shall not tender
them my advice until they ask it.... I do not choose either, to
proclaim what my policy would be, in view of the fact that the Senator
does not regard himself as the guardian of the honor and interests of
my country, but is looking to the interests of another, which he
thinks is in hostility to this country. It would hardly be good policy
or wisdom for me to reveal what I think ought to be our policy, to one
who may so soon be in the counsels of the enemy, and the command of
its armies."[961]

Douglas did admit, however, that since the garrison of Fort Sumter had
provisions for only thirty days, he presumed no attempt would be made
to reinforce it. Under existing circumstances the President had no
power to collect the revenues of the government and no military force
sufficient to reinforce Sumter. Congress was not in session to supply
either the necessary coercive powers or troops. He therefore drew the
conclusion that not only the President himself was pacific in his
policy, but the Republican party as well, despite the views of
individual members. "But," urged Mason of Virginia, "I ask the
Senator, then, what is to be done with the garrison if they are in a
starving condition?" "If the Senator had voted right in the last
presidential election," replied Douglas good-naturedly, "I should have
been in a condition, perhaps, to tell him authoritatively what ought
to be done."

From this moment on, Douglas enjoyed the confidence of President
Lincoln to an extraordinary degree. No one knew better than Lincoln
the importance of securing the cooeperation of so influential a
personage. True, by the withdrawal of Southern senators, the
Democratic opposition had been greatly reduced; but Douglas was still
a power in this Democratic remnant. Besides, the man who could command
the suffrages of a million voters was not a force lightly to be
reckoned with. After this speech of the 6th, Lincoln again sent for
Douglas, to express his entire agreement with its views and with its
spirit.[962] He gave Douglas the impression that he desired to gain
time for passions to cool by removing the causes of irritation. He
felt confident that there would soon be a general demand for a
national convention where all existing differences could be radically
treated. "I am just as ready," Douglas reported him to have said, "to
reinforce the garrisons at Sumter and Pickens or to withdraw them, as
I am to see an amendment adopted prot