Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-02-06

I 7-cr pusued, all having on nv part some
object. ana leading to the same conclu
sion % ct Gic5t. It not necessary, how
eve~. 10 refer to any Of them except the
statement mentioned in your cOmmuni-
/ cation. As il was then Known that the
Senate had proceeded in the matter, Mr..
/ : Ssuton was curious to learn yonr deter
/ n,iuaiion AT er protracted Interview,
during which the provisions OF the ten
ure of office bill were freely and
/ fully discussed, you said that as it had
/ been agreed upon at our first conference,
YOU would either return the Office to my
/ possession in time to enable me to appoint
I 3 successor before final action by the
Senate upon Mr.. z NJ StsntOn's suspen-
sion, or would remain at its hsad await
ing decision by judicial proceedings.
II was then understood there would be
further conference on Monday, by which
time I supposed YOU would be prepared
t5 inform me Of your final decision You
failed, however, to fulfil the engagement,
and on Tuesday you notified M III wrl
ting Of the receipt Of your Official notiu
cation of the sCtiOn of the Senate IN Ie'
erenCe 30 MT. Stanton, and at toe same
time informed me, that according 10 the
act regulating the tenure Of certain civil
.fii es, your functions as Secretary OF
meut Of the receipt Of the notice. You
then, in disregard Of the understanding
le.ween Us. vacated the Office without
having given me notice Of your intention
so to 90. / is but Just to say, however,
That in your communication you claim
thgt YOU did inform me Of your purpose,
and thus fulfilled the promise made IN
the last preceding conversation on the
subject. Tae fact that such s promise
existed is evidence Of sn arrangement
OF the kind. have mentioned that you
hsd from me in the first conference
that the President was desrOus OF keep
iug Mr.. Stanton out Of the office, whether
sustained in the suspension or not. You
knew what reasons had induced the
President TO ask from you promise
you also knew that in case your views OF
duty did net accord with his own con
yic.iUns, it wss his purpose to fill your
place by another appointment, even
ignoring the existence Of a positive IN
derstGndiug between Us. TIE eonclu
sious were plainly deGucibie from our
various conversations. It Is certain
however, that even under these circum-
stances ycu did not Cffer to return the
place to my pCss essiOn, but according to
your own statement placed yourself IN a
position where, could I have anticipated
your sclion, I would Lot have been com
peIed to ask of your predecessor in the
War Department q letter of resignation,
or to resort to the more Gisagreeable eX
pedient of suspending you by the sp
pointment of a successor. As stated IN
your letter, the nomination Of Gov.
Cox, of Ohio, as Secretary OF
War, was suggested to me, aud
his appointment as Mr.. SIS successor
WAS urged in your name ana II was
said that his selection would save fur
ther embarrassment. | did not think
that in the selection of Cabinet officers L
sbovld be tram me!ed by such cOnsideTa-
tons 1 wss prepared to take the re-
sponsibility of deciding the question in
accordance with my ideas Of the Con-
suiuti0u. I did so, and having deter
mined upon the cOurse which | deemed
right and proper, was anxious to learn
the steps you would take, should posses
sion Of the War Department be sde-
msnded by Edwin NJ. Stanton Had
vDur action been in conformity with the
understanding between Us, do nOt be-
lieva the embsrrassments would have
attained their present proportions, or
that the probabilities Of 8 repetition
would have been Sc great. l know that
with view to the easy termination OF
the State affairs 50 detrim -ntal TO the
public interest you voluntarily offered
both on Monday, the l5Jh inst, and on
the succeeding Sunday, to call on Mr.
Stanton and urge upon him that the good
of the public service required his resig-
nation. l confess 1 considered your pro
possI of 8 sort of preparation for failure
on your part 70 8ct in accordance with
the understanding more than once re-
! peated, which / considered received your
full assent, and under which you could
have returned to me the office viii
had conferred upon you, thus sas
yourself from en- mharrassments and ~ *
/ log the responsibility, where it prop
belonged, with the President, who Il
! couptable for the faithful eXeeutio.
the law. l have not yet been infor
| by you whether, ss twice proposed
| Yourself you had called on Mr.. Stai
/ and made an effort to induce him v
/ tarily to resign the War DepartmeFv.-
| You conclude your communication with
/ a reference to our conversation at the
meeting Of the Cabinet held on the
/ 14.h inst. In your account OF what
! there occurred you say that, after the
| President had given his version Of our
previous conversation, y0u stated there
/ substantially as given in your letter, and
]
! of his statement. though 10 soften the
/ evident contradiction Of my statement, /
/ said, alluding to our first communica-
/ ton, that / would abide any judicial
proceedings that might be had on the
| subject" The President might have un-
1 derstOOd it in that way. He said that |
/ had promised to resign If [ did not
] sanction the reinstatement / made Ro
/ such promise. In the presence OF the
/ Cabinet / first asked you if, in a eonver-
sation which took place shortly after
your appointment as Secretary of War
| dd interim, yeu did not agree to remain
st the head Of the War Department ard
abide any judicial proceeding that might
follow the non concurrence Of the Senate
| IN Mr.. Stanton's suspension, or should
YOU wish to become involved 10 such a
| controversy, put as in the same position
in reference to the Office as previous to
your appointment by returning it to me
in time to anticipate such action by the
Senate. This you admitted second.
L then asked you II, at the time Of the
conference on the preceding Saturday,
had not, to avoid any misunderstood.
ing, requested you 20 state what you in
tended; aud further, il in reply 20
the Inquiry you mad not referred
to my former conversation, saying that
from them l understood your position.
aud that your action would be consistent
with the understanding which had been
reached by these interviews. You also
reolied in the affirmative. | next asked
if, ct the conclusion of cur interview on
Saturday, 1t was understood we were tC
have another conference on Monday
before the tinal action Of the Senate or
the case Of Mr. Stanton. You replied
that such was the understanding, but
that you did not suppose the Senate
would act so soon as Monday. You had
been engaged In a considerable confer.
ence with Gen. Sherman, and were
occupied with many little matters and
asked if Gen. sherman had not called
YOU. aud what relevancy Gen. Sher
mans visit to me on Monday had with
the purpose for which you were to have
called. am st loss 70 perceive, as h'
did not notify noe whether you had de
termined to retain the Office or to atforC
me an opportunity to appoint q successor
Ia advance of any attempted relnslate
ment of Mr.. Stanton. This account o
what passed between us at the Cabine
, meeting on the IAN inst, widely differ
from that contained in your eOmmunica
ton for 1t shows that instead of stating
our conversation as given in the lette
which has made this reply necessary
YOU admitted that my recital was entirel!
accurate. Sincerely deslroas, however
. 10 be correct iD my statements, / hav
/ to-day read this narration of what cc'
! Cured on the 14lh last to members o
, the Cabinet who were then present
G They, without exception, agree IN its &C
curacy. On Wednesday afternoon Q
the 18th instant you called on me i