The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1868-02-13

10 heN ot you, no was compelled
to ask of your predecessor in the
War Department, n letter Of resig
nation, or to resort 10 the more
disagrecable cxpedient Of suspend.
ing you, by the appointment Of u
successor.
"As stated in your letter, the
domination Of Governor Cox, of
Ohio, for Secretary of War, was
suggested 10 me. This appoint.
ment as Mr.. Stanton's successor.
was urged in your name, and it
was said that his selection would
save further embarrassment. Ibid
! not think that, in the selection Of n.
Cabinet officer, l should be tram.
melcd by such considerations. /
was prepared TO take The responsi.
bility of deciding tho question in
accordance with my ideas of con.
stitutional duties, and, having de.
tcrmincd upon course which l
deemed right and proper, was anx,
ious to learn the steps you would
take should the possession of the
War Department be demanded by
Mr.. Stanton. Had yodr action
been in conformity with tho un.
derstanding between us, 1 do not
believe that the embarrassment
would have attained It's present
proportions, or that the probabli
ty of its repetition would have
been 80 great. l know that. with
d view to'any carly termination OF
q state of affairs so detrimental to
the public interests, you volunta-
rily offered, both ON Mopday the
18th inst, and on tho succeeding
Sunday, to call upon Mr.. Stanton
and urge upon him that tho good
of the service required his resigna.
ton.
Il confess 1 considered your
proposal as q sort Of reparation for
the failure on your part to act in
accordance with an understanding
more than oace repeated, which
had received your full assent. and
under which you could have re.
turned to me the Office which l
had conferred upon you, thus sav.
ing yourself from embarrassmcnts
and leaving the responsibility
wberc it properly belonged, with
the President, who is accountable
for tho faithful execution of the
law.
81 have not yet been Informed
by you whether, as twice proposed
BY yourself, you had called upon Mr..
Stanton and made an effort TO in
duce him, voluntarily, TO resign
from the War Department.
lyon conclude your communica.
lion with reference u our con.
versation at the meeting Of the
Cabinet helfon the 18th inst. In
your account of what occurred, you
say that after the President had
given his version of our previous
conversation, you stated that sub.
stantially rs given in your letter,
and that you in no wise admitted
the correctness of his statement
though, ito soften the evident con
iradiction my statement made,
sald, alluding 10 our first commu.
nication on the subject, the Presi
dent might have understood in
the way he said, viz: that l had
promised to resign if | did not re.
sist reinstatement. l made no such
promise"
My recollection of what then
transpired is Numerically tho re.
verse Of your narration. In the
presence Of the Cabinet l asked
you first, ifin q conversation which |
took place shortly after your ap-
poirtment as Secretary of War dd
interim, you did agrec to remain at |
the head Of the War Department,
and abide any judicial proceedings |
that might follow tho non concur.
renee OF the Senate in Mr.. Stanton's
suspension, or should you not wish
to become involved in such con-
troVcrsy, to put mo in the same
position with reference to the of.
flee as previous 10 your appoint.
ment, by returning it TO mo in
time 10 anticipate such action by
the Senate. This you admitted.
"Second-I then asked you if, at
the time ofthe conference on the
preceding Saturday, had not, to
avoid misunderstanding, request
ed you to state what you intended
to do; and further, if, in reply to
that inquiry you had not referred
TO my former conversations, say
ing that from them | understood
your position, and that your &C.
tion would be consistent with the
understanding which had been
reached. TO these questions you
also replied in tho affirmative.
"Third-I then asked it, at the
conclusion OF our interview on
Saturday, it was understood that
we were to have another confer.
enco on Monday, before final nc
ton by the Senate in the case Of
Mr.. Stanton. You replied that
such was the understanding, but
that you did not suppose tho Sen
ate would act so soon; that on Mon
day you had been engaged in a
conference with General Sherman,
aud we're occupied with many lit
tie matters, and asked if General
Sherman had not called on that
day. What relevancy General
Sherman's visit to me on Monday |
had with the purpose tor which
you were to have called, l am at n
loss TO perceive, as he certainly |
did not inform me whether you
had determined to retain the Office
or to afford me an opportunity to |