Made an early call
on the President with Joseph P. Allyn, one of the Judges for the Territory of
Arizona, on the subject of Governor for that Territory. At the Cabinet-meeting,
subsequently, the President concluded to appoint Goodwin Governor and Turner
Chief Justice.
Had a free
conversation with the President on his proposed instructions to our naval
officers. Told him they would in my opinion be injudicious. That we were
conceding too much, and I thought unwisely, to the demands of the British
Minister. He said he thought it for our interest to strengthen the present ministry,
and would therefore strain a point in that direction. I expressed a hope he
would not impair his Administration and the national vigor and character by
yielding what England had no right to claim, or ask, and what we could not,
without humiliation, yield. I finally suggested that Lord Lyons should state
what were the instructions of his government, — that he should distinctly
present what England claimed and what was the rule in the two cases. We are
entitled to know on what principle she acts, — whether her claim is reciprocal,
and if she concedes to others what she requires of us. The President chimed in
with this suggestion, requested me to suspend further action, and reserve and
bring up the matter when Seward and Lord Lyons returned.
This conclusion
will disturb Seward, who makes no stand, — yields everything, — and may perhaps
clear up the difficulty, or its worst points. I do not shut my eyes to the fact
that the letter of the President and the proposed instructions have their origin
in the State Department. Lord Lyons has pressed a point, and the easiest way
for Mr. Seward to dispose of it is to yield what is asked, without examination
or making himself acquainted with the principles involved and the consequences
which are to result from his concession. To a mortifying extent Lord Lyons
shapes and directs, through the Secretary of State, an erroneous policy to this
government. This is humiliating but true.
SOURCE: Gideon
Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and
Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 409-10
