The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-03-04
Another Talk With the President.
GRANT SHOWN uP WITHOUT MERCY.

.
" Mack" the lively Washington cores
pendent Of the Cincinnati Commercial, has
bad another interview with the President.
We have room only for the following ex-
tracts
GEN. GRANT AS A GAY DEcEIvER.
MIR. johnson referred to that part of
Gen. Grants correspondence in which the
General asks him to reduce to writing tine
order given to him verbally, to disregard
any order received from Stanton, unless he
knew it to emanate from the EXECUTIVE
I" Here" said he, "Gen. Grant asserts that
| had given him such verbal order.
never did anything of the kind. Itwas he
himself who first suggested that I could
take such a course as to reduce Stanton to
q mere clerk, and it was this suggestion
from him, and not any verbal order from
me, that first brought the subject up in
that light"
AT this point the President produced a
letter from Gen. Sherman, dated Saturday
evening, Jan. l8. Sherman says that it
was the intention of himself and Grant to
call on Stanton, on the following Monday,
to request him, for the good of the coun-
try, to resign the office Of Secretary of
War; but that he learns that Grant must
go to Richmond, and he to Annapolis, so
that they can't call on Stanton on Mon
day, but will do 80 at some other time,
aud insist that he shall resign. Then
Sherman goes on to say that if Stanton
won't resign it will be time enough to look
to Interior considerations"
"Now," said the President, "these 'ul-
terror considerations were nothing else
than the suggestions of Grant himself that
Stanton should be treated as a mere clerk,
and confined strictly to the execution of
the duties imposed upon him by the letter
fthe law. And yet, after having suggest
ed this and urged it upon me, he writes
me a letter asking me to reduce my ever
bal order" to writing. 1t. was his own
"verbal order,' not mine. Yet he makes
it appear from his letter that the first init
nation came from me, and that he never
said word about it until had spoken of
it. That's fair specimen of the way he
has been acting all along. This whole
matter is not the first or the only time he
has played that part. It's only one of a
great many instances in which he has
grossly deceived me. got a dispatch one
day from Georgia, telling me that Meade
and jenkins had been in consultation, aud
that it was probable that Meade would
remove Jenkins. / sent for Gen. Grant,
and he came over. showed him the dis
patch and told him / would not like Jen-
kins to be removed until I could hear
something more about the matter. He
assured me that he would see to it that
Jenkins was not removed. 1 thought this
was enough; but Judge Of my surprise
when the next day l learned that Jenkins
lcas removed. ] don't believe that Grant
interfered at all, though he distinctly pro-
missed me he would. That's the kind Of
game he has been playing all along.
GEN. GRANT ON A WHITE MANS GOVERNMENT.
just here q little question of veracity
occurred to my mind, which I thought it
we'll enough to settle. 1t was this: Some
time in the early part of the winter para
graph appeared in the Commercials Wash
ington correspondence to the effect that
Col. Hillyer, formerly Of Gen. Grants staff,
had told a member of the Judiciary Com
mittee that he ouce was present at con.
versation between Gen. Grant and the
President, in which the former took strong
ground in favor of a white mans govern
ment and against negro suffrage, saying
that this Government was made for white
men, and none other should fave voice
in it-and striking his FIST ON an adjacent
table to show that he meant what be said.
When this paragraph appeared it was ex-
tensively copied, and about as extensively
denied, especially by that large class Of
newspapers and "Grant men" who. hav-
ing no means Of ascertaining whether it
was true or false, felt all the more sure
that it was false, and denounced it us one
of "Mack's' fabrications.
] called the Presidents attention to this
subject him if he remembered any
such conversation with Grant, and if so,
whether he remembered Grants remark
that this is a white mans government !?
He promptly replied that he did. He
could not repeat Grants words exactly,
but the substance of them was what had
stated, and they were strongly against ne.
gro suffrage, which, about that time, it was
proposed to introduce into the District Of
Columbia. Among other things Grant
said was that the negroes didn't know en-,
ough to vote, and that they would vote
Just as their employers wanted them to-
He illustrated by saying that be had q
number OF negro servants in his house, anG
that to let them vote would be simply te
give him Grant so many additional votes
for they would vote just as he told them
He was quite vehement at the time in bis
denunciations Of the Radical policy Of ne
gro suffrage.
The above, | think, settles the question
Of veracity as to Grant being white
mans government man. 1t is pretty vel
authenticated now.
GRANTS POLITICS.
The above naturally suggested an inqui
ry as to whether the President did not IN
derstand Grant to be on his side all along
until quite recently, and whether there was
any tangible reason for the General
change of front. sOf course, ] understood
him to be with me all along, because hat
his word for it, " said the President. Hi
went down South, and came back more fol
me than was for myself he wrote
report that encouraged me more than any
thing else he had done, to perseyere in th'
effort to get the Southern States back int
the Union, as I had started out. He call
ed on me frequently for long time ate
the controversy between me and Congress
had commenced, and if he meant anything
by what he said, he was my friend ant
supporter. he never talked politics yer,
much, because Grant always pretended b
didn't know anything about it but h
didn't seem to regard reconstruction as !
political question. HeSuddenly turned u
as Radical candidate for the Presidency
- @ba+ 1,,ac @bof Gr.< r Iypoxu rnf his npun