Part 13 (2/2)

Had the question been asked early in 1861, Who will be the real force of the republican administration? almost every unprejudiced observer would have answered promptly, Seward He was a man of unusual intellectual powers, of the best education, and of the finest culture

In regard to the ht side

He had a career of brilliant success extending over thirty years of practical experience He had been governor of the E members of the United States senate He was the most accomplished diplomatist of the day

In marked contrast was the President-elect He had, in his encounters with Douglas, shown himself a master of debate But his actual experience of administration was practically _nil_ He had served a few years in a frontier legislature and one ter more His record as representative may be summarized as follows:

1 comic speech on General Cass

1 set of humorous resolutions, known as the spot resolutions

1 bill in reference to slavery in the District of Columbia, which bill failed to pass

There was thus no comparison between the careers of the two men

Seward's friends, and Seward himself, assumed as a self-evident truth, that ”where Seward sits is the head of the table” Lincoln did not assent to this proposition

He considered himself President and head of the cabinet How the matter came out will appear later in the chapter

The selection of a cabinet was a difficult and delicate task It must be remembered that Lincoln confronted a solid South, backed by a divided North It has already been said that in fifteen states he received not a single electoral vote, and in ten of these not a single popular vote That was the solid South

The divided condition of the Northletter, written by ex-President Franklin Pierce to Jefferson Davis under date of January 6, 1860:

”If, through the madness of Northern abolitionists, that dire cala will not be along Mason and Dixon's line merely It will be _within our own borders, in our own streets_, between the two classes of citizens to whom I have referred Those who defy law, and scout constitutional obligation, will, if we ever reach the arbitrah at hoe measure, unite the various classes of the North, his utter failure would be a foregone conclusion He saw this with perfect clearness His first move was in the selection of his cabinet These selections were taken not only froraphical divisions of the country, but also from the divers political divisions of the party It was not his purpose to have the secretaries simply echoes of himself, but able and representative men of various types of political opinion At the outset this did not meet the approval of his friends Later, its wisdom was apparent In the more than a hundred years of cabinets in the history of the United States there has never been an abler or a purer cabinet than this

As guesses, more or less accurate, werecitizens” felt called on to labor with the President and show him the error of his ways As late as March 2d there was an outbreak against Chase A self-appointed coe in numbers and respectable in position, called on Lincoln to protest vigorously He heard theh he replied In voice of sorrow and disappointment, he said, in substance: ”I had written out my choice and selection of members for the cabinet after most careful and deliberate consideration; and now you are here to tell ain I don't like your list as well as mine I had hoped to have Mr Seward as Secretary of State and Mr Chase as Secretary of the Treasury But of course I can't expect to have things just as I want theentlee like this? To appoint Mr Chase Secretary of the Treasury, and offer the State department to Mr Dayton of New Jersey?

”Mr Dayton is an old whig, like Mr Seward and myself Besides, he is from New Jersey, which is next door to New York Then Mr Seward can go to England, where his genius will find wonderful scope in keeping Europe straight about our troubles”

The ”co in h to back out of the aard situation Mr Lincoln ”took _that_ trick”

The names sent on March 5th were: for Secretary of State, William H

Seward, of New York; for Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P Chase, of Ohio; for Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania; for Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; for Secretary of the Interior, Caleb B Smith of Indiana; for Attorney-General, Edward Bates, of Missouri; for Postomery Blair, of Maryland

All these names were confirmed by the senate the next day, March 6th

Of the variety of the selection he said, ”I need them all They enjoy the confidence of their several states and sections, and they will strengthen the adrave and perilous for ambitious schemes and rivalries” To all ere associated with hiet ourselves and join hands, like brothers, to save the republic If we succeed, there will be glory enough for all” He playfully spoke of this cabinet as his happy family

The only one ithdrew early from this number, was Cameron He was accused of various forovernes were true or not, we cannot say But in the following January he resigned and was succeeded by Edwin M Stanton, a lifelong democrat, one who had accepted office under Buchanan Probably no person was more amazed at this choice than Stanton himself But he patriotically accepted the call of duty With unspeakable loyalty and devotion he served his chief and his country to the end

As has already been indicated, Seward cheerfully assuovernning such papers as he instructed hirew fast and thick, he wrote home, ”These cares fall chiefly on me” Mr

Welles wrote that confidence andall the members of the cabinet, ”with the exception of Mr Seward, who had, or affected, a e which he was not prepared to impart”

He went so far as to meddle with the affairs of his associates He did not entirely approve of the cabinet s and served notice that he would attend only upon special summons of the President

This condition reached its climax on the first day of April, an appropriate date Seward addressed on that day a docuhts for the President's Consideration, April 1, 1861”