Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1866-07-20
FoRNEY's LETTER TO JOHNSON.

six months ago, and before johnson
left the Republican party, the latter
has addressed him an open letter ex-
planning the matter. The following
is Forney's letter--plain talk with the
President. IL is pointed and pungent,
and will be foundygood reading for hot
weather.: rge af.. s,.l...-.. '~tt
TO ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF
lf@#E. THE UNITED STATES. gn.8tiast
g" WASHINGTON, d. G. July I'd, 1865.
MY DEAR SIR: Understanding that
you are anxious to disclose certain pri-
vate letters of mine, written to YOU be-
fore and since you hccame President by
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln,
and also that you are troubled with
some delicate doubts as to the exact
propriety of publishing them, l hereby
invite you to print them in one or all OF
your four organs at the national Capt.
tol, or through more convenient me-
dunn, the club or committee represent
| ing the BREAD Butter Brigade "
These letters were written without the
slightest concealment, and without the
slightest suspicion that you Were about
to betray the party that had placed you
where you are. There is a charming
consistency between the conscientious
promptings that constrained you to sep
arate from that great party and thespir-
| it which now impels you to reveal to the
world your private relations with those
who sill adhere to that organization
and although the practice is somewhat
novel, it will serve to shed rich light
upon the pages of the historian when
he comes to describe your grateful and
virtuous Administration. The follow
/ ing letter, long threatened by your or
gans, is at last given to the world, and
| / reprint il as well for the purpose OF
acknowledging it as for the purpose OF
making some comments upon it:
| 90. h .#.3z New YORK, January ., 1866.
| MY DEAR MIR. PRESIpNEr-I have
been in this city for two days, and now
write under an impulse / cannot re-
strain, because j feel it to be for your
own good and that of the country. i
take it for granted you arc reSOtped not
to be unmindf,a of y0ur O,oa fame, and
that you will not allow your friends,
who heartily sustain your policy, to
feel that they are without your aid and
encouragement. Whether you ure a
lcandidate for President or not-and il
4 you are not, shall bc greatly surprised,
with the wonderful favor that has
crowned your restoration policy-you
should not allow the great office to
| go to Indifferent men, or those clearly
in the interests of Your foes. / need
not repeat to you that | am now, as
ever, for twenty years shown in my
writings, and since your great act OF
! patriotism in 1850 especially, Your omen
and avowed friend. Where am to-
| day my two newspapers both daily
show to the world. Hcuce in what /
now say, l speak no idle words, but
mean what ! say The collectors Of
| flee at New York city Is a post that
you should dispose of outside. Of all pol
iticians; not, j mean, to defy them,
| but to select your own man, who should
be free only to help you and serve the
Goyernnent-one they could neither
attack or use, Such'a man is ~ y
of this city He was elected to Con
gress in as n Democrat, but,
ike you refused to follow the party
into treason. He served a short time
with great distinction, and resigned on
account of ill health. He was u mem
Der of the Comfnittee Of Ways and
Means, and won great applause. lie is
81 very able man, educated to finance,
intensly national, honest and independ-
ent, and could furnish millions of Sc
curIty. lie has an organizing mind,
would mako you party or fight your
hRtt!es sinG!e-handedu uao Hc is all An
drew johnson Democrat, in short.
write in the Knowledge that he would
accept, and that his appointment would
he hailed with JOY by the whole COM
inunity. trl. ..r,'.. .a.f , .....t ...s ~.
.. Yours, truly srs-. ]. W. F0RNEY. S
To THE PRESIDENT. &C., sc. 90. e,..,...+
When the letter was written there
was scarcely a t'nioa Republican in the
United States who did not believe that
your restoration policy included impair
tial suffrage to the colorcd race, full
guarantees before the return OF the
rebels, and such change in the basis
or representation as would prevent the
murderers of American liberty from re-
suming their former power. The only
real difference between you and the
radicals was whether the rebellion de-
stroyed the State organizations or not
| write with the files of the Washing
ton Chronicle before me; and find that
two days after the above letter was
written Mr.. Trumbull's two bills for
" the enlargement OF the powers Of the
the frcedmcn's bureau" and the other.
" for the protection of civil rights y
were introduced into the Senate in the
full expectation that they would re-
ceive your sanction. 1t was only when
the copperhead and traitor organs here
and elswhere began to speak as if by
your authority against the Union ma
jorities in Congress that the suspicion
OF the treason, subsequently, indicated
in your veto Of the Freedmcn's Bureau
Bill, and your disgusting I'D of Febru-
ary speech, began to pervade and finally
to possess the loyal mind of the co,In-
try. So fixed was the belief of the Re-
publican party that you could under
no circumstances cooperate with your
slanderers and theirs, and so willing
were they tooverlook your suspicious
indiflerence previous to the coming
elections in Chic, Pennsylvania, and
New Jersey, that at the period when /
wrote the above letter hundreds of
thousands cheeriully recognized you as
their political leader, and supposed you
intended to stand iirmiy by tho sub
stantial principles of their organization.
My own conviction was so strong upon
this subject that need only refer to the
pages of the Chronicle and the Press ~
prove how steadily L resisted the idea
that you Were plotting to betray your
friends, and how earnestly i endeavor-
ed to convince the country that you
had no sympathy with the common en-
emy. In all my visits to the presden-
tial mansion, and they were frequent,
it was not until late in January that
began clearly to perceive you were con-
spring with the Copperhcads and trait
ors. Before that time not O word had
ever fallen from your lips to excite the
suspicion that you were preparing to be-
come the prosecutor Of the colored race,
or that you were preparing to bring
back into full power the red d-handed
traitors whom you had so bitterly de-
nounced daring four loag years. But
when, with an amazement that I can
never forget or faithfully describe, these |
facts appeared too plain for doubt, I
fearlessly discharged my duty, regard
less of, and fully prepared for. all the
L did not stop to calca-
late whether in denouncing the dam /
gerous conspiracy Of which you were
then proved to be the chief, was help |
ing or harming the distinguished gen.
tlenlan in whose behalf l wrote the
above letter. AI ilI98J s
And now, sir, word in reference to
your personal affairs. I know right
well the difficulty, if not the danger of
the position occupy. | knew that'fo /