The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-25

s.Stl40Ut
~ II The ieskya spnilsd, Stat4a nenAtcf !.
'elAtPe nejee1snerale Of ~ Amy vno
bsioneed 20 hIes party, Mers alflfoefPed -
Indianapolis by ID prominent ccrseryaeve
Republican, who had been colonel Of %
Indiana regiment during the late war, and
who & now ) captain. 10 tho regular SER
vice, and who made -tip following start
linz, statement: He bad = been making
speeches fbEtlp Rapub licapl In Indiana In
August last, and st the TequAst OF Cover
hor.,. Fletsher, OF Missouri, Waited that
State Ard made one or two 'coneeryatiyo
speeehss. He Was, told By Governor
Fletcher that his speeches were too
tame that the most RADICAL of declare
tions were wanted In. Missouri ), that the
people must be told that the Republicans
had decided that the rebels should not
vote, and that the State was 70 be carried
by force Of arms if necessary. Governor
Fletcher also told him that he had $4,000
.muskets IN the State In loyal hands, and
that they should be used, If necessary, to
carry the State. The ,1ndianian told Go
vernon Fletcher that he wasa Republican
in principle, but did not approve Of such
measures, and would not advocate them.
Governor Fletcher thought him merely
weakened, and answered him that ne
would come into. the harness after awhile.
A few nights, subsequently he was pre-
sent, on invitation, at . secret meeting OF
Radical leaders at, tho Linden Hotel.
About fifty prominent Radicals we're pre-
SENT. including Governor Fletcher, Of Mis-
souri, Governor Oglesby !, Of Illinois, and
Senator Yates and John A. Logan, Of Illi-
nois. The whole plan Of the impeach-
ment Of the President was discussed, even
to the arrangement of filing Washington
v It'll a armed force Of Boys In Blue to
protect Congress, and also to decide who
should succeed johnson in case Vice-Pre-
sident Foster, as his successor, should not
prove equally positive and ,pliable to the
will Of the Jacobins. Butler, Governor
Morton of Indiana, and others, were dis
cussed. Butler was looked upon as lacking
in courage, and Morton was feared as
being too ambitious for the purposes Of the
conspirators. General Grant was men.
toned as too conservatives, and Sherman
was secuted as q Copperhead. Finally,
Senator Yates was decided upon as pos
sessing more stamina and less scrnples than
any other available man. IfPresident John.
son offered serious resistance, and Foster
did not act vigorously, Yates was to be
put in to control affairs. -H r. 81 !.
When he was about leaving st. Louis
the informant in the case was requested by
Governor Fletcher to ask Governor Nor
ton, of Indiana, what number of arms he
could spare to Missouri. Governor Nor
ton replied, when the message was deliver.
ed, that he could not say that he had any
to spare that there were about 100000
stand, with plenty of ammunition, in the
arsenal; he would see what could be
spared, and confer with Governor fetch.
or. Out of this correspondence grew the
conference of the Governors at Philadel.
phia, which it is now well known was fol
the purpose, among others, Of distributing
arms throughout the country. Outside Of
| the statement of this officer there is indu.
bitable evidence in the hands Of President
johnson of the secret distribution of large
quantities Of arms throughout the North
| west on various pretexts, all Of which
however, are legal and plausible enough,
While the startling character Of this
| story causesit to be incredulously received
by manv, the character Of the officer max.
ing the statement, the known desperate
characters of the leaders implicated in the
scheme, and much corroborative evidence
received, cause it to be generally believed
among the Presidents adherents. .si