The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1868-02-27
rIFF1N, ONO THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 27, 1868.

to call upon MIR. Stanton, TO urge
upon him that the good Of the service
required his resignation.
| confess I considered Your propo
sal as sort Of rcparation for the
failure, on your part, to actin accord
auce with an understanding, more
than once repeated, which l thought
received your full assent, aud under
which you could have returned to
me the Office which | had conferred
upon you. thus saving yourself from
embarrassmeu,s, leaving the respou-
sibility where il properly belonged,
with the President, who is acoounta-
bic for the faithful execution Of the
laws. have not yet been Informed
by you whether, as twice proposed by
yourself, you had called upon Mr..
Stanton aud made au effort TO induce
him voluntarily to resign from the
War Department.
You conclude your communication
with reference to our conversation
at the meeting Of the Cabinet, held
on the 4th inst. In your account Of
what there occurred, you say that
aftor the President had given his
version Of our previous conversation,
you stated that substantially as given
10 your letter, and that you in no
wise admitted the correctness Of his
statement, though to soften the evi-
dent contradiction Of my statement
made, IL said, alludiug to our FIRST
conversation, on the subject the
President might have understood it
in the way he said, viz; That had
promised to resign if | did not resist
tho reinstatement. made no such
promise -
NV recollection Of what then trans.
pired is diametrically the reverse OF
your narration. In the presence of
the Cabinet, | asked you
First. If iu conversation which
took place shortly after your appoint
ment as Secretary of War al iaterim.
you did agree to remain at the head
Of the War Department aud abide
any judicial proceedings that might
follow the pon-concurrenco Of the
Senate IN Mr.. Stantou's suspension
or, should you not wish to become
involved in such controversy, put mt
iu the same position with reference
to the office as previous to your APP
pointment. by returning il to me ia
time to anticipate such action BY the
Senate. This you admitted.
Second then asked you fiat the
time of the conference on the pre-.
ceding Saturday, had not, to avoid
misunderstanding, requested you to
state what you intended TO do, aud
further, if in reply to that inquiry
you had not referred to my former
conversations, saying that from them
| understood your position, and that
your action would be consistent with
the understanding which had b'eu
reached. To these questions you had
also replied in the Affirmative.
Third. | next asked il, at tho con
clusinu Of our interview on Saturday
/. was understood that we were to
have another conference on Monday
before Gnal action by the Senate on
the case of Mr.. Stanton. You replied
that such was the understanding, bu
that you did not suppose the Senate
would act so soon that on Monda,
you had been engaged in a conierenc,
with Gen. Sherman, and were occu
pied with many little matters, an,
asked If Gen. Sherman had not calle,
, on me that day. What relovenc,
Gen. Sherman's visit to me on Mon
day had with thepurpose for which yol
/ were to have called, am at loss t
/ perceive, as he certainly did not in
form me whether you had determined
, to retain tho Office or to afford me op
! portunity to appoint a successor il
/ advance Of any attempted reinstate'
. meht of Mr.. Stanton.
This account Of what passed be
t tween us at the Cabinet meeting o.
the l4th instant, widely differs irou
f that contained in your communica
ton, for it shows that instead Of hav
I ing stated our conversations o
0 given in the letter which has mad
o this reply necessary, you admit tina
y my recital Of them was entirely ac
/ curate.
y Sincerely anxious, however. to b
Z correct in my statements, | have to
day read this narration of what oc
e CURED on the l4th instant, to tn
S members Of the Cabinet who wer
J.. then present. They without excep
) tiou agree in its accuracy.
1t is ouly necessary to add that ol
0 Wednesday morning the 18th. 20
I called on me, in company with Lieut
= Gen. Sherman. After some prelini
g nary conversation you remarked tha
j an article in the National Intelligen
= Ger, of that date, did you much in
- justice. | replied | had not read III
e lntelligeueer Of that morning. Yor
T. FIRST told me il was your intention /
a urge Mr.. Stanton to resign his ofiic
after you had withdrawn. | careful
. ly read the article Of which yo
r spoke, and found its statement of tn
o understanding between Us was sub
stantially correct. On the 18th
r caused II to be read to four or Gy
D members of the Cabinet who wer
;. present at our conference on the 18th
q aud they concurred:iu the general ac
euracy Of the statement respecting
| our conversation on that occasion.
In reply to your communication
have deemed il proper, to preven
! further misunderstanding, to max
D this simple recital Of facts.
Very respectfully, yours,
5 ANDREW JOHNSON.
} GEN. u. s. GRANT, Com. U. s. A
GENERAL GRANT TO PRESIDENT JOHN
SON.
, HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF U. S.
|, WAsHINaToN, Feb. 3, 1868.