Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-08-19
HancOck's Letter to Sherman.

Liz lcbtcT ITOHl NJeUcIdl I1duCOCh W
General Sherman, written on the 2Sth
of December, 1876, was given to the
public on the 31st ult. This is the let
ter concerning which the Radical press
have raised such kullabaloO, declar-
ing thatit was full of reasonable sug-
gestions and so on. 1t is a good letter,
written by patriot then, and a patriot
now, and will repay general perusal:
CARONDOLET Pc
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, Dec. 2S, 1876.
MY DEAR GENERAL: Your letter of the 4th
inst. reached me in New York on the 5th, the
reply 10 it before leaving, but cares incident to
departure interfered. Then, again, since my
arrival here, have been so occupied with per
sonal affairs of a business nature that / have
deferred writing from day to day until this
morning, and now find myself in debt to you
favor of the 18th, received few days since. L
have concluded to leave here the 18th fto-mor-
on the 3Ist inst. it has been cold and drearY
since my arrival here. have worked s like
Turk" Il presume that means hard work. in
the country in making fences, cutting down
trees, repairing buildings, ETC., ETC., and am at
least able to say that ST. Louis is the coolest
place in the winter, and it is the hottest in
summer, of any that have encountered in
temperate zone. l have known ST. Louis in
December to have genial weather throughout
and the river has been frozen more solid than
i have ever known it. When heard the ru-
uloF IndC was Or1efeQ TO the racine coast, L
thought it probably true, considering the past
discussion on that subject. The possibilities
seemed to ma%tO point that way. Had it been
true, should OF course have presented no COM
plant, nor made resistance of any kind. 1 would
have gone quickly, if not prepared to go
promptly. 1 certainly would have been re-
heved from responsibilities and anxieties CON
corning Presidential matters which may fall
to those near to the throne or in authority
within the next four months, as well as from
other incidents or matters which L could not
control, and action concerning which might
not approve. l was not exactly prepared to
60 to the Pacific, however, and / therefore
felt relieved when | received your note in
forming me that there was no truth in the
= rumors. Then did not wish to appear to be
escaping from the responsibilities and pos
siblc dangers which may cluster around mill
ta"y commands in the East, especially in the
critical period fast approaching. Ais well
that ends well. The whole matter of the
Presidency seems to me to be simple and to
admit of a peaceful solution. The machinery
for such a contingency as threatens to present
itself has been all carefully prepared. 1t only
army should have nothing to do with the cleo
ton or Inauguration OF Presidents. The peO-
Pie elect the The & f t de
army have only to obey his mandates, and are
protected in 50 doing only so far as they may
be lawful Our commissions express that l
like Jeffersons way of Inauguration. 1t suits
our system. He rode alone on horseback to
the Capitol. q fear it was the "old CapitorD,
tied his horse to rail fence; entered and was
duly sworn: then rode to the Executive Man
s1m x y the he oanh ~ nce
There is no other legal inauguration in our
system. The people or politicians may in st.
officials may add to the pageant by assembling
troops and banners; bat all that only comes
and is not apart 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 of the charter. But
you are placed i'll an exceptionally important
position in connection with coming events.
The Capital is in my jurisdicton also, but
subordinate and not the SPOT, and II
were, so also would be my superior in author
ity, for there is the station OF the General-in-
Chief. On the principle that regularly
elected Presidents term Of Office expires with
the 3D. of March (of which l have not the
on the subject uniformly recognize, and in
consideration of the possibility that the law
the 5th of March, great deal of responsibility
ity may necessarily fall upon you. You hold
over. You will have power and prestige to
The Secretary of War; too, probably holds
over; but. if no President appears, he may
not % asd r s tn a are hos
of known superior-a lawful President.
You act on your own responsibility, and by
law. The Secretary of War is the mouth
piece of a. President. You are not. II
ity of the Electoral College, or the Senate and
House on the occasion of the count do not
unite i'll declaring some person legally elected
ready provided to meet that contingency and
decide the question peacefully. 1t has not
itself; but our forefathers provided it. 1t has
been exercised, and has been recognized and
submitted to as lawful on every hand That
machinery would probably elect Mr.. Tiden
President, and Mr. wheeler Vice-Prosident.
That would be right enough; for the
duly by the people, the House shall inn
mediately elect the President and the Senate
the vicePresident some Err tribunal , must de-
President presume, of course that it is in
the joint affirmative action of the Senate and
House, or why are they present TO witness the
count If MOTTO see that it is fair and just? Ii
failure to agree arises between the two bod
les, there can be no lawful afhrmative decIs-
aud the House must then proceed to act, not
dents nnt presents DoubtIess in case Of
failure by the House to elect President by
the 18th of March, the President of the Senate
son to exercise Presidential authority for the
time being, or until the appearance OF the
lawful President, or for the time laid down in
the Constitution. Such courses would be
peaceful. and, have firm belief, lawful. L
have no doubt Governor Hayes would make an
excellent President. | have met him and
know of him. For brief period he served
under my command But. as the matter
stands, cant see any livelihood on ms oeitnS
Senate and House come to be in accord as to
that fact and the House would of course not
otherwise elect him.
What the people want is a peaceful deter
mination OF this matter, as fair a determina-
ton rs possible, and a lawful one. No other
determination could stand the test. The coun-
try, if not plunged into revolution. would be-
come poorer day by day; business would Ian.
gush, and our bonds would come home to find
a deprecated market. | was not in ia
vor of the military action in South Carolina
recently, and, if General Ruger had tele--
egraphed to me asked for advice, would
have advised him not. under any circum-
stances. to allow himself or his troops to de-
termne who were the lawful members OF a
State Legislature. 1 could not have given
him better advice than to refer him to the
special message of the President in the case OF
Louisiana some time before. But in South
Carolina he had had the question settled by a
decision of the Supreme Court of the State
the highest tribunal which had acted on the
question-so that his line Of duty seemed even
to be clearer than in the action in the LOUISE
ana case. If the Federal Court had interfered
and overruled the decision of the State court,
there might have been doubt, certainly; but
the Federal Court only intertered to compli-
cate, not to decide or override. Anyhow, 1t is
no business of the army to enter upon such
questions; and. even if it might be so, in any
event-if the civil authority is supreme, as the
Constitution declares it to be 50, the South
Carolina case one in which the army had a
plain duty. Had General Rnger asked me for
advice. and If had given it, should of course
have notified Won of action Immediately.