The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1868-02-15
From Washington

FfASHINGIoN, EeDEu0ry j L.--A ne = Ee5Ee F..
lent this afternoon sent the following letters
70 the House, in accordance with the reso-
hutton adopted yesterday
= ExreuT1yH MANSION. Febrsary 10. isss.
General. -The extraordinary Character Of
your letter oe tie 3 inst. wGuId seem TO
preclude any reply on my part but tne nam
ner in winch publicity has been given - Tire
Of which that lestar forms
part, andathe grave questions which are N
y0lged, require that IN justice 70 myself,
saOud take this method OF giving, as
proper sequel to the communications which
have passed between as, the statements Of
FIVE members Of the Cabinet who were pres
cnt on the occasion of our cony Esat.ea en-
the 18th ultima as well rs copies Of the let
ters which they have addressed TO me upon
the subject, are accordingly herewith en-
closed
You speak Of my letter OF the lst ulE as
" reiteratiye Of the many and gross misrcP- I
reservations contained IN certain newspaper |
articles, and reassert the correctness Of the /
st tements contained IN your commaniea !
ton Of the 28th nit, adding, (and | here
give your own worlds anything IN geur
reply to it, to thecontrary Notwithstanding.
When a controversy, upon matters of fact.
reaches the point to which this has been
/ brought, further association or denial be-
/ tween the immediate parties should cease,
! especially when upon either side It loses
4 that character of a respectful discussion
/ which is required by the relations in which
the parties stand to each other, and degene-
rates in tone and temper. In such case,
/ if there is nothing to rely upon but erpo
Using statements, conclusions must be drawn
i from those statements alone and from what
/ ever intrinsic probabilities they afford, IN
1 m or q
! They should not shrink from the contest
But fortunately it is not left to this alone
| There were. five cabinet officers present at
/ our conversation, the details Of which eEere
in my letter Of the 2Sth uit, and Of which
you allow yourself to say ' contains many
and gross misrepresentation These gen
ftlemen heard t a conversation and read my
statement They spoke for themselves and
4 leave the proof without word Of com
ment deem 1t proper before concluding
i this Communication to notice some Of the
statements contained In your letter You
say the Performance Of promises, alleged
to have been made 10y ne 20 the President
= would haze involved q resistance to the law
and Inconsistency with the whole history
of my. connection with the suspension of
Mr. Stanton" You then state that you
@had fears that the Presidenb would on the
removal Of Mr.. Stanton, appoint some one
in his place who would embarass the army
in carrying out the reconstruction acts. and
to proventsuch an appointment that l ac-
cepted the Office of Secretary Of War ad
interim, and not for the purpose of enabling
you to get rid Of Mr.. Stanton by my with
holding it from him in opposition to the law
or not doing so myself, to one who would
E As the statements and assumptions IN your
communication plainly indicate that you
sought it first Of all, as you here admit that
from the very beginning Of what you term
"whOle history of my connection with Mr.
Stanton's suspension" you intended to cir
cumycnt the President, and 1t was to carry
out that intent that you accepted the ap-
pointment and this was IN your mind at the
time of your acceptance of it. and it was
not then In obedience to the order Of your
superior, as has been heretofore supposed,
that you assumed the duties of the Office.
Y GU know it was the Presidents purpose to
prevent Mr.. Stanton from assuming the Office
of Secretary of War, and you accepted the
Office not In the interest Of the President,
but of Mr. Stanton. If this purpose so en-
tertained by had been confined to yourself,
and, If when IN accepting the Office you had
so, with q mental reservation to Illustrate
! the President, it would have been decep-
tiOn-in ethics-in which such a course
Is allowable. But you cannot stand even
upon that questionable ground. The his
/ tory Of your connection, as written by your
9 ! self, places you In a different pTedicament
and shows that you not only concealed your
. design from the President but induced him
I to suppose thaFyou would carry out his pur-
: poses-to keep Mr.. Stanton out of the Office
by retaining it yourself after the attempted
restoration by the Senate, so as to require
= | Mr.. Stanton to establish his right oy a judi
cial decision. l now give that part of this
e story as written by yourself in your letter
| Of the 2Sth ult Some time after I as
sumed the duties Of Secretary of War ad
J. interim, the President asked my views as tC
l the course Mr. Stanton would have to pur
sue in case the Senate should not concur il
% his suspension to obtain the Office" My
| reply in substance was that Mr.. Stanton
> would have to appeal to the Courts to rein
state him, illustrating my position by citing
e the ground l had taken in the case OF the
/ Baltimore Police Commissioners" Now, a
that time, as you admit in your letter Of the
; Sd ult., you held the Office for the very pur
G pose Of defeating that appeal to the Courts
5 You say that In accepting the Office one mo
tive was @ to prevent the President from ap
pointing some other person who would retain
: possession" You knew that tho Presiden
was unwilling to trust the Office with any
2 one NO would not by holding it, compe
Mr. Stanton to resort to the courts, you per
fectly understood in this interview, some
; time after YOU accepted the Office, that thG
President not content with your silence
! desired an expression Of your views, and
? you answered him that A1r. Stanton would
! have TO appeal to the courts. 1t the PresI
l dent had reposed confidence IN you, before
he knew your views and that confidence
had been violated, it might have been sale
that he made a mistake, but IN the violation
Of the confidence reposed in you after tia
conversation, there could be no mistake o
his or Of yours This fact alone needs "a
be stated at the date Of this conversation
you did not intend to hold the Office Wits
the purpose of forcing Mr.. Stanton into
court, but did hold 1t then, and had accepted
1t to prevent that course being carried out
In other words, you said to the President
" that IS The proper codrse, aud to yourself
4 have accepted this Office, and now hold
it. to defeat chat cause" The excuse that
you make in a subsequent paragraph of that
letter of the 2Sthult, that afterwards you
changed your views as to what would be the