He wished to gain local control.
He knew the overmastering power of the pro-slavery administration
would handle the main issue later--if not in peace, then in war.
As the red-tiled roofs of Monterey fade behind them, Hardin unbosoms
himself to his young comrade. Maxime Valois has been a notable
leader in the Convention. He was eager and loyal to the South. He
extended many acquaintances with the proud chivalry element of the
new State. His short experience of public life feeds his rising
ambition. He determines to follow the law; the glorious profession
which he laid aside to become a pathfinder; the pathway to every
civic honor.
"Valois," says Hardin, "these people are too short-sighted.
Our Convention leaders are failures. We should have ignored the
slavery fight as yet. Thousands of Southern voters are coming to
us within six months from the border States. Our friends from the
Gulf are swarming here. The President will fill all the Federal
offices with sound Southern Democrats. The army and navy will be
in sympathy with us. With a little management we could have got
slavery as far as 36 deg 30 sec. We could work it all over the West
with the power of our party at the North. We could have controlled
the rest of this coast by the Federal patronage, keeping the free
part out of the Union as territories.
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