The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-02-13
DAILY PRESS.
ND.
Thursday Morning, February 10, 1868
The politician and ,he Soldier

The Politician and the Soldier,
; 'If there were nothing but our opposing
J statements" says the President in his last
: letter to General Grant, "opinions must be
drawn from these statements alone and what
ever intrinsic probabilities may exist in favor
Of or against either of the parties" Waving
) the consideration Of probabilities MI. john
son rests his case upon the testimony of five
witnesses. When we know what these gentle
men say, it will be time enough to consider
their testimony. AT the present writing we have
only the Presidents representation of what
they say, and if he misrepresents them as
grossly as he misrepresents General Grants
published letter, the advantage which he
thereby gains will be short-lived.
General Grant had stated in that letter
that his greatest objection to the removal of
Secretary Stanton, as indicated in his written
protest, was the fear tnat some one would be
be appointed in his place who would embar
rass the army in the performance of the du-
ties imposed upon it by law. To prevent such
a misfortune General Grant accepted the ap-
pointment of Secretary of War Qd interim.
For the same good reason he refused to be-
come party to the Presidents mad project of
resisting the Reinstatement of Secretary
Stanton. He could neither hold the office
himself in defiance of law, nor resign for the
purpose of allowing the President TO appoint
an unscrupulous tool TO commit that outrage,
This consistent, straightforward narrative
the President reviews and perverts in man
ner SO utterly shameless that one is compelled
to believe him sincere. He really believes,
one would say, that the Office belonged to
him and not to the people of the United
States; that he had right to use 1t, not for
the execution but for the obstruction of the
laws; and that it was General Grants duty.
as he brutaly says, "to return the Office to
my possession" or to be governed in its ad-
ministration by the will of his superior officer
instead OF the laws of his country. Mr.. John
son reads with astonishment and Indignation
General Grants declaration that he accepted
the Office for the sake of discharging its du-
ties, and says plainly that if these Intentions
had been suspected he would have been
promptly removed. Duty to his country, in
deed. Mr.. johnson sniffs and snorts with i'm
patience at the thought that subordinate of
his should dare to betray his master on such
a paltry pretence.
From man so stolidly incapable of under
standing the simple, manly position of Gener-
al Grant at every stage of this business,
what kind of version are we to expect of the
elaborate, Ingenious notes of the member of
the Cabinet? Is he not morally certain TO
interpret them by the light Of his monstrous
vanity? We haze learned by sad experience
to put but little confidence in the statements
of the President. When he is most sincere
he is least to be trusted; for he is never
thoroughly in earnest except when his self
love is disturbed, and at such times he becomes
absolutely incapable of seeing or knowing or
telling the truth. We have as yet only the
opposing statements of the President and Of
the General of the army. The evidence of
which the President talks does not appear
Ii we wish to form a just Judgment of the
merits of the quarrel we are left to the proba-
biities growing out Of the character of the
parties.
When we turn to these considerations ey-
erything Is in favor of General Grant. He is
soldier to begin with, and veracity is a mill
tary virtue. He has an extraordinary habit
OF mindng his business and holding his
tongue-two peculiarities not commonly
found in liars. After fighting through the
Mexican war he resigned his commission in
time of naaee and dovnfad b;v,,ealf a1 ,,,,;o.l
and modestly to peaceful pursuits that he was
hardly known within the limits of his own
town and not at all beyond them. When
his country needed his services again, he
sought no high command; he was not pro-
NOTED by the urgency of friends, but won his
way from captaincy to the great office he
now holds. Yet Mr.. johnson brands this
man as liar and says confidentiaIly to the
newspaper correspondents, for publication.
that "he is not a big man, either mentally,
morally or physically" And who, pray. is
Mr.. johnson, to sit in Judgment over such
man? A politician, whose first rise in life
was when he was elected alderman. Until
that time he had been known as an illiterate
tailor, with an unusual faculty for talking
politics and managing caucuses. Is it not
pretty well understood by what arts such
denagogues rise? Mr.. johnson, at his in
auguration as Vice President, announced
himself as plebeian, with strong accent on
the first syllable. A man Who is Fl. to pre-
side over the Senate of the United States
should be neither plebeian nor an aristo-
crat but an honest man with no false pride
about SO Insignificant a matter as his origin,
whether high CT low. But Mr.. johnson
boas.ed of being plebeian, and it is neces-
sary to say that truth-teling is not plebeian
virtue. Is the mere word of this Tennessee
adventurer to be weighed against the word OF
soldier like Grant? Not for moment.
But the President says he has evidence. II
is alleged that the Cabinet officers sasree sub
stantially' to the Presidents version of the
transactions at that stormy Cabinet meeting
on the 14th January. What does substan-
italy mean? Does it mean that General
Grant admitted or simply that he did not
contradict the Presidents assertions? 1t
was the evening of the day on which Stanton
had resumed his place in the War Office
General Grant, though no longer member
of the Cabinet, was summoned to Cabinet
meeting as delinquent sophomore might be
called before the faculty of Tennessee col
lege. The President, bafiled and swollen
with rage, noisiy charged the General with a
violation of his word in not calliug the day
before to state definitely whether he would
or would not hold the Office against Secretary
Stanton. General Grant says he made no
such promise; the President had spoken OF
seeing him that day; that Is the only issue
between them. The President forgot what
was due TO bis own dignity; he often does
but it appears that General Grant did not for
moment forget the respect due to his supe-
rior officers. To have made himself under
stood in that presence it would have been
necessary to give the President the lie. Gen.
tlemen are not in the habit of using that