Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-03-15
s-iyNAF AND TIE PRESIDENT.

INDIGNANT as the PRESIDENT. 10 Nun
Bell>uap owed all his advancement
and prosperity, aud so much more
heinous was the betrayal. The Pres
ideut is more indignant from the
fact that to the last moment BelkIap
deceived him, and their last COM
munication was deception on Bel
maps part, as the President said to-
ylay to a friend: 81 have heard it
said frequently that if | had no other
virtue. it could not be said of me
that | did not stand by my friends.
But my friends must not try my
torbearance too far"
Last evening the President sent
for distinguished member OF the
Illinois delegation and talked very
freely with him for an hour or more,
and told him the story of Belknap.
ION Thursday | had just finished my
breakfast" sid the President, "and
was opening some letters in the
drawing-room, when Secretary Bris-
tow was announced. 1t was only a
little after 8 o'clock, and | wondered
why he came so early, but invited
him into the lpom and we talked for
a time over some matters referred to
ia my mail. After time the Secre
tary said, 'Mr. President there are
some very sad stories in circulation
about one of your Cabinet told
him | had not heard anything. The
Secretary said they were dreadful
stories. almost too bad to be believed.
inquired what they were, and the
Secretary began to tell me, when IN
came Belllnap and Chandler. Chand-
lei looked very sober, and Belknap
looked so changed that you would
hardly have known him. He looked
as if he had not slept for week. |
got up and shook hands with him,
and ask, q him what was the matter
lie went on to tell me, in an incoher-
ent way, about the Congressional in
veslyation and that it was going
70 damage him very much, and he
said he had written his resignation
and brought it with him. He took
out the letter and | read it. | said
to him | would regret very much his
leaving the Cabinet, fer | had conf
dence in him. At that he burst into
tears and took hold of my hand. |
asked him the nature of the investi-
cation, and his manner more than
the words of his reply showed me
that it was something of an unusual
character. ] understood that he was
expecting an investigation that he
could avoid by resigning; that the
facts if exposed would not damage
him so much as his wife. He spoke
of his dead wife, too. l'told him that
he had great many friends and
they would help him out, bat he said
it was impossible that he had
shouldered all the blame and would
be ruined. He insisted that it ould
save me and the rest of the Govern
ment great deal of trouble if his
resignation was accepted. | tried
again to induce him to wait a while,
but he said he must go before the
committee that morning, and wanted
to tell them he was no longer an
officer Of the Government. So !
wrote him letter accepting the res
ignation, and, after thanking me for
that and for what he called my kind
ness to him in the past, he went
away with Chandler. Then Edmunds
and Morton came in, and they told
me the whole story. | could not be-
lieve them, and sent a messenger for
Bass, who, understood, was MEM
Der of the investigating committee"
The President said that if he had
known the whole truth he would not
have accepted the resignation as
he did, but would have suspended
Belknap till the investigation was
over. He was never SO astounded
in his life. There was no member of
his Cabinet in whom he had more
confidence.
The Illinois gentleman suggested
that he felt like having Belknap
tried by drum-head court martial
and shot, and the President replied
that no one could feel worse than he
did. After hearing the truth of the
matter the President was so unset
tied in mind that he was totally IN
fitted for business. His friends say
they never saw him SO completely
unnerved. All the afternoon he
spent with his son ULYSSES walking