Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-02-13
THE RUTLAND HERALD,
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY !, lsds,

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY !, lNus,
rHE STANTON InBnoGI'o'
Corre.panacncs Between aenerai
Grant aud the President.
LETTER From SECRETARY STANTON,
Thecorrv,panlrnge between Gen Grant
and the President is attracting wide at
tention among men oi al parties, and
there is an eager interest manifested for
it, perusal, We therefore gtTcup large
share Of our columns 10 lis publication
These document, a, last fully set forth
the unpleaau,urs, hs,ween the President
and Gen, Gran, aud i, presented To pub
lie inspection by the publication ofall the
correspondence, which, goes into details
infinitely, and sometime, quite rarily'
Both sides make strong ease Of aN>sr'
tons, but Grants record is as straight AMI
independent As over, and indicates once
more that, fairly in antagonism with the
President, "hc will fight 1t out on tai,
line il il takes him all summer"
WASHINGTON. Erh- 4
The Speaker to-day laid before tho
House the correspondence between Gen
Grant and President johnson, II is ac,
oompanied by letter from ) crctary
Stanton stating that the latter has had ne
correspondence official or otherwise, with
President johnson since tie lath Of Aug
Since he was reinstated in the War bc-
partment Mr. Stanton says he had no com
munication with Mr.. johnson, has re.
ceived no orders from him, and has issued
no orders IN his nTur,
HEApQ'Rs ARMY UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON, II. c., Jan. %,
His ErceReHcy AHdrer johnson, Prca-
dentof he United lStrt,s-SIR: On the
ESD instant requested you TO give mo in
writing the instructions which you had
previously given me verbally, not 10 obey
any orders from Hon. Edwin VI. Stanton,
Secretary of War unless ! knew that il
came from yourself To this written re-
quest have received a message that has
left doubt in my mind Of your intentions
TO prevent any possible misunderstanding.
therefore renew the request that you will
give me written instructions, and until
they are received | will suspend action on
your verbal ones. am compelled 10 ask
these instructions in writing in conse-
quence OF the many gross misrepresen,a-
tons affecting my personal honor, circu-
lating through the press for the last fort
night, purporting 10 have come from the
President, of a conversation which occur
red either with the President privately
in his office or in the Cabinet, making
what q written admit of no misunder-
standing. In view of the misrepresenta-
tons referred TO, il will be well to state
facts in the case. Some time after | rs
sumed the duties Of Secretary Of War dd
interim, the President asked iny views as
to the course Mr.. Stanton would have T.
pursue in case the Senate should not con-
firm his suspension, TO obtain possession
OF his Office. Ny reply was in substance
that Mr.. Stanton would have 10 appeal 10
the courts 10 reinstate himself: illustrat-
ing my position by citing the case of the
Baltimore police commissioners. In that
case / did not doubt the technical rights
of Gov. Swami TO remove the old commits
sioners and TO appoint their successors as
the old commissioners refused to give up.
However, | contended that as no resource
was left but to appeal TO the courts, and
finding that the first was DESTROYS of keep
ing Mr.. Stanton out of office, whether sus-
tanned in the suspension or not, | stated
that had not looked particularly into the
tenure of cshce bill, but that what | had
stated were general principle. II should
change my mind in this particular case
would inform him Of the fact. Suisse
quently, on reading the tenure of Office
bill closely, | found that ! could not,
without violation # the laws, refuse To
vacate the office of Secretary of War the
moment Mr.. Stanton was rcinstated by
the Senate. even though the President or
dered me to retain it, which he never did
Taking this view of the subject, and learn
ing on Saturday, the 18th instant, ina.
the Senate had taken up the subject of
Stanton's experimentation some CONVEX.
sation with Lieut.. Gen. Sherman and
some Of the members Of my staff, in
which / stated that the law latt me nc
discretion as to my action, should Mr.
Stanton be reinstated, and that | intended
to inform the President went to the
President for the sole purpose of making
this decision known, and did NO make il
known. In doing this fulfilled the prom.
Use made in our last preceding conversation
on the subject, The President, however
instead of accepting my views on the re.
quirements of the tenure of Office bill
contended that he had suspended Mr. Stan.
ton under the authority given by the Con.
stitution, and that the same authority
did not preclude him from reporting as an
act Of courtesy his reasons for the s,lspcn-
sion to the Senate That having been ap-
pointed under the authority given bv the
Constitution, X not under any act Of Con.
gress, | could not be governed by the act.
| stated that the law was binding on me,
Constitutional or not, until set aside by
the proper tribunals. An hour or more
was spent in consultation, each reiterating
his views on the subject, until getting late
the President said he would see me again
did not agree to call again on Monday
nor at any other dcinitive time, nor was
sent for by the President until the fol.
lowing Tuesday. From the 18th to the
Cabinet meeting ON the 14th inst, doubt
never entered my mind about the Prcsi-
dent fully understanding nv position,
namely that if the Senate refused to CON
cur in the suspension of Mr.. Stanton, my
powers as Secretary of War dd intr,im
would cease, and Mr.. Stanton's right to
resume at once the functions of his Office
would, under the law, be indisputable
and l acted accordingly with Mr.. Stanton
had no communication direct or indirect
on the subject of his reinstatement during
his suspension. ! knew it had been recon
mended to the President to send in tn,
name Of Gov. Cox, of Ohio, for Secretary
OF War, and thus save all embarrassment
proposition that / sincerely hoped h,
would entertain favoraky-Gen. Sher
man seaing the President at my partiou