The Express.
London, England, 1868-01-01 00:00:00

NEW YORK, Duo. 11.
The President has sent in his message, giving his
reasons for suspending Mr. Stanton, and I believe
it is generally admitted that he has on the whole
the best of the argument. He shows without diffi-
culty the inconvenience and inexpediency of having
people in the President's cabinet who are on bad
terms with the President, and of course has all the
precedents and all " the sayings of the elders" on
his side. The acts of Congrces founding the dif-
ferentdepartmenta, or secretaryship', as well as the
debates upon their passage, in which most of the
founders of the government participated, recognise
in the fullest manner the subordination of all the
heads of departments to the President, and his
right to appoint and disiniss them. Moreover, he
alleges that at the Cabinet meeting at which this
Tenure of Office Bill, under which Mr. Stanton
claimed his right to hold over, was discussed,
pending the President's approval or disapproval
of it, Mr. Stanton was iceressoal is iL
unoorusiftutional and unwarrantable. Peening oa to
Mr. Stanton's share in other matters of which the
President has had to bear the whole blame, he
alleges that a telegram of General Baird, which
was sent on from New Orleans in July, 1866,
announcing his fears of a riot in case the radical
convention were held, and asking for instructions,
was retained by Mr. Stanton, and not shown to
the President for nearly a fortnight, when the
tragedy was over, and he was bearing all the
odium of having connived at it. This undoubtedly
shows Mr. Stanton to have been unpardonably
neglectful, but I think nothing more. The real
excuse for his conduct is one which he will doubt-
less not make, viz., that he fell during Mr.
Lincoln's administration into the habit of managing
everything his own way, and only consulting the
President on very extraordinary occasions, and he
of course did not lose it when Mr. Johnson came
into power. He probably did not suppose anything
very serious was impending at New Orleans, and
thought the military authorities had enough force
and knowledge of their powers to deal with any-
thing that came up. As matters stood, after the
news of the massacre, it would have been very easy
for the President to have relieved himself from all
responsibility for it by a simple statement of
the facts. Rut at that time, as you may
remember, his head was completely turned.
lie had just come out with his " policy,"
and was drunk with the notion that he was going
to overturn the radicals and restore the Union, and
be hailed by the people North and South as their
saviour. The news of the New Orleans riot over-
took him when he was making his disgraceful tour
in the West, and instead of appearing shocked by it,
or promising to inquire into it, he seemed glad to
hear of it, and forthwith began to use it as another
point against the radicals in his brawling speeches,
to the great disgust and dismay, not of the repub-
licans only, but of men of all parties.
The Stanton message is 1 think the best written
of all his state papers. Its tone and temper and
atylo are excellent, and it 'oaken out a better ease
against Mr. Stanton than anyone thought possible.
At the same time 1 doubt whether it will produce
any effect. Both parties will most likely let the
matter remain as it is. The Senate may hear Mr.
Stanton and debate his case, but I question
whether it will insist on his return to the
War-otliee, or whether he will seek it him-
self. Everybody is very well contented to
have General Grant there, and his manner
of performing its duties is sosatisfactery that there
would be absolutely nothing gained by Mr. Stan-
ton's restoration, except a personal triumph for that
gentleman himself, and he is not IN enough to
make any set or party very anxious to secure him
this.

This view of the case is rendered all the more
probable by the publication of General Grant's
letter written to the President tipolqn,N of Mr.
Stanton's removal, and marked "private," strongly
disapproving of it, and urging the President not
to attempt it. This closes the mouth completely of
all his enemies, and puts an end to all doubts of
his political orthodoxy on the part of his friends,
and reconciles the republican party at least com-
pletely to his retention of the War-office. More-
over, it makes his nomination for the Presidency
doubly sure, as it removes all reason for complain-
ing of his retimuce. It shows that his abstinence
from declarations of opinion has been due not to
his disagreement with the republican party on any
vital point of public policy, but toasenseuf military
propriety. It would nut have been becoming in
him, he has felt, to take part in political agitation,
or to rail against the President, his superior officer,
as long as he was in onnmand of the army. There-
fore, when Senator This and Senator That called on
hint for the purpose of pumping him, they inva-
riably found him ready to talk on almost any sub-
ject but politics. Horseflesh was the topic to
which he most inclined ; but, as Senator Wade,
who met with many rebuffs from him, remarked
very sensibly, " A man may be all right on horses,
and all wrong on politics." Grant, however, it is
well known, is not particularly anxious to be made
President. The position he has is a better, and
certainly a more permanent one ; and he is, there-
fore, not disposed to put himself to any inconve-
nience, not even to talk politics, in order to get
the Presidency. The mass of the people, with his
glorious performance before their eyes, have always
been inclined to approve of his silence, no matter
what his sentiments were ; but now that it has
transpired that his sentiments have all along been
such that he bad everything to gain and nothing to
lose by revealing them, his silence will probably be
more admired than ever. Fur all these reasons I
do not anticipate any change in the War Depart-
ment for the present.
If Mr. Johnson had had the good sense to keep
quiet after sending in the Stanton message
he would certainly have been in a better position
than any in which he has found himself fur two
years. But he seems to have a mania for damaging
himself, and yesterday sent in the following ridicu-
lous effusion to Congress :
GENTLEMEN OF Tax SENATE AND or THE HOCeir OF No-
PHECENTATIVES,—An official copy of the order issued by
Major-General Winfield S. Hancock, commander of the
Fifth Military Districtolated headquarters in New Orleans,
on the 29th day of November, has reached me thivugh
the regular channels of the War Department, sad I here.
with communicate it to Congress for such action es may
Deem to be proper in view of all the circumstanoes. It will
be perceived that General Hancock announces that he will
make the law the rule of his conduct; that he will uphold
the courts and other civil authorities in the performance
of their proper duties, and that he will use his
military power only to preserve the pesos and
edam the law. be derlsres miry lamplight, that the