The Portland daily press., 1868-01-16

At ten o'clock, Tuesday morning, E. NJ.
Stanton was at his desk in the War De part
ment, attending to the duties of his Office as if
he had only been absent an hour or two. The
President remarked that he "was not at all
surprised; )" in fact he thought it doubtful if
he had not lost all capacity for that particular
mental experience. And that is all up to
date. There was as good an opportunity pre-
sented as ever can be for the President to dis
play those stern Jacksonian qualities of which
bis fiatterers assure him he is the undoubted
possessor. All sorts of things were rumored
and threatened, but nothing was done, and
the people and the law were vindicated, 1t
was rumored that Grant would not retire. but
would grimly smoke his cigar, sitting immov-
able in his official seat and leaving Stanton to
make his way in through the cloud as best he
could, by means of writ of mandamus from
the Supreme Court. 1t was also noised abroad
that the President would remove Stanton ab-
sontely, and send the Mme of his successor
to the Senate for confirmation, before that
body could act upon the question of suspen-
sion. 1t was said, too, that the President
would order Grant not to retire, and that the
latter with characteristic respect for the COM
mands of his superiors would feel bound to
occupy the War Office until permitted to re-
tire.
Gen. Grant has shown that he possesses
the poorest qualifications for an instrument
OF usurpation that can be conceived. The
of
mirably displayed than in this matter of the
Secretaryship. If he had never captured
Vicksburg or beaten Lee, the dignity and dis
interestness of his conduct on this occasion
have been of so marked character as to en-
title him to the highest respect and gratitude
of his fellow citizens. Protesting in the
very outset against the Presidents war on
Stanton, he nevertheless became the latter's
successor for the sake of protecting those in
terests which the American people had most
at heart He did so, too, without seeming to
regard the opprobrium which his enemies
were able to heap upon him while yet his
motives and the circumstances attending his
accession to office were imperfectly under
stood. He might instantly have set himself
right with the few wrong-headed people
who acould misunderstood him BY pub
fishing the letter to the President at
the time Of his appointment. But
he chose to remain silent and wait for the
requisition of Congress to bring the paper
to light, and vindicate his wisdom and pat
riotism. 1t would be a curious item OF sta
tistics if it could be determined how many
persons there are in the United States be-
sides U. s.. Grant who are capable of doing
just what he did in this particular. There
could be no more satisfactory test of the finn
ness of his character and the loftiness of his
motives.
The result of the contest between Congress
and the President over the War Office has
been most gratifying triumph for Stanton
but throughout all the proceedings, from the
beginning to the somewhat dramatic denoue-
nsent, Grant has been the actor in the scene
whose conduct will entitle him to the most
lively gratitude and respect of the American
people.