The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1870-06-15

and il would, thereflte, be vain 10 say that h,
was not alarmed forhis country but he showef
no sign of unmanly fer his own account hi,
faults were all Of andther kind, his resolution!
i gree that bordered 81 obstinacy on every mat
ter of great importanee he deliberated rautfouslv
| and sometimes tried the patience of mis- friend.
by refusing 10 act until he mad made mp an opin
acteriStics explain Ia fact that his whole noific
al life, from the time be entered Congress unit
he retired from the Presidency-an his acts
speeches and papsrs-7haFe a consistency which
belongs TO those OF no other American statesman
He never found It necessary 20 cross his own
path or go back ulson his pledges. His judgment
was OF course not iniallible, and in 1851 he an.
nounced a determination with reference TO the
South Carolina commissioner which l and 9th.
ers thought erroneous but Interchangeable. Most
uheN Pectedly and altogether contrary TO his usu
| nj habit Of steadfst sell reliance, he conSented
10 reconsider and ulaieIlaily alter his decision
brought it about, we're alike honorable to his un.
derstanding aud heart | admit that you were
ought to know that i does not become man in
your station TO take up aIPeyil report and repeat
NJ Ike a parrot without stopping 10 consider
whether it has any foundation or not.
You are not eonter4,Tilh traducing Mr.. Ruchan-
an himself You take up Tie heads of deuartTnents
who served under hilneahd deal out your denun-
Citations upon nearly all "a succession.
The Secretary of the Treasury, You saw was de-
! ranging the finances and| sinking the national
! credit Upon whom does this fall? Was it Cobb,
| or Thomas, or Dix that tommittes that crime ?
The charge is equally untrue whether made against
one or another. Nou neyer saw scintilla of evi-
Yon tel yonT rS.siars Secretary of War
sedttsretfhe arssss.lld seat guss and munitions l.,
the ss.'sfsioilists. Whatever Mr.. Floyd may have
done IN his lifetime. il Is well established that he
never did this. Numerous charges have been,and
| others might be-, made against that officer with
some show Of truth II Is curious that your appe-
tlte for scandal could be satisfied only by selec-
| ting on" which is well known to be unfounded.
| on inform the country that the Secretary of
| the Navy rendered that JOiCcTlcSS. This i not
| a new charge. 1t has been made several times
| before, and solemnly investigated more than once
| Not only has it never been supported but it has
| uniformly been met by such evidence of Mr.
Ioncey.s perfect integrity that every respectable
Htlil among ms polltlcdl enemies acquits him
without hesitation In your present reiteraton of
| It, y"u are simply hearing false witness against
ment.
But perhaps the most extraordinary of all your
avermentS is, that the Secretary of the Interior
| permitted the robbery of trust funds You did not
mean II 10 be understood that robbery occurred
which hc knew nothing about, and Of which ht.
was, therefore. as innocent any other man,
Aou intended to make the impression that he will
fully gave his permission to the criminal osnorta
ton ot the funds in question: made himself an
accessory to the felony before the fact and was as
guilty as if he had done il with his own hsnds
lou could not possibly have believed this unless
You perversely closed your eyes against the light
OF plain truth. All the circumstances Of the
stood as anything in the history Of the country.
\ committee Of Congress, consisting of members
opposed 10 the Secretary examined the evidence
when it was fresh, and reported upon it. The cor
reetneSs of their Judgment has never heen i'm
puSned. In the lace of these recorded and we'll
hhown ilets, you deliberately sit down and write
out or get somebody to write and publish to the
Mollu on your authority, the accusation that Mr.
liIllI Psoh mas committed an offence which shOd
make him infamous forever. The force Of mem
daclty can 90 no further. admit that you are a
tcydt man, IN the modern sense Of the word, and
a Senator in Congress from most loyal State;
and II IS equally true that Mr.. Thompson was a
Ivel5 tIlSt ne was Tor years an exile from his home
and country, pursued wherever he went by an
Executive proclamation which put price on his
he;id This gives you an immense advantage
over him. But the fact is still true that no depart
ment OF this government was ever managed more
ably or more faithfully than the Interior while he
O lt.
MT of loyalty, and you may weigh him down with
the huge burden Of rebellion; nevertheless his
mental ability, good sense, and common honesty
put him so Hnneas urably far above you that Won |
will never in this life be able to get Rorrizo1ta
view of his character
come now to the more important part of your |
article, which directly concerns Mr. Stanton |
Your attack upon buchanan, TOucey, and Thomp-
son might be safely passed in silence, but the |
character of Stanton must utterly perish if it be |
not defended against your praise.
You give us the first information we ever had |
that Mr.. Stanton though acting with the Demo- |
rom ms earliest y0uth For this fact You vOuch
his declaration TO Judge Chase more than thirty |
years ago, AT Conmbus, ONO, and you attempt to |
SortoOorate II by citing his association At Wash
ington with DIR. Railey and other abolitionsts If
you zen the truth, he was the most marvellous |
lhPoStSr tllat ever lived or died. Among u.s. his /
political principles were thought to be rs well |
known as his name and occupation. He never al /
lowed his fidelity TO be doubted for one moment. i
II was perfectly understood that he had no affini-
tes whatever with men of your school in morals /
dr politics. His condemnation of the aboitionists
''ll-,.'irs, their hsf,-riy their corrt,Tr
tion, their enmity to the Constitution, and their
lawiess disregard for the rights Of States /
and individuals. Thus he won the comb
dence Of Democrats. On the faith of
such professions we promoted him in his bu-
sincss and gave him office, honor, and fortune
But; according to yOnr account, he all tke
while waiting and hoping for the time to come
when lie could betray the Constitution and its
friends into the cruel clutches of their enemies
For this cold-blooded and deliberate treachery
you bespeak the admiration of the American peO- |
das Iscariot
l maintain, on the other hand, that he was what
he seemed 10 be, sound and sincere friend, pO-
htical and personal, of the men who showed their |
llvOrs On ms head. He had at least the average
;uhsant OF attachment for "the Constitution of
the United States and for the peace, good order
ana happiness Of the same" As . necessary CON
sequence he dreaded the dishonest and destruc- |
i've rule which he fOresaw that you would be sure
to establish as soon as you could. His democracy |
iild not cease when the war opened, IN the sum |
Iner Of 1851, when your anti-eonstitutional princ
pies began to be practically carried out by the
kidnapping of innocent citizens bv the su6pres- |
sion of free speech, aud by the ensavement of the
press, he impreCatod the vengeance of God and |
the lrw upon the guilty authors of these crimes |
with as much energy as any Democrat in the ma |
hon. Only short time before his appointment
ls Secretary Of War his love of liberty and legal
Justice lmpeled him TO curse Mr.. Lincoln himself
with bitter curses. He called him by eOntenptIl- !
Gus names, and with siHliaA, if not with "swinish
phrase soiled his addition" admit that he chan
Sed lhese sentiments afterwards, but deny that
he had adopted your way of thinking while he
pretended to concur in ours His conversion |
was q real one, produced by what he regarded as
good and sufficient reasons him thereunto NOV
ihS' ana II was accompanied, or Immediately fol-
lowed by q corresponding change OF his party at
titude. He not what You make him out a |
mere fawning lyPocrite,
The issue is plainly made The friends of Mr.
stanton will not permit you 10 gibbet him in the
lace Of the world, after death has disarmed him
Of the power of Self-defence. Nou must prove the
injurious allegau ons you make or else accept the
lnSt consequence II the Chlei Justice will say
that he knows Mr.. Stanton to have been in entire
agreement" with the abolition party thirty years
ago ms testimony may silence denial. But you
must not tribe with Us; we Will hold yOu to strict
proof; hearsay evidence will not be received;
least OF all viii the fact be admitted upon the see
pnd-hand statement of person who thinks as !
you manitestly do thinI, that false pretenoes are
I'M honor 10 the man who practised them.
Next in chronological order is YOUR assertion |
that Mr.. Stanton, while yet private citizen. adj
vised Mr. Buchanan that it was the duty and the |
right of the Federal Government to cOerce sece-
ding States that is TO say, make against all
the inhabitants of every State in which an ordi-
nance Of secession had been or should be passed
Now mark how plain tale will put yOu down
MIR. stanton never was consulted on that subject
by the President until after he AttOrney-Gen-
efll and ne never at any time gave such advice
as you put into his mouth He never entertained |
any opinion Of that kind, for he q lawyer of |
large capacity and could not believe an absurdity
He has too much regard for his professional char
acter to maintain a legal proposition which he
knew 10 De iolSe. lie certainly wOnld not have so
debased himself in tho eyes Of the administration
with whom he was particularly desirous at tha.
times, to stand we'll
On this point wish to be very distinct aver
that Mr.. stanton thoroughly, cordially, and CON
Stantly approved Of and cOncurred in the cOnsti-
tutlNnal doctrines WAlcn YOU dcnOunce Iimid
and treasonabie. He Endorsed the opinion of his
predecessor with eXtrayagant and undcservcd
he gave his adhesion TO the annual
message i'll many ways; and the special message
of Sth January, 1861, which expressed the same
principles with padded emphasis, WAS carefully |
read over to him before he was sent to Congress
and il received his unqualified assent The ex-
isting evidence of this can he easily adduced. II
IS direct well as "rcums antal, oral as well as
and some of il is in the handWri-
ting OF Mr. Stanton himself If you are willing 10
put the question inta proper form for judicial
investigation, viii aid you in doing so, and give
you opportunity TO make out your case before
an impartial tribunal
II your statement BE true that Mr. Stanton dis
believed in the principles to which the admins
,ration was Interchangeable pledged how did he
rome TO take office under itg Was he so anxious
for public employment that he consented to give
mp his own convictions and assist in carving ont
which his Judgment condemned as the
offspring Of timidity and treas0nP Or did hc
accept the confidence Of the President and tbe
Cabinet with premeditated intent to betray IT.
Either way you make him guilty Of unspcakai!e
Daseness.
But conceding that he would accept WHY did
the President with the csnsent of his advisers |
give the appointment 10 man whom they knew
TO be hostile to them upon points so vital not only
10 the public Interests but their own Characters
That at such time they would invite an undis-
guised enemy into their cOunsels is a tale as
wildly improbable as any that ever was swallowed
by the cTedulity of the Salem witch-fnders.-