Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1868-02-14

ascertain what would be your action
should such an attempt be made for his
restoration to the War Department. That
object was accomplished, for the interview
terminated with the distinct under
standing that if, under reflection, you
should prefer not to become a party to the
controversy, or should conclude it would
be your duty to surrender the Depart
ment to Mr.. Stanton upon action in his
favor by the Senate, you were to return
the office to me prior to decision
by the Senate, in order, if I desired to
do so, that I mig hit designate some one to
succeed you. 1t was apparent to you that,
had not this understanding been reached,
it was my purpose to relieve you from the
further discharge of the duties as Secre-
tary of War dd interim, and to appoint
some other person in that capacity. Other
having been sought on my part, and lead
ing to the same conclusion as the first. 1t
is not necessary to refer to any of them,
except that of the 18th inst, mentioned in
your letter. AS it was then known that
the Senate had proceeded in the case of
Mr.. Stanton, was anxious to learn your
determination After protracted inter-
view, during which the provisions of the
Tenure-of- Office bill were fully discussed,
you said that as it had been agreed upon
in our first conference, you would either
return the office to my possession in time
to enable me to appoint q successor before
final action by the Senate upon Mr.. STAN
tons suspension, or would remain at its
head, awaiting q decision by judicial pro-
ceedings. 1t was then understood that
there would be further conference on
Monday, by which time I supposed you
would be prepared to inform me Of your
decision. You failed to fulfill the engage
ment, and on Tuesday. notified me in writ
ing of the receipt of your official notice of
the action of the Senate in reference to
Mr.. Stanton, and at the same time in
formed me, that according to the act regu-.
lating the tenure of certain civil Offices,
your functions as Secretary Of War adj m
term ceased from the moment Of the re-
ceipt of that notice. Thus, in disregard of
the understanding between us, you va
Gated the office without having given me
notice of your intent to do so. 1t is but
just to say, that in your communication
you claim that you did inform me of your
purpose, and thus fulfilled the promise
made in our last preceding conversation
on the subject. The fact that such prom
mise existed, is evidence of an arrange
IlGuL VI bUC AluO i AdNC nCAtlOnCC. Ou
had found in our first conference that the
President was DESTROYS of keeping Mr..
Stanton out of the office, whether sus-
tanned in suspension or not; you knew
what reason had induced the President to
ask from you promise; you also knew
that, in case your views of duty did not
accord with his own convictions, it was
his purpose to fill your place with an
other appointment. Even ignoring the
existance of positive understanding be-
tween us, the conclusions were plainly de-
ducible from our various conversations.
1t is certain, however that even under the
circumstances you did not offer to return
the place to my possession, but, according
to your own statement, placed yourself in
position where, could have anticipated
your action, would have been compelled
to ask of you, as ] was compelled to ask of
your predecessor in the War Department,
a letter of resignation, or to resort to a
more disagreeable expedient, suspending
you by the appointment of a successor.
As stated in your letter, the nomination of
Governor Cox, of Ohio, for Secretary of
War was suggested to me. This appoint
ment as Mr.. Stanton's successor was urged
in your name, and 1t was said that his Sc
lection would save further embarrassment
/ did not think that in the selection of q
Cabinet officer | should be trammeled by
such considerations. l was prepared to
take the responsibility of deciding the
question in accordance with my views,
and having determined upon a course
which deemed right and proper,
was anxious to learn the steps you
would take, should the possession of the
War Department be demanded by
Mr.. Stanton. Had your action been
IN conformity with the under
standing between us, do not believe the
embarrassment would have attained the
present proportion, or that the probability
Of its repetition would have been SO great.
know that with view to any early ter
mination of state of affairs so detri-
mental to the public interests, you volun-
tariIy offered, both on Wednesday, the 18th.
inst, and on the succeeding Sunday, to
call upon Mr.. Stanton and urge upon him
that the good of the service required his
resignation. I confess that l considered
your proposal as a sort of reparation for
the failure on your part to act in accord
ance 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
conferred upon you, thus saving yourself
embarrassment, and leaving the RESPONSE
bility where it properly belonged, with
the President, who is accountable for the
faithful execution of the laws. l 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 voluntarily to resign from the
War Department. You conclude your
letter with q reference to our conversation
at the meeting of the Cabinet, held ON the
18th inst. In your account of what there
occurred, you say that after the President
had given his version of our previous
conversation, you stated then, as given in
your letter, and that you Gin no wise ad-
mitted the correctness of his statement,
though to soften the evident contradiction
of my statement, l said, abiding to our
first communication ron the subject, that
the President might have understood me
in that way, VIZ !: that I promised to re-
signif did not resist the reinstatement. I
made no such promise" My recollection
of what then transpired is directly the re-
verse of your narrative in the presence of
the Cabinet. I asked you, first, if in the
conversation which took place shortly
after your appointment as Secretary of
War adj interim, you did not agree to re-
main at the head of the War Department,
abide any judicial proceeding that might
follow the non concurrence of the Senate
in Mr.. Stanton,s suspension, or should
you not wish to become involved in such
a controversy, to put me in the same po
sition with reference to the Office as pre-
vious to your appointment, by returning