The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1868-02-19

else. To resort to the more di,agreeable ek-
Pedi-ht Of sospending y"u by successor.
As stated in your letter, the nomination Of
Governor Cox; Of Chid; for tho once Of scc-
rotary Of War, was suggested to me. Ills
appointment, as Mr.. Stantou's successor, was
urged In your name, aud Il was said that his
selection would save fafthcr embarrassment.
did not think that In the selection Of q Cnh-
met officer, should be trammellcd by such
considerations. was prepared to take tho
responsibility of deciding the question in ac-
Guidance with my ideasef Constitutional, duty,
and having determined upon a course which /
deemed right and proper, was anxious to
learn the steps you would tako should tho
possession Of the War Department be demand
ed by Mr.. Stanton. Had your actions been
in conformity with tho understanding be.
tween us, do not believe that tho embarrass-
mont would have attained its present proper
tions, or that tho probability Of its repetition
would have been 20 great. .-
know that with view to an carly tcrmi-
nation OF state of affairs so detrimental to
the public interests, you voluntarily offered,
beth on Monday, tho 18th met, apd on tbs
succeeding Sunday, to cat dfon Mr. Stanton
and urge upon him that thc good Of The ser
vice required his resignation. 1 confess that
considered your proposal as n sort Of repa-
ration for the failure, on your part, TO act in
accordance With an understanding hiore than
once repeated, which thought had reco we'd
your full assent, aud under which you could
have returned 10 me tl,c Uffce which / had
conferred upon you, thus saving yourself from
embarrassment and leaving the responsibility
where il properly belonged, with tho Prcsi
dent, who is accountable for the faithful exc
cution Of the law.
have not boon informed ~ you, whether,
as twice ftop0ssd by yourscif; Soi bat called
upon Mr. Stanton, and made an effort to in.
duce him voluntarily TO resign from the War
Department You conclude your communica.
tion with reference TO our conversation Mt
the meeting Of the Cabinet held ON Tuesday,
the 18th inst. In your account Of what then
occurred, you say that after tho President had
given you his version OF your rrcrio ious con-
vcrsations, you stated them substantially as
given in your letter, that you in nowiso al
| mittod tho correctness of his statement of
thcm, thotgh To soften the c+ficnt contra
dict.on my statement gave, said (alludiny to
our 6rst communication on the sui,jcct) the
President might have understood il in tho way
he said, viz: that had promised to resign il
did not resist the reinstatement. made no
such ptottise."
| My recollcction'of what then transpircd Is
diametrically the revorso Of your marathon
In the presence Of the Cabinet asked you:
First. II in n conversation which took place
shortly after your appointment as Sc.rst.ry OF
WaI al interim, you did not agfce either to
remain at the head of the War Department
and abide any judicial proceedings that might
follow non-coneurrcnce by the Semitic m Mr..
StantoE's suspension; OF should you wish not
to become Involved in such q controversy, to
put me in the same position with respect to
the Office rs 1 occupied previous to your mp
| Pointment, by returning it to me in time u
| anticipate such action by the Senate.
This you admitted.
Second. then asked you ff at the confer
rence on the preccoding Saturday had not,
to avoid misunderstanding, requested you to
state what you intended TO do, aud further IL,
! in reply to that inquiry, you had not referred
to our former conversations, saying that from
thom I understood your position, and that
your action would be consistent with tho un
dorstanding which had been reached.
To these questions you also replied in the
! Affirmative.
Third. I next asked if at tho conclusion of
your interview on Saturday u was not under
| stood that We were to have another conference
on Monday before final action by the Senate
in the case Of Mr.. Stanton.
| You replied that such Was the dndcrstand>
I ing, but that you did not suppose the Senate
would act so coon that Oh Monday you had
been engaged in a conference with General
Sherman, and were occupied with "mauy
little matters" aud asked If General Size .rran
had not called ON that day. What relevance
I General Sherhtan's visit to mo on Mohday had
with the purpose for which you were to have
| called, I am Mt a loss to perceive, ~ he Ger.
tsinly did not inform mo whether you had de-
termined to retain possession Of the officc, or
to afford me an opportunity 10 appoint sue
ccssor N advance Of any attcmptch reiustate.
mont Of Mr.. Stanton. .t. r.-
This account Of what passed. between US at
the Cabinet meeting on the 9TH instant, widely
differs from that contained In your communi.
cation, for is shows that iDstesd Of having
stated our conversations as givsn In tho lots
ser," which has madc this reply necessary
you admitted .tst my recital os sh<n was en-
tireIy accursts. Sincerely anxious, to be cor.
rect in my statements, have to-day read the
narration of what occurred Oh the lIth instant
to the members Of the Cabinet who wcro then
present They, without exception, agroo in
its ,aceurary.
II Is only necessary to add that on wclnes-
day morning, the 18th, YOU called ON me, in
company with Lieutenant General Sherman
After some preliminary conyersation, you re"
marked chat an article In tho National Intclli-