Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-02-21
Special Telegram to the Richmond Dispatch.
CABINET CORRESPONDENTS

Special Telegram to the Richmond Dispatch.
CABINET CORRESPONDENTS.
The Presidents Final Report to General
| Grant-The Testimony of the Members OF
| the Cabinet.
WASHINGTON, Feb IL, 1868,
To the Editors Of the Dispatch:
I send you, without comment, t1e fol-
| lowing important letter:
EXECUTIVE MANSION, |
February 10, 1868.
| General,-The extraordinary character
of vour letter of the Sd instant, would
seem to preclude any reply ON my part ;
Init the manner in which publicity has
been given to the correspondence of which
flat letter forms part, and the grave ques-
tions which are involved, induce mo to
take this mode OF giving, as proper Sc
ouel to the communications which have
passed between us, the statements of the
| five members of the Cabinet who were pre-
sent on the 18th ultimo. Copies of the
letters which they have addressed to me
upon the subject are, accordingly, here
with enclosed.
You speak of my letter of the 3lSt ulti-
mo as reiteration of the many and
| GROSS INTERPRETATIONS contained in
certain newspaper articles, and reassert
| the correctness of the statement contained
| in your comm unicatiOn of the 2Sth ult1InO,
adding land here [ give your own worlds
| Anything i'll yours in reply to 1t to the
contrary notwithstanding. When Il CON
| trovcrsy upon matters of fact reaches the
point to which this has been brought, fur
Their assertion or denial between the hume
| date parties should cease, especially when,
| upon either side, it loses the character OF
tho respectful discussion which IS required
| by the relations in which the parties stand
| to each other, and degenerates i'll tone and
| temper In such case, ii there Is nothing
| to rely upon but the opposing statements,
conclusions must be drawn from the state
ments alone, and from whatever intrinsic
probabilities they afford in favor of or
il3ainst either of the parties. [ should not
shrink from tits test III this controversy !;
but fortunately it is not left to this test
alone There were five Cabinet officers
present at the conversation, the details Of
which in my letter of the 18th ultimo you
allow yourself to say contains many and
gross misrepresentation" These gentle
men heard that conversation, and have
read my statement. They speak for them
selves, and [ leave the proof without d
word Of comment
deem it proper, before concluding this
communication, to notice some OF the
statements contained IN your letter.
You say that performance Of the prom
Use alleged to have been made by you to
the President would have involved g re-
sistance 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 tho President
would, on the removal of Mr.. Stanton, ap
point some one in his place who would en-
barrass the army in carrying out the recon-
struction acts, and add: cit was to pre-
vent such an appointment that [ accepted
, the office of Secretary OF War all interim,
and not FOR the purpose Of enabling you to
get rid of Mr.. Stanton by my withholding
it from him in opposition to law, or. not
doing so myself, surrendering it to one
who would, as the statements and assump-
tons in your communication pleasantly in
dictate was sought"
First of all, you here admit that from the
very beginning of what you term 1" the
whole history" Of your connection with Mr..
Stanton's suspension you intended to cir
cumYent the President ; it was to carry out
that intent that you accepted the appoint
ment this was III yOur mind at the time
Of your acceptance. 1t was not, then, in
obedience to the order of your superior, as
has heretofore beon supposed, that you as
sumed the duties Of the Office. You knew
it was the Presidents purpose to prevent
| Mr.. Stanton from resuming (the office of
Secretary of War; and you Intended to de-
feat that purpose. You accepted the Office
not in the interest of the President, but of
Mr.. Stanton. If this purpose, so entertain
ed by you, had been confined to yourself
if, when accepting the office, you had
done SO with Il mental reservation to frus-
trate the President, it would have been a
tacit deception. In the ethics of some per,
SONS, such q course is allowable but you
cannot stand even on that questionable
ground. The history" of your connec-
ton with this transaction as written by
yourself places you in different predica-
mont, and shows that you not only con-
cealod 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 retaining it yourself, after
an attempt at restoration by the Senate, so
as to require Mr.. Stanton to establish his
right by judicial decision. [ now give that
part of this history " as written by your
self in your letter Of the 2Sth ultimo
''some time after I assumed the du-
ties of Secretary of War ad interim the Pre-
Mr.. Stanton would have to pursue, in case
the Senate should not concur in his sus-
pension, to obtain possession of his Office.
My reply was, in substance, that Mr.. Stan
ton would have to appeal to the courts to
reinstate him illustrating my position by
citing the 'ground I had taken in the
case Of the Baltimore Police Commission
ers."
Now, at that tiue as you admit in your
| letter OF the Sd instant, you held the office
with the very object of defeating an appeal
to the courts. In that letter you say that
in accepting the Office one motive was to
prevent the President from appointing
some other person who would retain pos
session, and thus make judicial proceedings
necessary. You knew the President was
unwilling to trust the Office with any one
who would not, by holding it, 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 81
lence, desired an expression of your views,
and you answered him that Mr.. Stanton
I" would have to appeal to the courts. %
If the President had reposed confidence
before he knew your views. and that con-