The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1869-10-28
Grant and congress.


that the more n man IS written about the
less the worli knows of him. II all the
philosophers and scribcs in the country
had coIiinei their pens 10 simple nara
lions of fact in regard to Mr.. Grant, in
stead OF trying, rs they have done, To i'm
press the public mind with imaginary
ideas Of his veilel ability AMI virtues, and
explain away his manifest errors, what
would now be the unveiled estimate Of the
eighteenth President
On the one sislc Il has been customary
to credit Gen. Grant rs the savior of the
RenubIic, and attribute 70 him extraOrdi
nary military GENTS. On the other, his
military career has been written down by
writers disguised hv the discriminating
adulation bestowed upon him, and, there
fore, inclined to be unfair. Perhaps the
statement respecting Grants success as
General that would come nearest the sim
pie truth is that il was won by Il fortui
fOus concoursc of circumstance" There
never was time when this remarkable
nan appeared - have any pride. His
"dOggelness,' his dull resolution, his in
sensibility to doubt or chagrin, never
changed. BY sheer luck, the staff of GRO
MES and recommended officers whom he
gathered about him proved to be IN excel
lent one. RawlnS whose death is the
greatest loss this man ever suffered was,
in sOOth, the power behind the General
yet he was never fully conscious of his
power, for the reason that Gen. Grant
was q better listener than talkcT on mill
tary subjects, AMI was accustomed to de-
eide upon other mems opinions without
letting them know that he had rot evolved
his decisions out of his own conscious
ness. But Gen Grant knew how to value
Gen. Rawiins, and knew, also, how to
value and respect, or rather tolerate, the
great services which such men as Sher-
man, Sheridan and Thomas were render
ing TO the cause of which he found the
country and the goOd-natured President
Lincoln willing enough TO consider him,
Grant, the military leader. He never at
tempted TO dictate to those men, because
he haC sense enough to see that they were
doing well, and because he knew that the
less he seemed TO control them the better
they would like him and his fOrbearance.
Every body ought to remember that the
three great campaigns which broke up the
rebcii0n-Sheridans Shenandoah cam
paign, Shermans march from Atlanta to
the sea, and the battle of Five Forks pre-
ceiing Lees surrcnder-were each sug-
gested and planned by the commanders
named, and not by the then Lieutenant
General
self popular with the trOops-the common
soldiers, whom he habiiualy ordered, when
in personal command 10 pitless slaughter
made himself befriended by set OF
officers to whom he had the tact (tact is
too fine word for IT'D to give abundant
tether. And when the war closed, and
these men willingly joined with glad
civilians in according To the Lieutenant
General preeminence commensurate
with his command and which nothing de-
tracted from their own hOnOTs Il great
number Of the line officers AMI common
soldiers, who had hated Grant Us butcher,
were gradually won over TO cOncede that
butcher, after all, must have been ncces-
Sary evil, and that he had actually turned
out to be a hero of the old style.
In the opinion OF many OF the Generals
best friends, It was an evil hour for him,
if not for the country, when he accepted
the Presidential Office. Grant himself was
wary, and listened long to The objections
of his crOnieS and the INDECENT protest Of
his soul NO such ambition tempted, Or
had ever tempted, him Is that which com
monty burns in the bosons of aspiring
politicians. Instead OF being daZzled by
the prospect of political eminence he pre-
Ierred the military aScendency which he
had obtained; and when at last he con-
scented % relinquish his commission as
General Of the United States armies, it
was with the secret understanding with
himself, and tacitly with q few others,
that he would carry with him and main
tain at the White House the same strong,
cnngenial domination over the affairs OF
tie nation that he had maintained over
the army.
And he accepted the Presidency with no
inf ~. a
the ensuing four years.
In previous letters / haze explained the
designs of this man of Il military char
acter and scope, al FIR the acquisition OF
more territory to the national domain.
The apparent failure of every design of
this sort, and Of his reported attempt to
cOerce Congress are susceptible of some
explanation which, VIII not convict him
of having yet lost the game President
Grant could not have anticipated the ter
rible raid upon him which was made
by the politicians 81 the Republican OAR
u Immediately aGer his installation, and
kept Vi uatil long after the adjournment
Of Congress. That hubbub, it is true,
bewilflercd him. 1t left him no leisure to
mature any plans of his OWN, and 50
stunned his faculties that he was unable
even to appreciate the plans Of those po-
htiCai friends who were really his worst
enemies, and who wanted TO obtain early
and complete control over him But,
looking at the result OF the attack it must
be confessed that, although the President
lost one serious advantage, he was not
wholly worstcd.
The Radicals attempted to dictate TO
the Cabinet How diJ they succeed ?
Grant appointed Cabinet the most aston
Salng that ever was knOwn-a Cabinet OF
his own personal friends or acetus.intanccs.
which pleased no party, and made the
country and the whole world stare aghast.
lad Mr. Stewart not resigned from this
Cabinet, there would not have been a man
IN it whom Congress would claim rs It's
tool As II is, every member but one is
indebted solely to The President for the
honor OF his position, and is neither So
pledged nor OF sufficient power in the
Radical councils rs to be likely to prove a
turbulent member of the administration.
It is to be observed that Grant has from
the first retained an intimate friend in the
war office and thai the man whom he has
now appointed to be Secretary of War is
an officer whom such distinction elevates
from comparative obscurity
Such men, with the exception of Sec
rotary Fish (whcSe resOlute abilities may
still, however, be exercised on the side of
a chief contending against unworthy
odds, are, in q certain sense partially
hidden from their own consciencesJ,
Grants tOOls
The President was outwi,ted in the mat
ter OF selection of IA Secretary of the
Treasury ailer Mr. Stewart declined. lie
was outwitted doUbiy. In the first place
he hal put his trust in Mr.. Stewart
financial experience, opinions, convictions,
Oh which NJ. Boutwell, has none I'm the
second place, he had confidence in Mr..
Stewards fidelity to the trust offered to
him, as financier, and lover Of MS whole