Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-12-23
The Administration Impeached by Its
own Friends--The Dissolution ana
Reconstruction Of the Cabinet.

Reconstruction Of the Cabinet.
We and an extraordinary letter in the Gin
cInnati Gasate of Monday, from which We
make the following oopious extracts. IL Ia
from its correspondent "AoATE," and 10 dated
Washington, December 18Th:
We are In the midst OF revolution! The
foolish clamor on the streets Of the National
Capital has been vexing the question whether
General Halleck or General burnside were
responsible for our late disaster, IL was
neither!
The responsibility for the murder of our SOL
diers and for the horrible deadlock In the cam
paiQn," went beyond the General commanding
In the field or the General Commanding-in'
Chief! Ono or other Of them might have Or
dered the ill.fated movement, but Abraham
Lincoln was Commander In Chief Of the Army
and Navy! From that aad fact, and from its
logical sequences, there was no escape!
The movement on Fredericksburg was recog-
nzed as the crowning crisis Of the war. With
1t were linked, almost indissolubly, the desti:
nies Of the Republic! II the Nation conquered
there, the rebellion was ended! IL the Nation
failed-the rebellion wasnot indeed finally sue
cessful, bat IL had demonstrated ita ability TO
weather the second winter Of revolt, and mad
compelled tho recognition Of Foreign Powers
Henceforth we must fight to subjugate an inde'
Iendent country-not TO reduce TO oDedience
certain revolted provinces
The issue was made up. Its momentouS
breadth was fully acknowledged, and the Com
mander-in Chief could not evade the respoDsi'
bility Of ordering his preparations accordingly
Il mattered little, so far as the people were
concerned or history was concerned, what Burn
side did, or what Halleck did. The ADMIRls
TRArIoN had In it's hands the means to insure
success. With those means in Its hands, II
failed! We were repulsed, defeated!
Itwas self-damnaton! Again and again tht
| Administration had exhibited feebleness WheI
the times demanded strength. II had now
demonstrated folly in council, and imbecilltJ
In action.
But one course was left. The President, dur
Ing his official term, is like the King-he car
do wrong But the Ministry was condemned
| Il must 20 out
The Senators, of the party to which alon'
the Administration could look for single sup
porting vote, promptly recognized the necessit!
of the hour. They deliberated the matter
gravely, cautiously, fully. Their conclusion
was unanimous. The Administration, as It the'
stood, could not be supported by the fviends Of III
country.
am writing of matter which has been studi
ousy concealed, and of which none save thu
Senators themselves, can truthfully profess pre-
else knowledge But 1t is understood that they
presented their ultimatum to the weak, waver.
ing, honest, true man, whom the terrible exl
gencies of the crisis and the distracting ankle
ties of his high position had overwhelmed. He
must reorganize his Cabinet he must gather
about him as counselors the atrong, true friends
of the country; the ablest minds the Public
Men of the Nation afforded, must be summon
ed TO the work of saving the almost ruined Re-
public; traitors, sympathizers with traitors, the
careless, who only sought to swell their own
fortunes by gorging on the vitals OF the coun-
try, the imbeciles aud the towards must be
turned out; or, he must resign! The time had
passed for trifing with the Nation's life, and
no mere man could be permitted longer to i'm
peril, for whatever reason or in whatever way
the National existence.
So much was known or understood by yes
terday noon. Toward evening the frat pub
lic intimations Of the crisis began TO leak out
Heroa little and there little came to light
and by midnight, though still far from general
ly known, il was COMMON talk In the inner cir-
Gle of wellinformed officials that the long.ex-
pected Cabinet crisis had come, and that Mr..
Seward had rendered his resignation. at ten
o'clock last night 60 much was embodied In a
dispatch to the Gasette and duly sent to tho tel
egraph office; but 1 have no idea that, under
the worse than French espionage of the Press,
which il has been one of the works of the now
crumbling Cabinet to create, the dispatch ever
escaped the pencil Of the Government censors.
This morning the air was thick with the ru-
haa aalana IN khanaol
are never without their Significance to the prac.
ticed Washington observer. -
There was general dissolution of the Cab.
met; Mr.. Seward had come to an open quarrel
with Mr.. Stanton; both must 60 out; one had
gone out; there had been an altercation at the
White House in Cabinet council; it had even
come to personal violence; the whole Admins.
tration was breaking up; Stanton had to 60;
Halleck had to GO; Stewards private papers
were all packed up OF the State Department,
preparatory to abdicating; 30 were Assistant
Secretary Fred. Stewards; the nomination for
successorship to the Department of the Interior
was suspended; everything was In q transition
state; the very materials for coup d'efat were
prepared; where the end might be no man could
tell.
So ran the hurried whispers on the corners of
the Avenue, in the Departments, the committee
rooms and the lobbies. Members drew each
other aside and eagerly inquired what truth
there was In all this. The Pfesident's private
Secretary appeared on the floor of the House
and to the scores Of questions that sssailed him,
scarcely pretended to conceal that the crisis
had come, and that the whole Administration
seemed undergoing revolution. Democrats
and Border State men uneasily hovered about
their Republican friends, and hoped Mr.. Sew
ard hadn't been sacrificed. Everybody was on
the rack Of expectation.
At this writing (four P. M. , IL is we'll under
stood that Mr.. Stewards resignation has been
rendered; and there are reasons for believing
that Secretary Stanton, Secretary Blair and Gen.
Halleck, at least, will also be compelled TO fol-
low Mr.. Stewards example. 1t scarcely stops
even there. Gen. Meigs Is almost certain to
be dismissed. Other heads of bureaus arc
likely TO follow him.
As yet all Is confusion. Beyond Mr.. Sew
ard, there may possibly be no changes, but il is
hardly probable. The President has been warn
ed, by those whose warning he must heed, that
one removal will not cure the disease that has
eaten out the strength Of his Administration.
The knife must 60 deeper. Ii remains to see
whether IL will go by bis direction or without
it.
OF the new men whom the President must
call around him, little has as yet been said.
Senator Fessenden seems foremost In the minds
Of all for the Secretaryship of State; Senator
Sumner Is also talked Of, but there is a general
agreement that he is better where he is. Judge
Holt lie mentioned, but the tendencies Of the
times are not to Border State men. And Thos.
Ewing Of Ohio, ex-senator and ex-Secretsgy,
has also been suggested. This only, however,
has been settled: that the day Of fourth rate
lawyers and politicians 10 the Cabine. Of tie
nation, at time like this, has passed.