Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-04-11

.@oio" Va OHuoi uiShlSt, WOulu
not be very unfair to hold him up a
a martyr to the Christian faith
You are also mistaken in supposinl
the transfer was the result of Execu
tive dictation. Perhaps / canno
prore this. 1t is always difficult &
prove negative. Besides / have nj
doubt the President desired a change
OF the chairman of that committee
l have as little doubt Mr.. Sumner
deprecated any change in that re
spect. | did not consult either o
them. | do not remember to hav,
seen either while that subject wa.
pending before the caucus committee
If | did see them, neither of them
spoke to me upon that subject.
should have conferred freely with
either or with both. had they desired
to do so. If the President had offer
ed to consult with me, | should not
have refused the conference. If he
had asked me to "strike down" Mr.
Sumner, think / should have de.
clined to do so. If he had asked me
to iniict any punishment whatever
upon Mr.. Sumner, / think | should
have told him had no criminal iur
'sdiction; that my business was to
organize committees, to transact the
business of the Senate, and not to
discipline refractory Senators. But
If he had asked me simply to assign
to the head Of Committee on Foreign
Relations some one out of the fifty
i've Senators composing the Repub-
lican force of the Senate, who would
speak either to him or to the Secre-
tary of State, / am sure | should
have thought such request, coming
from one made President by the
same party which might have made
Mr.. Sumner President if it had so
preferred; made President by the
same party which made me Senator ::
and made President only two years
ago, not as the reward of eloquent
sayings, but in gratitude for transcen-
dent doings, | am sure should have
thought such request from such a
source not unreasonable. | am sure
should have complied with such a
request, because it is no more than |
advised to be done without any re
quest of the kind. But would Il have
been fair to conclude that the Presi-
dent dictated my views, if | had only
done after consultation what I did
without consultation? Every day |
confer with private parties upon pub
lie measures in which they feel q per-
sonal interest. Sometimes my action
accords with their views. Is it quite
charitable to conclude, therefore,
that they dictate my action? Have
you more reason to believe that the
President dictated the votes of the
majority than that Mr.. Sumner die
tated the vvtos of the minority 2
Have you more evidence JnaJ the
President dictated my course than l
have that Mr.. Sumner dictates yours?
Or is it higher crime for Presi-
dent to influence the course of a
Senator to prevent free press Do
you know of anything in the Con-
stitution, or the laws, or in political
uSuoSOJ WniCh AOIUiuS TCSlucuI
from advising a representative upon
any matter which interests him or
concerns the public service How
long has it been considered necessary
that a Republican Senate should fly
in the face of Republican President
in order to escape the reproach Of
Executive dictation from Repub-
lican press ?
No; whether the reason be good
or bad, stated the true one for
transferring Mr.. Sumner, on the floor
Of the Senate. He could be of no
further use to the President, the
Senate, or the country at the head of
that Committee, for he would no
longer hold personal intercourse with
either the President or the Secretary
of State.
No one insists that Mr.. Sumner
snail ride after any mans horses, or
drink any mans wine, or eat any
mans dinner, unless he choose to do
so. Mr.. Sumner may undoubtedly
choose his own personal associates.
But whether he can choose his own
position in the public service is anoth-
or question to be determined. If he
does not choose to associate with the
man whom the Republican party
made President two years ago, or
with the man whom the President
and Senate made Secretary of State.
that is matter of taste for which no
one can call him TO account except
the people of Massachusetts. But if
he insists upon excluding those gen.
tlemen from his society, and still to
stand at the head of a committee
with which those officers ought to
have such intimate communion-that
concerns the public service That is
a claim for the Senate to consider.
The Senate considered it and decided
it in the negative.
You urge that their personal re-
lations were unimportant, so long as
their official relations were unimpair-
cd. l answer, they had no official
relations TO impair. When the Pres-
dent or his Secretary has any official
communication to make to the Sen.
ate upon foreign affairs, it is laid
before that body, not by its Chair
man of Committee on Foreign Rela
tions, but by its presiding officer. II
it is of sufficient importance, it is
printed, and each Senator has copy.
All such communications will BE-
made to Mr.. Sumner hereafter. az
much as heretofore. If he knows
more of our foreign affairs than any
one else, as his friends assert. The
country will still have the benefit Of
that knowledge, so long as Massachu
sets is pleased to continue him il
the Senate. So the country loses
nothing by his transfer, except the
advantage of having man of biz
great and varied attachments to con
! fer and advise with the Presidenr
and Secretary from time to time, no
. officially but neraonallv That ad