Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1868-02-19


cordance with nv own views. and hay
ing determined upon a course which I
deemed right and proper, was anxious
to learn what steps you would take
should the possession of the War De
partment be demanded By Mr.. Stan
ton. Had your action been in confor-
m1ty with the understanding between
! Us, l do not believe the embarrass-
ment would have attained its present
proportions, or that the probability of
It's repetition would have been so
great
| know that with a view to an ear.
~ termination of this state of affairs
50 detrimental to the public interests,
you voluntarily offered both on Mon.
day, the 18th instant, and on the sue
! ceedlng Sunday, to call upon Mr..
Stanton and urge upon him that the
/ good OF the service required his resig-
nation, and confess that | considered
! your proposal as a sort Of reparation
| for the failure on your part to act in
accordance with the understanding,
more than once repeated, which |
| thought received your full assent, and
! by which YOU could have returned to
me the Office which | had conferred
! upon yOu, thus saving yourself embar-
| rassment, and laying the responsibility
where it properly belonged, with the
| President, who IS accountable for the
| faithful execution of the laws. | have
not yet been informed by YOU whether,
as twice proposed by yourself, YOU
! ha1
made an effort to induce him to vol
unfairly resign from the War Depart
ment.
| You conclude your letter with a ref
erence TO our conversation at a meet
! ing Of the Cabinet, held on the 18th
inst. In your account of what there
occurred, you say that, after the Pres
Ident had given his version of our pc
vlous conversation, you stated them
| as given in your letter, and that Won
IN nowise admitted the correctness of
has statement, - though. to soften the
evident contradiction of nv statement.
| said, alluding to our first communica-
tlon to our first communication on the
subject, that the President might have
understood 1t in that way, viz: That
| had promised to resign if | did not
resist his reinstatement. l made no
such promise"
My recollection Of what then trans
pred Is diametrically the reverse Of
(, s,.lr .ltev- 5.ar, -,f 81, tJ,,--Ioo. a. ft.' a
conversation which took place shortly
after your appointment as Secretary
of War al interim, YOU did not agree
to remain at the head of the War De
partment and abide any judicial pro.
ceedings that might follow nou-con-
currence Of the Senate in Mr.. Stan
tons suspension or, should YOU not
wish to become involved in such a con
trOversy. put me in the same position
with reference to the Office as previous
to your appointment, by returning it
to me IN time TO anticipate such ac-
ton by the Senate. This Won admit.
ted. ID. Then ] asked YOU If, at the
time of the conference on the preccd-
ing Saturday, l had not. to avoid
misuuderst landing, requested YOU to
state what YOU intended to do, and,
further, if in reply to that inquiry YOU
had not referred to nv former conver-
sations, saying that from them | un-
dersto0d your proposition, and that
your action would be consistent with
the understanding which had been
reached. To these questions you also
replied in the Affirmative. Sd. / asked
/ If. at the conclusion Of our interview
on Saturday, we understood that we
were to have an other conference on
/ Monday before final action by the
I Senate on the case Of Mr.. Stanton
/ You replied that such was the under
standing, but that YOU did not suppose
/ the Senate would act so soon; that on
/ Monday you had been engaged in a
conference with General Sherman,
and were occupied with many matters.
and asked If General Sherman had not
called on me that day. What rele-
vancy General Sherman's visit to me
on Monday had with the purpose for
+ which YOU were to have called, ! am
Z at loss to perceive. and it certainly
! did not inform ne whether YOU had
determined to retain the Office or to
/ afford me an opportunity to appoint
/ successor IN advance Of any attempted
reinstatement Of Mr.. Stanton. This
account Of what passed between us at
/ the Cabinet meeting Of the 18th inst.
I widely differs from that contained in
your letter; for it shows, that, instead
Of having stated our conversation, as
7 given in the letter which has made
/ this reply necessary. YOU admitted
that my recital Of them was entirely
/ accurate. Sincerely anxious, howev-
! er, to be correct IN my statements, ]
7 have to-day read this nara tion Of what
/ occurred OF the l4th instant 10 the
members of the Cabinet. who We're
+ then present They, without excep-
/ ton, agree In its accuracy. It Is only
/ necessary to add, that, on Wednesday
morning, the 18th, you called on me
+ in company with Lieutenant General
/ Sherman. After some preliminary
/ conversation, YOU remarked that an
article in the National Iute3ligenoer Of
that date did YOU injustice. ] replied
that / had not read the IaieH1geacer Of
that morning. You first told me 1t
was your intention 10 urge Mr. Stan
ton TO resign. After you had with
drawn, I carefully read the article Of
which YOU spoke. and found that its