The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1867-09-05
Grants letter to A. j.

General Grants letter to the President
against the removal of Sheridan is q docu-
ment which will tend to reinstate him in
the affections Of the radical party. 1t is
au impudent letter, and this will please all
Jacobins. 1t is an illogical and absurd
letter, and this will render it satisfactory
to Jacobins, who, like Senator Trumbul,
of this State, are more easily led by soph-
istry than by the most logical argument
1t is impudence on the part of General
Grant, who in no sense, is representative
OF the people, to assume, III their name, to
lecture the President, who is the chief rep
resentatiye of the people.
The President said to Gen. Grant: Il
would be pleased to hear auy suggestions
.yoe may deem necessary respecting the as
signment to which the order refers" -
Gen. Grant unless gifted with mere stu
pidity than he has received credit for,
could not have misinterpreted the Prcsi-
dents meaning, which related solely to
Gen. Grant rs one whose views on the mil
itary aspect of the question ought to be
treated with respect. Gen. Grant took ad-
vantage of the Presidents courtesy to read
him lecture lin the name of the people, "
on his political duty as President. TO say
that the conduct of Gen. Grant was impu-
dent, is to employ the midest term it will
bear
General Grant asserts that
"Is is Enthusiastically the expressed wish
of the country that General Sheridan
should not be removed from his present
command. This is a republic where the
will of the people is the law of the land"
How does Gen. Grant know? Ia what
unmstakable manner has the country in
dicated to General Grant that such was or
is its wish! Has the country expressed
such wish through the ballot box, or has
I General Grant learned it from the Gatena
Quite, "the only paper he is il the habit
of reading?'
If the country had expressed such wish
in some ''unmstakbe manner" then that
wish" would be, according to Genera
Grants notion OF things, ''the law Of the
land" He employs i'll Il confused way
the terms wish Of the country" and evil
Of the people, as convertible and synonym
Gus. lie maniiestly supposes that they
have the same meaning If such is not
his supposition, his language is meaning
less.
The "will Of the people" which is 'the
law of the land" is "a very different thing
from what General Grant supposes it to be
1t is the popular will expressed in the man
ner provided 10y the fundamental law Ii
is not popular clamor. 1t Is not what the
newspapers will. 1t is not what any polit-
ical party or all political parties, may wish
no matter how enthusiastically expressed y
Ii the wish OF the country, as conveyed
to the mental organization Of General
Grant through the only newspaper that he
reads, be "the law of the land" 1t follows
that A. johnson is 10 longer the command
er-in-chief to whom Grant, as well as Sher-
idan, is 4 subordinate officer. If the wish
of the country be the law Of the land and
Grant be not III stakeu as to what that wish
is, then Grant has the lawful right, not
only to protest against the removal of Sher.
ldan, but to prevent that removal by the
employment Of SO much force as may br
necessary. Is this what L. s. Grant de-
siSheu 10 intimate he hau the right 10 90
when he assumed to speak in the name OF
the people, and to say that their wish wa:
the law of the land
However, General Grants epistolary ef
fort "in the name of the people" may i'm
prove his chances of the Jacobin nolnina
ton for the Presidency, it will hardly add
to his reputation for understanding tn,
nature of Republican form OF govern
ment, or for knowing how TO write goot
English Chicago Times.