, 1876-02-20

in this unfortunate disagreement; and that,
if BABcocE be acquitted, the Pres1oent WILL
assume such ecquitta1 to bo confirmation OF
the stories that tho agents Of the Ting nave
carried to him relative to BR1sTo"s mo-
tives and WILSON'S prosecutions 1t Is eer-
tain. however, that SIr. Bn1srow will not re-
tire himself. nor consent to Gen. WILSON'S
removal, without IN invitation from the
President amounting to removal or DOLL
In this way the burden Of the change anu the
responsibility for its consequences Will rest
solely upon President GRANT. It is burden
which he should ayoid and responsibility
which lis sincere friends will advise him
earnestly not to assume. No man Is wise
enough to foretell what the consequences
NAV be. It is only known, to begin
with, that the prosecutions OF the Whisky
Ring have met with wider and more popu-
lar approval than any other act Of tho pres
ent Administration that they were initlated
with the approval of the President by Sccre-
tary Bn1s1ow, and vigorously, honestly, and
untiringly pursued by Solicitor WILSON; that
they are in keeping with the sentiment pub
licly proclaimed as coming from President
GRANT that !" no guilty man shall escape;
and that the enforced retirement Of these
two gentlemen in tho very midst Of the good
work they have undertaken will probably
lead to confusion and perhaps to the defeat
of the reform. This is the danger that con-
fronts the President, md it is one where
discretion is the better part Of valor."
We are naturally prompted to revert to
peculiar situation under President LNcoLSs
first term, which las many points OF similar
ity with the present relations between GRANT
and BR1sTow. At TINT time Mr.. CEASE, the
Secretary of the Treasury, was an open
and arowed candidate for President at
! the expiration Of LNcoLSs first term
Many of L1ScoLS's friends, feeling TINT
he was entitled by precedent to
second term, that the country needed
him, and that Secretary CHASE was using
powerful Cabinet position to defeat him,
| urged L1ScoLS to remove CHASE Lc;co1Ns
reply was uniform and to this purpose: No.
| The country needs Secretary CHASE in the
position he now holds, Ho is doing good
work.. He has a right to he candidate for
President if he chooses. The Office belongs
| to the people. and it is for them to fill it. Il
the people conclude, On the whole, that it is
for their best INTEREST to swap horses I
shall defer to their judgment I shall even
think that they are right, and shall take my
hat and 60 back to Springfield content with
the popular verdict" Thus Mr.. LINCOLN
persistently and manfully refused either to
| remove Secretary CHASE or in any way inter-
fere with him in his important duty of &C
quiring from the people the enormous <'ways
and means " Of prosecuting the war against
| tho Rebellion
! Mr. BR1sTow is es essential to the welfare
| Of the country in making war upon the whis-
Ey-thicvcs ss Mr.. CHASE was at that time in
| finding the money to carry on the war against
the Rebellion. Gen GRANT has had his two
terms of Office, and both the precedents of
the nation and the sentiment Of the American
| people aro opposed to his having third. It
! does not require in his case SO much self
| control and heroism to retain BE1sIow as it
cid in LINCOLN to retnin CHAsE- He will not
be so readily forgiven for the error OF remov-
ing his Secretary as LINCOLN would have been
! if he had removed CEASE. In thinking OF it,
| he is playing with fire. To doitwiu be to risk
| the forfeiture of much Of the fair reputation
he has earned, md perhaps derken the re-
mainder Of his public career under the
shadow Of lowering and ominous cloud,
and to court the censure Of history. These
are considerations which should restrain him
from any such purpose as has been accredited
to him, even If be has not at heart the vel
fare Of the Republican party, with which his
political fortunes have been identical, and
whose future prospects are Of more concern
to the country than the personal attachments,
friendships, prejudices, or whims Of any
t man.