New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-08-22
ORLEANS, TUESDAY. AUGUST
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE PRESI.
DENT.

AN INTERVIEW WITH The PREsI.
DENT.
Grants Exposition Of the Bristow and
Wilson Conspiracy.
The following report of an interview with
the President appeared in the New York
Herald of the fifteenth:
WASHINGTON, August IA, 1876.
President Grant, in the course Of an in
terview this evening at the White House,
which had been solicited by your cores
pOndent. with view to getting his reply,
If any he wished to make, to the attacks
upon him recently, and those particularly
in the evidence adduced before the com nit
tee on the whisky frauds, discussed quite
freely the whole subiect of these vexalious
charges and insinustions. He treated them
in so calm and fair spirit as to evidence
that strong sense of justice which his friends
SO urgently claim for him. All the while
that he was explaining his views of the per-
sons aesailing or assailed, or while he was
referring to those who had the congress
sional investigation in charge, he spoke in
pleasant. cheerful manner. smoking leis-
urely as he went ON. The names of ex-
Secretary BristOw and ex-Solicitor Wilson
came up, of course, most prominently.
Having had the fact Of q well considered
conspiracy laid before him, with every
evidence Of its being we'll founded" he re-
marked that, Notwithstanding ne never
gave the subject any more than passing at
tention, and the thing did not cause him
the slightest apprehension, because he
knew that neither during the course Of his
military life, nor in his experience as Pres.
ident of the United States, had he
ever written anything which could come
mp to cause him the slightest concern or
shame. OF c0use with the light of events
since come to pass, and the experience of
earlier times, there we're many things he
could see now which he might do, if again
necessary, in different way; but they per-
tanned more to matter OF discretion az to
individuals than to questions of policy. in
everything he did he had always adopted
the rule, through lite, to examine what was
submitted to him carefully and without
anything but the principle of doing right,
as tar as he could judge, to guide him. He
had always written, spoken and acted in
that direction and in q manner which he
thought came up to that standard. The
question of his integrity OF probity, ss it
might be judged now or in after years, never
gave him sn emotion Of concern, at least in
the way Of doubt, because he knew that he
had ever been impelled by proper motives,
and he did not believe that there was the
slightest thing to the contrary on record.
There were many miel Representations, he
went on to say, made in connection with
the official communication between him.
self and ex-Secretary Bristow and ex-
Solicitor Wilson. As an illustration of
this he never asked for the resignation of
the former, but three several times when
he voluntarily proposed to resign, and was
urgently anxious to do 80, he president
Grant, prevailed upon him to stay in office.
Once Mr.. Bristow insisted upon the &C,
ep.ance of his resignation, because, he
said, he could not undergo the ordeal Of
experimenting another discharge or cutting
down of the Treasury employees. Again,
and for the third time, Mr.. Bristow ten
dered it, and fixed the date OF it's occurrence
as he would like it to be, upon June 20, be.
cause he said that was his forty fourth
birthday, and he would be glad to close his
official life upon that day. On the second
occasion the Presidens prevailed upon Mr..
BristOw to remain, because the new order
of things in the Treasury Department was
about to take place, with the substitution
of silver tor the fractional currency, and
he thought it would need the supervision
of Mr.. Bristow.
So far as anything has been elected in
the congressional examination bearing
upon himself or the attaches heretofore Of
the White House, the President went on
0k8lu, d1lCI pduSCy 0uu Will kEc6U UTdQ'
quillity, show OF great satisfaction and q
quiet. smile he was willing to leave the
whole matter to the judgment of the coun-
try from the testimony given by ex-SOlici-
tor Wilson before the congressional inves-
tigating committee. In relation to that
part OF Bluford Wilson's testimony which
charged Generals Babcock and Porter with
being concerned in Black Friday specula-
items, the President said he once put a lot
of papers, rolled up, for moment, in Q pri-
vate drawer Of his desk, and subsequently,
took them out, handing them to his son,
who was acting as his private secretary,
when reported upon by Mr.. U. s. Grant,
Jr., did not show any connection
whatever of General Babcock with the
Black Friday affair at the time stated, be-
cause they could not, as he was then in
San Domingo; and, as for General POrter's
with the Black Friday scandal,
he could not find that he had ever bought q
dollars worth of gold in his life; but he had
purchased one or two small pieces of prop
city, through or in connection with General
Butterfeld. which, from all he could learn,
was perfectly honorable and straightfor-
ward transaction. When these many and
frequent reports were made about those
bearing near and intimate official relation
to him, it was natural he should accept
them with great caution and suspicion,
but he always signitied in the most dis.
tinct and emphatic manner, as he
did in the letter Endorsement of 'let no
guilty man escape" which Mr.. Bluford
other papers from the Treasury Depart
ment, that he did not desire that any per-
sons, no matter how high the officials might
be, even if they were his own intimates,
should enjoy immunity from responsibility
Or escape punishment for wrong doing, if
proven upon them. At first, when the hints
we're made to him, he was led to believe
that they meant Casey and Others He was
told by those attacking Generals Bsbcock
md Porter that facts would be given by
General George II. Sharpe, surveyor of the
port of New York, and those papers ex-
amined by young Mr.. Grant were left by
him, but at no time did the President stand
n the way or intimate anything but his |
strongest desire to have full, earnest and !
lOnest examination and prosecution of any
wrong doing among his friends
As for Mr.. Brist0w. the Presiden added, |
the doubts and expostula- |
ions OF my friends, always regarded him
With the fullest confidence, good will and |
md respect; but my friends laughed at me
when gave it finally as my opinion, from
'dge by persons whom thought reliable,
hat there was conspiracy on foot in
which he took part, pertaining to the presi-
lential candidacy; and regret the conclu-
ion forced upon me now, that there WAS
more than seeming truth in the suppositi0n.
The President ended the conversation,
which he conducted on his part in an unre-
erved and easy manner, by remarking,
That is about as fair and correct q state
nent AZ can be made of this subject"
the interview with this emphatic
ndorsement of himself, the President arose
nd in most courteous manner excnsad
himself, and bade your correspondent good