Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1868-02-13

said that his selection would save further
embarrassment. ] did not think, in the
selection of a Cabinet officer, | should be
trammeled by such considerations. J was
prepared TO take the responsibility of de-
Gliding the question in accordance with MY
views, and having determined upon a
course which deemed right and proper.
was anxious TO learn what steps you
would take should the possession of the
War Department be demanded by Mr.. 5.
Had your action been in conformity with
the understanding between us, / do not
believe the embarrassment would have at
tanned its present proportions, or that the
probability of its repetition would have
been SO great.
i know that with view 10 any early
termination of this state of affairs, so det-
rimental 10 public interests, You voluntarily
Offered, both On Monday, the 18th instant,
and on the succeeding Sunday. 10 cali
upon Mr.. Stanton and urge upon him that
the good of the service required his resig-
nation, and confess that / considered your
proposal as sort of reparaiiOn for the
Failure on your part To act in accordance
with the understanding, more than once
repeated, which | thought received your
full assent, and by which you could have
returned to me the Office which | had con-
ferred upon you. thus saving yourself en-
barrassment, and laying the responsibility
where ii properly belonged, with the
| President, who is accountable for the
faithful execution of the laws. j have not
yet been informed by you whether, as
twice proposed by yourself, you had called
upon Mr.. Stanton and made an effort to
induce him 10 voluntarily resign from the
War Department.
You conclude yonr letter with refer
ence to our conversation at a meeting of
the Cabinet heldOn the 18th inst. In your
| account of what there occurred, you say
that after the President had given his yer-
sion of our previous conversations, you
stated them as given in your letter, and
that you in no wise admitted the correct
pess of his statement, though TO soften the
evident contradiction of my statement,
said, alluding to our first communication
on the subject, that the President might
have understood it in that way, viz: That
had promised to resign If | did not resist
his reinstatement. ] made no such prom
ise 81"
My recollection Of what then transpired
is dramatically the reverse of your nara
tion. In the presence of the Cabinet |
asked YOU: lst IT, i'm conversation
pointment as Secretary of War Id iRtc-
rim, you did not agree 10 remain at the
head of the War Department and abide
, any judicial proceedings that might follow
non-concurrence of the Senate in Mr.
Stanton's suspension; or, should YOU not
wish to become involved in such a CON
troversy, put me in the same position with
| reference 10 the Office as previous TO your
appointment, by returning it to me in time
to anticipate such action by the Senate.
This yeu admitted. ID. Then asked you
il, at the time of the conference on the
preceding Saturday, had not, TO avoid a
misunderstanding, requested you TO state
what you intended TO do, and further, If
in reply to that inquiry You had not refer
red to my former conversation, saying that
from them | understood your proposition,
| and that your action would be consistent
with the understanding which had been
reached. To these questions you also
replied in the affirmative. Sd, | asked if
at the conclusion of our interview on Sat
urday we understood that we were 10 have
another conference on Monday before final
action by the Senate on the case nf Dir.
Stanton. You replied that such was the
understanding, but that YOU did not sup
pose the Senate would act so soon: that on
Monday you had been engaged in a con-
| ference with General Sherman, and were
occupied with many matters. and asked if
General S. had not called on ne that day.
What relevancy, General Sherman's visit
| to me Monday had with the purpose for
| which you were to have called. / am at a
loss to perceive, and it certainly did not
inform me whether you had determined 10
retain the office or TO afford me an oppor-
| tunity to appoint successor in advance
of any attempted reinstatement of Mr..
Stanton. This account Of what passed be-
tween US at the Cabinet meeting on the
18th inst, widely differs from that con-
tanned in your letter; for it shows that in
stead of having stated our conversation as
given in the letter which has made this
reply necessary, you admitted tha, my re-
cital of them was entirely accurate Sin
cerely anxious, however, to be correct in
my statements, | have to-day read this
narration of what occurred on the lIth
inst to the members ofth Cabinet, who
we're then present. They, without excep-
ton, agree in its accuracy. Ii is only ne
cesssary to add that on Wednesday morn
ing, the 18th, you called on ne in company
with Lieutenant General Sherman. After
some preliminary conversation, you re
marked that an article in the National
MtsVigencor o that date d;dyou n u 'tice
replied that had not read the IntcUi-
gencer of that morning. You first told
me it was your intention 10 urge Mr.. s. to
resign. After you had withdrawn, care
fully read the article of which you spoke,
and found that its statement of the under
standing between us was substantially cor
ract. On the 18th caused it 10 be read
to four or five members OF the Cabinet,
who were present al cur conference Of the
l4th, and they concuTed in the general
accuracy of the statement respecting our
conversation on that occasion.
| In reply to your communication, deem
ed it proper, to prevent further misunder-
standing, to make this simple recital of the
facts.
Very respectfully yours,
ANDREw Johnson.
General L. S. Grant, commanding United
States Army.
GRANT TO JOHNSON.
HExpQUARTERs AMY OF UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3. 1865.
His Excellency Andrew johnson, Presi-
dent:
,, SrR: I have the honor 10 acknowledge
the receipt of your communication of the
3Ist ult. in answer to mine of the 2Sth ult.
After careful reading and comparison of
the 18th ult. article over the initials ''J. r.
s." in the New York World of the eth
ult., purporting TO be based upon your
statement, and seven of The members of
the Cabinet therein named, I find it only
to be reiteraiion, only somewhat more in
detail, of the many and gross misrepresen-
taiions contained in these articles, and
which my statement of facts. set ferth
in my letter of the 2Sth ultime, was
intended to correct, and herein ! Ieass rt
the correctness of my statements in that
letter, anything in yours IN reply to the con-
trary Notwithstanding Iconfess my sur
prise that the Cabinet officers referred 10
should so greatly misapprehend the facts
in the matter of the admissions alleged to
have been made by me at the Cabinet meet
ing of the l4th ult.. as to suffer their names