St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-08-21
The Sherman Lctter-HanCOck
the IS Superb,
shreveport Standard.l

whom he believed to be legally elected,
should take the oath of office he would
recognize him as President and obey
his orders. The inference was that he
would assist in InalRuratiDg him by
force. All the Radical able editors and
all the Radical stump orators aided in
swelling this whisper into most voci-
ferrous shout all along the line. This
was too good Il specimen of treason
to bc allowed to slumber. 1t would fire
the Northern heart and whoop up the
| truly loyal to put down such a Southern
candidate as this. Sherman, on being
questioned, said that if Gen. Hancock
had ever written him anything unbe-
coming an officer or Il patriot he had no
recollection of it. Sherman has such 4.
Radicals took up an idea that there was
great deal more in his utterance than
appeared to the casual listener and i'm
mediately let the matter drop. In fact
it is believed that they then had as
much anxiety to keep the letter con-
cealed as they formerly had to get it
| published. The Democrats, too, then
commenced taking al interest in the
matter They cndeavoled to find the
letter. Hancock was willing they should
get it, since he had never in his life
written line which he wished to blot
The letter has been found The New
York World publishes it in full.
If We needed any more campaign
matter on the great question of consti-
tutional liberty and the subordination
of the military to the civil authority,
this letter supplies it, 1t will do to lay
side by side with the Pease letter and
Order No. 40. 1t is written in all the
/ e., IF o1 Io,
with his superior officer. There is no
treason in it, On the contrary there
appears in it the same determination to
obey the orders of those above him.
which has characterized his whole
military career. But, there also appears
another declaration of those fundamcn-
tai political principles by which he had
ever been guided. In short he appears,
as he always is, Hancock, the superb
| superb as q statesman, superb as a
| soldier.
Hear him on the solution of the Presi-
dental problem. He is writing Oh the
2Sth Of December:
'All's well that ends well. The whole matter
Of the Presidency seems to me to be simple and
10 admit Of peaceful solution. The machinery
for such a contingency us threatens to present
itself has been all carefully prepared 1t only
requires fabrication, owing to tlisllse The
army should have nothing to do with the cleo
ton or inauguration OF Presidents The people
elect the President The Congress declares in Il
only to obey his mandates and are protected
in so doing only SO far as they may be lawful.
Our commissions express that. I like Jcttcr
sons way OF inauguration it suits our system.
He rode alone on horseback to the capitol
fear it was the old capitol tied his horse to
IA rail fence, entered and was duly sworn, then
rode to the executive mansion and took posses
sion. He iiaugurdted himself simply by taking
the oath Of office. There is no other legal inaugll
ration III cur system. The people or politicians
may institute palades in honor of the event,
and public officials may add to the pageant by
ass enabling troops and banners, but all that
only comes properly after the Inauguration,
not before. and it is not part of it. Our
should iEaugu1ate another. There might be
danger iii that, and it was studously left ont of
the charter. Bat yon are placed in an eSccp-
tionaliy important position III connection with
coming events. Tile capital is i'll my iuristlic-
ton also, but am a subordinate and not on the
spot and if | We're so also, you would be my
superior i'll authority, for there is the station of
the general-in-chicf.'
And as il this were not good enough
Democratic doctrine he lays down the
true Democratic ideas of the mode of
counting the electoral vote and declar-
ing the result, in cUntradistinctiOn to
the Radical idea of having that duty
performed by the Vice President alone
in the presence OF a Congress sitting as
dumb spectators:
"some tribunal must decide whether the
penpie i.,,%e duly elected President | pre-
sumo of course, that is Iii the Joint affirmative
action of the Senate and Hollse--or wing are
they present to witness tie count If not to see
that it is fair and Just If a failure to agree
arises ~, ~, ~Hen tic two bodies there can be no
lawful affirmative decision that I'll" people have
elected a President. and the House mist lAeu
proceed 49, not the Senate The senate
elects Vice-i'res0enis nor Presidents. Doubt
less i'll case of failure by the House ~ elect a
President by the 4th of March the President
Of the Senate, Of there he one) would he the
thority for the time being. or until the appear
ance of lawful President or for the time laid
peaceful and have Il firm belief lawful"
But Hancock would be no Hancock at
all it he ever let an opportunity pass to
military to Cypress the people in time of
peace. He was writing to the command
ing general about more things than
one. Gen. Rugerh had been doing things
in South Carolina WHICH Hancock would
not have done. Read what the author
of Order No. 40 says about it:
50 7 was not III favor of the military in South
Carolina recently, and if Gen. Ringer had telc
graphcd to me or asked for advice, would have
advised him not under any circumstances to
allow himself or his troops to determine who
were the lawful members of State Legislature.
c0ulu not nave given MN DeIIef ADVICE tian
to refer him to the special message of the
President i'll the of Louisiana some time
before But in South Carolina he had had the |
question settled by a decision of the Supreme
UoHlt Of the State, the highest tribunal which |
had acted on the ,lu22tto so his line of duty |
seemed even to be clearer Than N The action III |,
the Louisiana case II the Federal cOttrt had |,
intcrfered and OEeTfuled the decision of The (,
State court there might have been double /
certainty. but the Federal court nterferred to
complicate, not to decide or override. Anyhow |
it is no business of the army to enter upon such
questions. and even if it might he so i'll any |
event. if the civil authority is supreme, as the !
constitution declares it to be, the South Caro- |
lima case was one in which the army had a |
pain duty"
And as they were using troops I'M
lawfully elsewhere, ne takes occasion |
to give general opinion on the whole /
subject as follows:
GAS have been writing thus freely to You l ,
,Lay still further unhosom myself by stating
that ia Sc .i ii.o,g it lawful or wise TO use
Federal troops IN such liaticfs as ,lHyt3 trans
pired cast of the Mississippi within the last FEW
,nomlls. GOV" 80 far as they my be brought
into action under the article y. o..
Whlcn conte1npates meeting armed resistance
Of invasion OF a State more powerful than the
state authorities can sn,lue by the ordinary
processes and then only when requested by the
session, ny the governor, ana when the Pi.esi-
lent of the United States interviewed in that |
manner, 1t is d state of war, not peace. The ar
ny Is tailoring under disadvantage and has
,ee en- used tlnaWfully at times, in the Judgment
u tne people I'm mine, ccrtainlyD and we have
ost great deal of the kindly feeling which the
community at large once felt for u.s. eft is
ime to stop and unload
We think the Radicals said that Ham
,ock wrote neither the Hease letter nor