Wyoming democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Wyoming Co., Pa.) 1867-1940, 1868-02-26

that intent that you accepted the appoint
nlent. Ii was in your mind at the time Of
your acceptance. 1t was not, then, in obedi
ence TO the order of your superior, as has
heretofore been supposed that you assumed
the duties Of the office. You know it was
the Presidents purpose to prevent Mr.. Stan,
ton from resuming the office Of Secretary oil
War, and you intended TO defeat that pur
pose, You accepted the Office not in the in
terest Of the President but Of Mr.. stanton.
"lf this purpose, so entertained oy you,had
been confined TO yourself If, when accepting
the Office. you had done so with a mental
reservation TO Illustrate the President, il
would have been a tacit deception. In the
ethics Of some persons such course 10 allow
able, but vou cannot stand even upon that
questionable ground. The history of your
connection with this transaction, as written
by yourself, places you in difficult predica-
ment, and shows that you not only concealed
your design from the President, but induced
BIN 10 suppose that you would carry out his
purpose TO keep Mr.. Stanton out of Office by
retaining IL yourself after an attempted res
toraton by the Senate, 80 as to require Mr.
Stanton TO establish his right by judicial de-
cision.
81 How give that part of thus history as
written by yourself in you letter OF The 2oIh
ult.,. Some time after | assumed the duties
"t Secretary Of War Gd interim, the Presi
dent asked the my views as to the course
Mr.. Stanton would have to pursue in case
the Senate should not concur in his suspen>
sion, to obtain possession of his office. My
reply was in substance that Mr.. Stanton
would have to appeal to the Courts to rein
state him, illustrating my position by cit
\ II r L
Baltimore Police Commissioners
Now at this time, As you admit in your
letter Of the 81 inst, you held the Office for
the very object Of defeating an appeal TO the
Courts. In that letter you say that in ac-
cepting the Office, one motive was to prevent
the President from appointing some other
person who would relain possession. and
thus make judicial proceedings necessary
You know the President was unwilling to
trust the Office with any one who would moi +,
by holding it, compel Mr.. Stanton TO resort
to the Courts. You perfectly understood
accepted the office, the President, not content
with your silence, desired an expression Of
your views, and you answered him that Mr..
Stanton would have 10 appeal TO The Courts.
IF the President had refused confidence
dence had been violated, it might have been
said he made a mistake, but a violat ion Of
confidence refused after that conversation
was no mistake Of his or Of yours. IL is the
pas, only that needs be stated. That at the
date of this conversation you did not intend
to hold the Office with the purpose Of furcing
Mr. Stanton into Court, but did not hold ii
then, and had accepted IL t2 prevent that
course from being carried out.
"In other words, you said TO the President,
that is the proper course, and you said to
yourself have accepted this office, and
now hold it to defeat that course. The eX
cuse you make in a subsequent paragraph Of
that letter OF the 28ih ullmo, that after
wards you changed your views as to what
would be proper course, has nothing TO do
with the point now under consideration. The
point is. that before you changed your views
YOU had secretly determined to do the very
thing which at last you did-surrender the
office to Mr.. Stanton.
"10u may have changed your views as to
the law. but YOU certainly did not change
your views as TO the course you had marked
out for yourself from the beginning. | will
dnly notice one more statement in your let
Ter Of the Cd inst: that the performance Of
/
by you, would have involved you in the resis-
tance OF law. know Of no statute that wo'd
have been violated had you, in carrying out
your promises in good faith, rendered your
resignation when you concluded not to be
made party in any legal proceedings.
HYou add i am 10 a measure confirmed
in this conclusion by your recent orders. di-
recting me to disobey oiders from the Sec
rctary of War, my superior and your suboE-
dinate, without having counter manded his
authority to issue the orders am to dis
obey
ION the 24h ult. you addressed note to
the President, requesting IN writing an order
given to you verbally five days before to dis
! regard orders from Mr.. Stanton, as Secretary
Of War, until you knew from the President
! himself that they were his orders. On the
! 9th, in compliance with your request, | did
give you instructions in writing not to obey
any any order from the War Department as
summed to be issued by the direction Of the
! President, unless such order was known by
! the General commanding the armies of the
I United States 10 have been authorized by the
| Executive. There are some orders which 0
Secretary of War may issue without the au-
! thOrty OF the President. There are others
! which he issues simply as the agent cf the
| President, and which purport 10 be by drec.
, tion Of the President. For such orders the
! President is responsible, and he should there
! fore kn0w and understand what they arc be
| fore giving such directions.
! "Mr Stanton states in his letter of the 4h
/ inst. which accompanies the published cor.
/ respondence, that he had bad no correspon-
/ dence with The President since the l4ih OF
! August last, and he further says that since
/ he resumed the duties of the Office he had
/ continued to discharge them without any
/ personal or written Communication with the
! President and he adds 'No orders have
! been issued from this Department in the
name Of the President with my knowledge,
| ana have received no orders from him. Ii
! thus seems that Mr.. Stanton now discharges
( the duties Of the War Department without
/ any reference to the President, and without
using his name.
"My osder to you had only reference to
orders assumed TO be issued by direction ol
the President. II would appear from Mr..
Stanton's letter that you have received M
such orders from him. However, in your
note to the President of the 18th ut., in
which you acknowledge the receipt Of the
written order Of the Goth ult., you say that
yon have been informed by Mr.. Stanton that
/ he has not received any order limiting his