Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-10-04
IMPEACHMENT.

The Radical How Far it
Is 30 be Carried. and for What Pur-
POse-The President and gen. Grant
Roth PIacIS.
Washington Cor. New York Herald. SOth.
There appears to be little doubt now that
the Impeachment excitement turns on the
race for The Presidential succession. The
riva. aspirants on the Republican side
grasp at every straw in their desperate
agony to hold on to the last hope of the
Presidential nomination. Impeachment is
regarded as a measure calculated to fire
the Radical heart and win popularity with
the extreme wing of the Republican party.
The game is TO keep tanning this impeach-
ment flame until Congress meets in No
vember then coneoct some scheme of try
ing johnson on some solemn looking
charges, the understanding 10 be that the
trial shall drag its slow length along
through some weary months, and finally
explode in smoke when the Radical Presi-
deafial progFapdlD eehall have been matured.
and Be In a safe wy Of succeeding. But
the query suggests itself TO the thoughtful
mind, "Will this little game 60 along thus
smoothly and pleasantly without hurting
anybody in particular except Andy john
son" Is there not a risk that the joke may
be carried too far-that passion may be
excited to such pitch that it will be found
difficult to stop just at the right point
just where the plotting politicians now de-
sign? Will the Conservative element of
the country, which is just awakening and
beginning TO speak in tones that already
alarm the Radicals, tamely permit this
- of ha
Will the Copperhead element stand idly by
and suffer an opportunity to escape OF gain
ing some political capital2 Will johnson
himself let things go even so far as the
Radicals propose? These are all questions
to which no reliable answer can be given
in the present confused state of affairs
| do not think the Radicals intend to at
tempt the suspension of the President but
should they do So | am assured Mr.. John
son will resist in the way / before indi-
Gated. In such an event serious trouble
must result. Even the introduction of a
resolution of suspension, and the attempt
to pass it, would be regarded by the Presi-
dent as c1sUs 5elli. 1t is said that the
President would not even allow such reso,
luton to pass. He would regard its pre-
sentation as a revolutionary act and would
Immediately issue proclamation, repre-
senting that an attempt was about to be
made to depose him unlawfully. He would
adjourn the two houses and call upon the
army and navy to support him. Would
the army and navy respond? 1t is hard to
tell. Grant, pestered and harassed on all
sides, keeps his own counsel. He says
nothing, and yet each side claims him as
an ally. The Conservatives proclaim he
has always inclined towards them, while
the Radicals, on the other hand, point to
his course in relation to Sheridan, Sickles
and Stanton, and his correspondence with
the President thereon, and infer that there
fore he is with them. | am inclined to
think that the reticence of the General-in-
Chief is not owing altogether to desire to
conceal his real sentiments, but simply to
the fact that he intends to guide himself by
circumstances. Should the President pro-
rogue Congress before the passage ofa reso-
luton of suspension, Grant will then prob
ably, as soldier, feel himself bound to
obey the orders of Mr.. johnson. But
should Congress succeed in passing reso-
luton of suspension and elect Wade Presi-
dent dd interim, then Grant will look to
Wade for directions, and become the serv-
ant of Congress-.
In the meantime both the President and
Grant are the two coolest men in the eoun.
try. Though in the event of conflict they
will have the most difficult and perilous
parts to play in the great national drama,
they seem perfectly at ease, and show no
sign of being undnly excited The Presi-
| dent receives his visitors at the White
House daily in his quiet, affable, smiling
way, and takes his regular afternoon drive
with Colonel Moore his Private Secretary,
or with his little grandchildren. His
smiling face may be seen any day, between
five and six P. NJ on the road out Four
teenth street, which is his regular drive.
| Grant, too, is to be seen on the same road
every afternoon, drowning State cares in the
excitement of horse.