for every Senator to declare himself. He, therefore, declared his “adherence to the Union in its integrity and with all its parts, with my friends, with my party, with my state, with my country, or without either, as they may determine, in every event, whether of peace or of war, with every consequence of honor or dishonor, of life or of death." This fine sentiment was the key-note to his entire speech; to the defence and illustration of that stand-point he brought to bear all the power of his eloquence, all the force of his logic, all the resources of his accomplished intellect. The effort cost him sacrifices, since, before war he chose peace, and for peace he would compromise to the last verge of propriety. This position lifted him above those of his party who had declared against compromise, and, to some degree, served to argue a difference in policy from the Presidentelect, whose first minister he was to become.* For that reason it created comment, though, Mr. Harlan, of Iowa, followed, confining his remarks chiefly to the Fugitive Slave law and the impropriety of the presumption fostered by Southern men that the majority should submit to the minority. He conceived that human liberty, liberty of speech, of press, of the conscience, of government, of religion-all were at stake; if the North yielded, all were in peril, and society itself would be shocked to its very centre by such a "compromise." Nothing of moment transpired in the as a whole, its general impression was eminHouse, during Friday. ently satisfactory to the large majority in the Free States, and to many in the Slave States who still hoped for adjustment. Saturday's session of the Mr. Seward's Speech. Senate was rendered memorable by Mr. Seward's long expected speech. It called together a vast audience. The speaker's position as the accredited Secretary of State of the incoming administration rendered his words of more than usual weight. He was to pronounce for peace or war to decide if the seceding states should be permitted to depart in peace, or be held responsible at the barof Executive power. If compromise was possible he was to indicate it. After adverting to the happy auspices of upon the Chicago Platform." It was, he said, easy to say what would not save the Union. Mere eulogiums would not, *The N. Y. Tribune, late in December, had inserted the following as a "double-leaded" editorial: "We are enabled to state in the most positive terms, that Mr. Lincoln is utterly opposed to any conces sion or compromise that shall yield one iota of the position occupied by the Republican party on the subject of Slavery in the Territories, and that he stands now, as he stood in May last, when he accepted the nomination for the Presidency, square |