Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-17


The Garfield Letters.
I'VE published this morning q number Of letters
Written to MI Secretary Chase by the late Gen. Gar
and was chief q sta z as enc koss
coHns Among these letters We include to make the
1888 which nIst printed IL s6e Sun 10 March last
49, sc asH
This letter to Mr. Chase wrttsen. as our readers
Confidential relations toward Generai Rose
ns s IN IF & i
trs stES. -
Garfield after bis appointment delegate to the re-
pTecarns nomnstion Of john sheT@ahp. R6s
iih hf is n 70 e
gee II 1t turns out to be SO very forlorn.' "e YORK
In these three paragraphs are as many gross
charges against Gen. Garfield. The first para
graph asserts that he was liar, the second that
| he was a sneak, and the third that he was a
! false friend.
We have to say in the first place that Gen.
Garfield did not vehemently or in any way deny
that he had written to Chase as he did write.
he denied having been untrue to Rosecrans and
unfathful to his friendship and his denial is
justified now that all the documents are pub
| !ished Garfield always said all that he could
for ROsecrans, and blamed him as little as posi-
bic. The letter that is pronounced unfaithful
was true, and the result of the campaign justi-
| fled every sOrrowful word Of it. Garfield wrote
| to Rosecrans January 10, 1880.
81 is true that was an occasional correspondent Of
Secretary Chase Several times, while was your chief
and asked NV opons on 20 tine OF the
nected with it but fearlessly challenge ali the rsscas
They welcome to all the capital sy can make out
That was the whole of it. Gen. Rosecrans
mad no right to ask or expect servitude from
| his chief of staff. He made DELAYS that were
inexcusable, and that, in the light Of the subse-
qnent events OF the war, were preposterous.
he would not move when the right time
came to do 80, and wasted precious months
He procrastfnated until the enemy combined
| their armies from the east and west and defeat
| ed the Army of the Cumberland It is Chicka-
| manga that justifes Garfield, and Rosecrans
| was so incOnsiderate as to seize upon the occa-
sion Of the Grafton of Blaine to claim that the
combat which resulted IN his retreat to Chatta-
noOga, where he was reinforced and SUPER
seeded, was victory. Why. It would have been
national suicide not to remove Rosecrans after
serious purpose ever entertained by any one in
authority after that to maintain him in COM
| mand.
The assertion that Garfield wrote his true
and faithful confidential letter to Chase, with
| the purpose of undermining Rosecrans in the
| confidence OF Lincoln's administration. is gra-
! tuitOus and untrue. Chase knew enough about
| the eccentricities OF ROsecraus to be uneasy
| about him, and he had such degree Of respon-
sibility for his appointment to high command as
-.
doubt that Chase made anxious inquiries of
| Garfield about Rosecrans. We know he did
| make such Inquiries of others, and was Glad to
| have assurances that Rosecrans was not crank.
put man OF genius. Garfield wrote, as it was
| his duty to write. the square truth, and did It
with all the delicacy consistent with stating the
whole case. This was not done in self-seeking
way. or for any selfish, low or sinister pur-
poses. The confidential letter is transparent
truth; and justified by history as faithful and
| In this connection Is revived the old story
| that Garfield was unfaithtul to Sherman at
Chicago The truth is that Garfield stuck to
Sherman at Chicago, as long as he dared to do
SO. we were intensely solicitOus that the friends
of Blaine and those Of Sherman should COOP
| crate In the Chicago cOnvention-that they
should stand together against the third term.
and that either Sherman or Blaine should be
nominated. 1t became evident that neither
could swing his whole force to tie other. and
that therefore, if the contest was forced between
Grant and Blaine, or Grant and Sherman. the
| nomination would 20 to Grant Our choice of
a man upon whom to concentrate was Ben.
Harrison. of Indiana; but, partly owing to Har-
rison's chivalry. and partly owing to the i'm
mense personal impression Garfield had made
on the convention, Garfield became the candi-
date.
The forlorn hope referred to in the converse.
ton which the Sun quotes was no doubt that Of
oeatlng Grant. The bosses had kept up such q
hands so unscrupulously, that vast majority OF
people had been driven to believe that the nomi-
nation of Grant had been fixed by fate Gar
field thought that the hope that Grant might be
beaten was not fOrlorn, and it turned out that
he was quite right about that. The capital mis-.
take in the management of Sherman's cause at
Chicago. and the one that made his nomination
impossible, was made not by Garfield, but
| by his personal representative from this CITY.
who declined to act upon a dispatch that
| Sherman sent which might have changed
the history OF the convention had it been read
then and there, as the intention was, but which
was suppressed on the spot and never has been
published. We refer to Sherman's telegram de-
claring war upon the third-termers, and urging
the solid vote of his friends against Logan s
| men, who were contestants for Illinois seats
Sherman was sacrificed, not by Garfield. but bv
the caution of others Of his friends who
Thought it strategy to conciliate the Grant
| crowd, upon the foolish calculation that Sher-
man might get Grant votes. Sherman knew
| better than this, and his suppressed telegram
| said so in the plainest way. We do not speak
| of this for the purpose of Representing the gem
| tleman who took the responsibility Hon.
Warner n. Bateman-but to say that he made a
| mistake. He does not, we believe, now hesitate
| to say SO himself.
Speaking Of forlorn hopes, the foriornest thing
we know is the crusade against the reputation
OF President Garfeld-the effort to blacken and
belittle him-Of which the Shuckers publication
of the Rosecrans correspondence is q part
Cincinnati Commercial
LOSING A FORTUNE ET G GAMBLING,