Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1862-01-23
THE CHANGE IN THE CARINET-RESIGNA-
TI0N OF SECRETARY CAMERON.

| withdrawal of Secretary CAMERON -
To those who. have followed closely the
course ofevent at Washington, the resignation
of Secretary CAMERON will occasion no sur
prise. 1t has been evident shat the general
policy of the Administration, and the opinions
of the Secretary of War, were irreconcilable.
Mr. CAMERON, representing in the Cabinet the
least radical of all the loyal States, has from
the first been satisfied of the identity of the
rebellion with Slavery, and has been per-
suaded that the suppression oe both is essen
tial to the restoration of the Union and the
future peace of the Republic. These views be
has lost no occasion of advocating He has
embodied them in his Instructions to com
manding officers, and it is well known that a
clause in which they found practical applca-
tion was, by the immediate influence Of the
President, expu2ged from the Annual Report
submitted in December. That he should sac
ri6cs his views, or that Cabinet could eohere
with such radical differences of opinion was
not to be expected Mr.. LINCOLN, born in
q sIaVeholdiHg community, and familiar with
the institution, believes that it may be perpet-
uated without hazard to the Union He con-
siders the Border States entitled to every pos
slble guarantee for the industrial system they
have inherited, and is willing to test the pos.
sibility of restoring the stdtass an quo with)the
least possible disturbance to the interests of
those States. But Mr. CAMERON saw in Slav.
cry the root of all difficulty. He regarded Ma
tional restoration as impossible, until the
shareholders had been compelled to retire to
that subordinate place to which alone their in
adequate scheme of labor entitled them aud
he doubted the propriety of prosecuting the
war without striking some effective blow at
its wel,known source Such contrarietins of
opinion could not conveniently exist in the
same counsels, aud hence the necessity of sep
aration.
1t may not be improper to add that other
and material difficulties attended the presence
of Mr. CAMERON in the Cabinet. He has a.
ways been decid ed advocate for promptitude
and energy in the conduct of the war; and has
perhaps sympathized unduly with that party
in Congress and among the people, which
Graves tie infusion OF more activity and de-
cision in our military policy. His accord with
the Gen eral-in- Chief of the army has not for
these and other reasons, been perfect. In the
controversy between the regular and Volun-
teer service, which has reached point wholly
with the public interest, Gen. Nc
CLELL4N is understood to side with that party
to which his military education would natural
ly attach him-While Mr.. CAMERON has been
q believer in the transcendant value and im-
porance OF the volunteers. The inquiry in
regard 70 the Balls Bluff calamity brought to
light the marked diversity of opinion between
the Secretary and the General. The former
was eager to acquit the memory of BAKER
of all responsibility for the disaster-whie
the latter was equally deSirouS to re-
lieVe STONE of the fearful responsibility.
Gen. Mcclellan was certainly successful in de-
feating Congressional inquiry, and thus far the
Secretary of War Jared ndifferently. 1t is
also understood, that he made direct issue
with the youthful hero at the head of our arm
les, in resisting the elevation to the rank of
Brigadier- General of son of that Gen. Pat
terson, whose incapacity or treachery cost US
the humiliation of Bull Run. Whether per-
sonal reasons, or those purely public, actuated
the Secretary, we are of course unable to say;
but the President disposed to concede point,
upon which Gen. Mcclellan probably insisted
all the more strenuoGsIy because Of the social
relations of his family at Philadelphia with
that of Gen. Patterson, inclined to the side OF
the General-in Chief, and the appointment was
accordingly made. While this result was prob
ably the cap-sheaf of the Secretary's case, it
was not the entire substance; and yet his res
ignation at this critical moment might have
been averted had the decision of this issue been
postponed ..... .. .....
Of Mr.. Stanton, the successor OF Mr.. Cam
eron in the administrator of the War Depart
ment, it is scarcely necessary to speak A
Democrat of the old Pro-Slavery stripe, he as
sumed place in the Cabinet Of Mr.. Buchan
an, when the Government was on the verge of
perdition, and, in association with MesSrs.
Dix and Holt, assisted in saving the Republic.
His services at that juncture are not to be for-
gotten or underrated. They were less merito-
rious, perhaps, than those of Mr.. Holt, and
there will be multitudes who will lament that
the latter does not accede to the position Of
Mr. Cameron; but Mr. Stanton has not only
approved his patriotism, integrity and capacity