Interlude
"So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable." -- Aldous Huxley
Leland Stanford, Prime Minister of Columbia
July 1st, 1872
Victoria, Columbia
It was a particularly uncomfortable day in the capital of Columbia. The sun was out in force, baking the streets with its sunshine with little defiance due to the rather cloudless sky. The tempertuare was unusually high in the Pacific Northwest and while some enjoyed the summer weather, Prime Minister Stanford cursed it.
Stuck within the confines of his sweltering office, Leland Stanford combed through several documents on his desk. Those stubborn Populists were holding up all manner of bills, slowing the government down to a snails crawl as opposed to its usual turtle like plodding. They believed that they could win this upcoming Presidential election, as well as capture control of the Parliament. Leland expelled a sigh and sunk down into his chair. Dabbing at his sweating forehead with a hankerchief he feared that they might succeed. That arrogant bastard Elliot West didn't help either. He acted far more quickly in turning against the President then Stanford has anticipated. Worse he was intelligent enough not to run in direct opposition to the President, instead supporting the highly popular Henry Corbett. Drumming his fingers on his desk, Leland tried to think of a way out of this morass, it could still be possible to pull off a winning campaign.
A knock on the door came and Leland Stanford forced himself to sit up straight in his chair. "Enter" he called, his voice somewhat scratchy. He only then realized how parched he was and poured himself a glass of tepid water.
Randall Kable, a man in his late fifties who served as secretary and aide to the Prime Minister, stuck his head in the doorway. "Mr. Stanford, senator Barnwell of South Carolina is here to see you. Shall I show him in?"
Leland Stanford drained the glass of water and set it aside. He nodded his head absently. He had completely forgotten that he had a meeting with the Confederate senator today. Silently blaming his forgetfulness on the heat, Stanford thanked Randall and instructed him to show the good senator in.
Several minutes later the seventy one year old senator entered the office. Tall and unbent by age, Robert Woodward Barnwell had a smile on his lips and a pair of small spectacles seated on his nose. Despite his age, he moved easily enough and Leland knew him to be quite competant. Columbia's Prime Minister rose from his chair and came around his desk, forcing an affable smile.
"Ahh Robert, so good to see you again. I trust that your trip here was not too unpleasant, I understand you had a minor episode west of Dallas?" Leland said as he shook the older gentlemans hand and guided him to a chair.
"Yes, it is unfortunate that much of that region is still quite lawless, but I was unharmed and the matter was swiftly resolved." Senator Barnwell looked down at the small humidor he was carrying and offered it to Leland Stanford. "Compliments of the State of South Carolina. It is my hope that you still enjoy a good smoke, Leland. I myself had to give them up last fall, ya'know my lungs aren't what they used to be."
"That I do. That I do. I shall put these to good use." Stanford said as he took the cigar case and set it down on his desk. Moving around his desk he then snatched up a decanter of brandy and two snifters. "Senator? Can I at least offer you a drink before we get down to business?"
The Southern senator nodded his head, one hand absently combing through his curled grey locks. "I do believe I would like that very much Leland." The Prime Minister poured two glasses and handed one to Robert. After taking a sip, Senator Barnwell got straight to business. "I'll do us both a favor and skip over the usual formalities. Our two nations are locked together in a similar destiny. Together we were able to defeat the aggression of the yankees and only together can we continue to prosper. I am uncertain of how much you know regarding the current situation in the East, but it seems clear that another conflict is unavoidable.. " The Confederate Senator let his words hang in the air for a moment, taking another drink of his brandy before continuing. " The insufferable yanks continue to meddle in our sea lanes and have outright refused to leave occupied western virginia. They call it a state, Kanawawa or some such nonsense. Utter hogwash." Robert said with disdain.
Leland Stanford rolled the brandy around in his mouth. So the Confederate States of America intended to go to war again and unless he missed his mark, they were expecting Columbia to aid them. Stroking his beard Stanford pondered the situation. A war might very well be able to lend the needed support for Sutter and the current government. People were unwilling to risk change when threatened by an external enemy. He remembered reading a recent report that indicated that the United States-Columbia border was hardly patroled. "War? So soon after the last one.. are you prepared for such a thing?"
The old southern gentleman gave a haughty bark of a laugh. "Of course we are. Unlike those fools in the North, we deemed it necessary to maintain a standing army. Our republic is yet still young and we need to protect ourselves against foriegn aggressors." Robert Woodward Barnwell said all this with a straight face, despite the hypocricy evident in his words.
Leland considered a moment before addressing the most vexing issue "What of the European powers? England and France both signed the treaty that closed the first war. Isn't your Congress concered that they might interfere?"
"No sir, they are not. While it is a possibility, we believe that the european powers will respect this as a strictly North American conflict. They have Russia, Prussia and Austria to concern themselves with. It's a risk President Hunt and Congress are willing to take. We can no longer allow this unlawful occupation of the soveriegn State of Virginia. I trust we will have Columbia's support?"
Leland Stanford rose and shook the Senator's hand once more. "Of course I will need to speak with John about all this, but the Confederate States know that Columbia does not abandon its allies and friends. Again, thank you for the cigars Robert." The Prime Minister smiled as he led his guest out. He had forgotten about the miserable heat momentarily. Another war, it might be just the thing to save the campaign and perhaps even bring life to his dreams of rail line running down the western coast.
After seeing his guest out Leland instructed Randall to arrange a meeting with the President and the rest of his cabinet. There was much to be discussed.