The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1880-08-18
Letter Of Gen. Hancock to Sherman.
A Statesman as Wen as Soldier.
The Unlawful Use of the. Army! ll!
Condemned. n .IbLul L.
Respect for Civil Law Enforced.


Gen. Hancock, in answer to two letter
from Gen. Sherman, relative to the pt
litical situation of the country, follow
ing the Presidential election of1S76, ha
at last been made public. After inpOl
tant Prehminaries Gen. Hancock writes
The whole matter of the Presidenc
seems to me to be simple and to admi
of a peaceful solution. The machiner,
for such a contingency as threatens t
present itself has been all carefully pre-
pared. It only requires fabrication
owing to disuse.a -'' .+''''''' ='''''''''
THE ARMY AND THE PRESIDENCY.
The army should have nothing to dt
with the election or Inauguration Of
Presidents. The people elect the Presi
dent. The Congress declares in a joint
session who he is. We of the army have
only to obey his mandates, and are pro-
tected in SO doing only so far as they
may be lawful. Our commissions ex-
press that. like Jefferson's way of in
auguraticn; it suits our system. He
rode alSng on horseback to the Capitol
q fear it was the "Old Capitol'') tied
his horse to rail fence, entered, and
was duly sworn; then rode to the exec
utive mansion and took possession. He
inaugurated himself simply by taking
the oath of Of1ce. There is no other
legal Inauguration in our system. The
DoapIa 0r y0OI;Fioions NO., ;,otSt,,Go -.
rades in honor of the event, and public
officials may add to the pageant by as
sembling troops and banners; but all
that Only comes properly after the in
auguratiOn-not beforehand it is not a
part of it. Our system does not provide
that one President should inaugurate
another. There might be danger in
that, ,and it was studiously left out ofthe
charter. But you are placed in an ex-
ceptionally important position in con-
nection with coming events. The capi-
tai is in my jurisdiction also, but / am
a subordinate, and not on the spot; and
If were, so also would be my superior
in authority. for there Is the station of
the general in chief On the principle
that a regularly elected Presidents term
of office expires with the Sd of March
of which have not the slightest dsubt),
and which the laws bearing on the sub
ect uniformly recognize, and in consid- |
eration of the newly-elected President |
nay not appear until the 9th of March,
great deal of responsibility may neces-
arily fall upon yeu. You will have
'Ower and prestige to support you. |
The Secretary of War too, probably, |
lOlds over; but if no President appears
le may not be able to exercise functions
n the name of President, for his prop
# acts are those of known superior
lawful President.
THE ELECTORAL MACHINERY.
You act on your own responsibility
nd by virtue of commission orlv, re
tricted by the law The Secretary of |
Var is the mouth piece of a President,
ou are not. If neither candidate has
constitutional majority of the Elector-
] College, or the Senate or House, on
he occasion Of the court, do not unite
n declaring some person legally elected
" the people, there is lawful machin-
ry already provided to meet that con-
ingency and decide the question peace
ully. 1t has not been recently used, no
ccasion presenting itself, but our fore
athers provided it. 1t has been exer-
ised and has been recognized and sub
nitted to as lawful on every hand. That
would probably elect Mr..
'ilden President and Mr.. Wheeler Vice
That would be right enough,
Or the law provides that in a failure to
lect duly by the people the House shall
elect the President and the
enate the Vice-President. Some tribu-
al must decide whether the people
ave duly elected President. l pre-
lme, Of course, that it is in the joint
action of the Senate and the
louise, or why are they present to wit
ess the count, if not to see that it is
ltr and just? If failure to agree
:
e no lawful affirmative decision that
ne people have elected President and
re House must then proceed to act ]
OF the Senate. The Senate elects Vice
residents, not Presidents. Doubtless
case of a failure by the House to elect !
President by the 4th of March, the
enate (if there be one) would be the
gitimate person to exercise Presiden- |
al authority for the time being, or un-
the appearance Of lawful President,
: for the time laid down in the consti-
ltion. Such courses would be peace.
Il and, I have firm belief, lawful. 1
ave no doubt Gov. Hayes would make
4 excellent President. Ihave met him
nd know of him. For a brief period {
served under my command; but, as
le matter stands, l can't see any likeli-
Ood of his being duly declared elected
y the people, unless the Senate and
Ouse come to be in accord as to that
lct, and the House would, of course,
nt otherwise elect him. What the peo-
Ie want is peaceful determination of
lis matter-as fair a determination as
and lawful one. No ether
couldistand the test. The
ountry, if not plunged into revolution,
'ould become poorer day by day; busi-
ess weuld languish, and our bonds
-euld csme home to find a depressed {
market.
OPPOSED TO MILITARY INTERFERENCE.
was not in favor of the military action in South
srolins recently, and if Gen Ruger had tele-
raphed to me, or asked for advice, would have
dvised him not, under any circumstance, to al
Nv himself or his troops to determine who were
le lawful members of State Legislature could
OF have given him better advice than to refer him
the special message Of the President in the case
( Louisiana sometime before. But in South Car
lima he had the question settled by a decision of
ne Supreme Court Of the State-the highest trib-
nal which had acted on the question-so that his
ne Of duty seemed even IN he elaarar than IN tLo