Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1868-02-21
A2ae I0zansom and Grant Com
tEcVerRY.. $1,000

ASSANSGtt Oh SAC ditS1A NNAA ~ S@A>
18th, sent the following letters to the
ID 1use of Representatives, in accordance
, With the resolution adopted the day before
THE PRESIDENT TO GENERAL GRANT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Feb TO- 1858.
GENERAL: The extraordinary character
OF your letter of the I'd inst would seem
to preclude anysreply on my part, but The
manner in which publicity has been given
to the Correspondence of which that letter
forms q part, and the grave questions
which are involved, induce me to take this
mode OF giving, as proper sequel to the
communications which have passed be
tween US, the statements of the five mem
bers of the Cabinet who were present on
the occasion of our conversation, on the
p 18th ult.S Copies of the letters which they
4 have addressed to me upon the subject are
accordingly herewith enclosed.
You speak of my letter of the 31st .ult.
as reiteration of the many and gross mis-
representations contained in certain news.
paper articles, and reassert the correct
ness OF the statements contained in your
communication. of the 28th ult, adding
and here i give your own words Any
thing in yours In reply oft to the contra
ry Notwithstanding" When controver-
BY upon matters of fact reaches the point
to which this has been brought, further
assertions or deDials between the immedi-
ate parties should cease, especially when,
upon either side, it loses the character OF
tine. respectful discussion which isreouired
Ibythe relation in which the parties stand
to each other and degenerates in tone and
temper. In such case, if there is moth
ing to rely upon but the opposing state
ments, conclusions must be drawn from
those statements alone, and from whatever
intrinsic probabilities they afford in favor
OF or against either of the parties. /
should not shrink from this controversy,
but fortunately it is not left to this test
.aloneg There were five Cabinet officers
kpresent at the cow ersation, the details Of
which, in my letter of the 29th ult, you
allow yourself to say contain many and
gross misrepresentation. Those gentle
men heard that conversation and have
read my statement. They speak for them
selves, and leave the proof without q
word of comment.
deem IL proper, before concluding this
communication, to- notice some of the
4 statements contained in your letter. You
say that a performance Of the promises
alleged to have been made by you to the
President, would have "inyolved q resist
ance to law, and an inconsistency with
the whole history of my connection with
the suspension of Mr.. Stanton" You
then state that you had fears that the
President would, ON the removal of Mr..
Stanton, appoint some one in his place
who would embarrass the army in carry
ing out the Reconstruction acts, and add /:
1t was to prevent such an appointment
that accepted the office of Secretary of
War ddSntertna, and not for the purpose Of
hlinu To MI nP Mr. TOW, 1,xr
my Withholding it from him, in opposition
to the law, or, not doing SO myself, sur
rendering it to one who would, as the
statements and assumptions in your com
munlcation plainly Indicate was sought"
To avoid this danger, first of all, you adj
NIT that from the very beginning of what
you term the whole history of your con
nection with Mr.. Stanton's suspension,
you intended to circumvent the President
1t was to carry out that intent that you
accepted the appointment. This was in
your mind at the time of your acceptance
1t was not, then, in obedience to the order
of your superior, as it has heretofore been
+ supposed, that you assumed the duties of
the office. You knew it was the Presi.
dents purpose to prevent Mr.. Stanton
from resumiDg the Office of Secretary of
War, and you intended to defeat that pur-
pose You accepted the Office, not in the
z interest of the President, but of Mr.. Stan
ton. If this purpose so entertained by you
had been confined TO yourself-if, when
accepting the office, you had done SO with
mental reservation to Illustrate the Pres
ident-it would have been deception.
.- In the ethics of some persons such course
! is allowable, but you cannot stand even
upon that questionable ground. The his.
tnrU IF opnpoofipy, xoit fhso
r action, as written by yourself, places you
in a different predicament, and shows That
you not only concealed your design from
the President, but induced him to suppose
that you would carry out his purpose to
keep Mr.. Stanton out of office by retain
ing it yourself after an attempted restora-
10 ton by the Senate, so as to require Mr.
Stanton to establish his right by judicial
decision. now give that part of this his
tory, as written by yourself in your letter
2, of the 28th ult l"Some time after had
assumed the duties of Secretary of War
Gd interim, the President asked my views
as to the course Mr.. Stanton would have
s1sto pursue in case the Senate should not
concur in his suspension, to obtain pos
session of the Office. My reply was,
in substance, that Mr.. Stanton would
have to appeal to the courts to reinstate
nun, llluStidtlHS my pOSltlOn ny ClJlDS lie
ground | had taken in the case of the
Baltimore Police Commissioners" Now
at that time, you admit in your letter
of the 3rd inst, you held the Office for the
very object of defeating an appeal to the
courts. In that letter you say that, in &C
cepting the office, one motive was to pre-.
vent the President from appointing some
other person who would retain possession,
and thus make judicial proceedings neces-
sary. You knew that the President was
unwilling to trust the Office with any one
who couldnot, by holding 1t, compel Mr..
Stanton to resort to the courts You per.
fectly understood that in this interview,
sometime after you 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 to appeal to the courts If the Pres
1iient had reposed confidence before he
knew your views, and that confidence had
been violated, it might have been said that
he made mistake; but violation of con
fidence reposed after that conversation was
no mistake of his, nor of yours. 1t is the
fact only that needs be stated, that at the
date Of this conversation you did not in.
tend to hold the office with the purpose OF