The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1868-02-05

u :
event of non-coneurrcnce by the Senate in the
suspension from office of Mr.. Stanton. I sought
sS OBJECT %yiS S tnsn f Tr he
s sI,S,S 70 your s,tSnton wa. to Se;
piishcd l6r lie lew term With ne dis.
tinet understsndinf that II, upon reaeetien, you
trsssr.y or shoais co sS Il ssSlS S' be-
Your duty to surryndcr the Department TO Mr..
you were 10 return the office 70 me prior 10 de-
cison by the Senate, in order that, II desired to
DO so, might designate some one to succeed you:
70 retire GeSn tse Srher % ui
appoint some other person 90 IN that s capacity
| Other conversations upon the subject cnsucd,
all a them having, on my part, the sane object,
Sem, excepting That Of SATURDAY, the lifh ia.t T.
nosn We sensts ssS
consider tho case of Mr.. stanton was anxious
TO learn your determinssion. After protrsctsd
tenure Of office bin were fully discussed, you
said that, as had been agreed upon in our frst
my possession in time to enable me to appoint :
successor before hnal action by the Senate upon
MT stsnton,s suspension or would remain Is its
that there would be a further conference on
be prepared to inform me OF your final decision.
You failed, however, to fulnl the engagement,
sna On 81 aesday nosed me n wrtn ne o. she re-
the Senate in the case of Mr.. stanton, and at
the same time Informed me that, according TO the
your functions as Secretary Of War I'D inieria
| ceased from tho moment Of the receipt OF tho
notice. You thus, in disIegsrd Of the under,
having given me notice Of your intention to do
SO. II y but Just, however, 70 say that IN your
me OF your purpose, and thus afoiaiied the
on this subjectb The TACT that such a0pronIse
sns hsse msSsionea =" 9oa soSa u ens
first conference "that the President wasdsslrous
In the ns o. not fseM
what reasons had induced the President to ask
| from you promise. -a.. .r. ~
did not accord with his own Convictions, II was
his purpose to nh your place by another appoint.
understanding between us, these coneiusions
| were plainly dcduciblc from our various CONVEX
sations Its certain, however. that even under
these circumstances, you did not offer to return
your own statement placed yourself IN position,
would have been compelled to ask Of you, as /
was compelled to ask Of your predecessor In the
War Department, Letter Of resIynatlon, Or else
suspcnding you by successor. ...I.....
. As stated in your letter, the nomination OF
| bONefnOF tOA, OF OnlO, IOF the ONCE oil Secrf-
tsry.of war was suggested to me. Ills appoint.
| ment as MIR. Stanton's successor was urged In
your name, and II was said that his selection
would save further embarrassment. did not
think that in the selection of a Cabinet officer
| should be trammelled by such considerations.
70 take the q de-
upon course which I deened right and proper,
the
demanded by MT. stanton. Had your action
been In conformity 10 With ths sn der DO
| mept would have attained its present proper
tiohs, or that the probability Of Its repetition
| would have been SO great.
| know that, with view to an carly terminus
tion of a state OF affairs SO detrimental to the
public interests, you voluntarily offered, both on
SUNDAY, to call upon Mr. stanton and urge upon n
him that the good OF the service required his re-
signation. Iconfess that considered your pro-
| your part, to act in accordance with an under
standing more than once repeated, which I
which you could have returned 10 me the ONCE
which had conferred upon you, thus saving
| yourself from embarrassment and leaving the
Who sisoantaSs Si for ssS fsit a
full execution OF the law.
Ihave not yet been informed by you whether,
upon Mr. stanton and made an effort IS to indu s
him voluntarily to resign from the War Depart
ment; You conclude your communication with
OF the Cabinet held on Tuesday, the llth Inst. IN
your account Of what then o,curred you say that
previous conversations, you 8 tated them substan-
TALLY as given In your letter; that you in wise
sSmed the y, Of hIs statement o.
tlon Rkstatement gave, said talluding TO our
first Communication on the subjeet) the President
might have understood in the way he said, viz:
that had promised TO resign " did rot resist
| the reinstatement. mado no such promisc.n
NJ recollection Of what then tfanspircd Ia
| the presence of the Cabinet asked youi
First II, in a conversation which took place
shortly after your appointment as Secretary Of
main at the head Of the War Department and
abide any judicial proceedings thai might follow
o sbSyu yoS Mi, IN nS 10
involved in such controversy, to put nc in the
same position with respect to the office as ! oc.
ias i 10 me in time to anticipate such action BY
the Senate.
This you admitted.
on the preceding Saturday / had not, to avoid
Misunderstanding, requested you to state what
that inquiry, you had not referred to our former
conversations, saying that from them under.
stood your position, and that your action would
pc eonsis net win the understanding which had
To these questions you also replied in the AZ.
Third. next asked II, at the conclusion of our
interview on Saturday, 1t was,not understood
that we were to have another conference on
Monday before final action by the Senate in the
case OF Mr.. Stanton.
You replied that such was the understanding,
but that you did not suppose that the Senate
would act 80 soonj that on Mondayyo had been
engaged In q conference with Gen. Sherman, and
were occupied with "many little matters,n and
asked II Gen. Sherman had not called on that
day. What relevancy Gen. Sherman's yisit to
me on Monday had with the purpose for which
you were to have called, ! am at a loss to per.
ceiye, as he certainly did not inform me whether
you had determined 70 retain possession OF the
q succ ossor, in advance Of my attempted rein.
statement Of Mr., Stanton.
This account of what passed between us at the
Cabinet meeting on the 18th instant widely differs
| from that contained In your communication, for
1t shows that instead Of having " stated our con
versations as given in the letter." which has
recital of them was entirely accurate. Sincerely
anxious, however, to be correct In my statements
have to-day read this narration OF what oc.
CURED on the 18th instant to the members OF the
Cabinet who were then present. They, without
exception, agree In its accuracy,
| 1t II only necessary to add that on Wednesday
morning, the 18th, you called on me, In company
I with Lieut.. Gen. Sherman. After some prelimI.
nary conversation you remarked that an article
In the National intenigencer Of that date did YOU
much injustice, | replied that l had not re- adj
the IHiciliycnCcr of that morning. You then AIRS,
told me that 1t was your intention to urge Nj
stanton to resign his office. After you had
withdrawn l carefully read the article OF which
l you had spoken, and found that its statement o
the understanding between us was substantially