New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-06-07
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"REMINISCENCES BY CHARLES A. DANA
Copyright. 1885,

The first time saw Mr. Lincoln was ou"i'.y -.
his inauguration. He had appointed MI 60" 't
10 be his Secretary OF State and some VI 'n0 -
I,con leaders of Ncw-York who had been ,hS'i ~
49, :, =. ,rovapti,y Mr.. Stewards nomination W
e.. presidency and in securing that OF MI L'noo,u'
~, h.,, IN fear that they would be leit gu. !" VI"
Ia !. .ho d;strib,ton of the oifces' oon0."'
- Wordsworth George OpdyKe' Luo'"'
yAo' r u Carroll and Henry b. stanton weio
.,~ono the number of these gehtieinen' mo-"
among .;o,s we're somewhat mitigated by the fact
pr. A. Chase TO whom they were all friendly, was
o.as.t,rv of tho Treasury. But Notwithstanding
they were afraid that tue superior tacV anu po'.'
nacitv of Mr. Seward and Mr. Weed womb H'0 '"I
MINER hand and that the power Oh VIC
Administration would be put INTO inc con''o' " Wv
rival faction. Accordingly several OF them oo'o'-
- 49, go 60 washington. and was asked to 20
with them. I'LL,
Ibo,;eve the appointment for our interview Win
+hs President was made through Mr. Chase; ou' az
onv rate we all went up TO the White hou'o
+ocatber except Mr. Stanton. who stayeu ""a'
because he was himself an applicant ior ""'oo' ~.
lincoln received us in the large room up-sVa'' ~
.he east wing of the White House where the resi-
dent has his working office, ana st'oo up """o
General Wadsworth, who was our principal Sp'"'9
man. and Mr.. Opdyke stated what was uo'"'''
After the interview was begun, big Ihd'aian' NV
a m
came into the room and said to the President ""c
80. - - ay,. vcsp said Mr. Lincoln without
,;rr;rg Soon aftcrward the messenger returned
aca;n exclai,ning al say she wants you" Inc
PRESIDENT was evidently annoyed. but instead oi
co;,g ont after the messenger he remarRed w us :
+. Ono sida shall not gobble up everything MAXI
out n list of the places and men you wah'' anu
will endeavor TO apply the rule OF give a"o v"No
Gencral Wadsworth answered, "Our party win "o'
be able to remain In Washington. but we VIII e"'o
such list with Mr. Carroll, and whatever ne agrees
to will be agreeable to u.s." Mr.. Lincoln continued,
sLet Mr.. Carroll come In to-morro" anu W. "'''
sec what can be done"
This ia the substance of the interview, and what
most IMPRESSED me was the evident fairness oil The
president We all felt that he meant to do what
1yas RIGHT and square in the matter While ne was
mot rho man to promote factions quarrels ana alui-
entities within his party. he did not intchd 10 ea'o
in the lurch tho friends through whose exeflions
his nomination and election had hnaiiy oeon
brought about At the same time nc uhaets'oo"
perfectly that we and our associates III the hoP"'
lican body had not gone to Chicago tor tue purpose
of nominating him or of nominating any oio :"
particular but only to beat Mr. Seward ana 10 10
the best that could be done regards the selection
of the candidate. go w,
Two wears later entered the service OF the Jar
Denartment and from that time until the close oil
THE rebellion had constant opportunities OF seeing
afr Lincoln and of cOnversng with nm ID the
cordial aud unofficial manner which ne always pio
ferrei Not that there was ever any lack oil dignity
m the man Even in his frecst moments one
always felt the presence of will and an lnteiectua
power which maintained the asceniancy Oh tne
President He never posed or put on airs Or
attempted to make any particular impression Du'
he was ALWAYS conscious of his own ideas aud re-
,,,b ist M irp3p
la ono of the interesting passages which occurred
dnrinr this period was not myself either pr1-
cipal actor or a personal witness, but knew all
al,out it, Ny friend and colleague, the Hon. Peter
H. Watson. who the earliest Assistant SsSle-
tary of War Appointed by Mr. Stanton. had caught
.o,na ouartarmasters in extensive frauds IN forage
furnished TO the Army of the Potomac. The mode
of the fraud consisted in dishonest mixture Oh oats
and Indian corn. BY changing the proportions OIL
the sorts of grain. they were able to make great
d ierence in the cost ofthe bushel, aud was quite
d;fficult TO detect tho cheat. However, Watson
found IL ont and at once arrested the two ohcers
who were most directly involved. They soon sur
wandered a large sum of money. IL my memory
serves me correctly. they returned Sl|o,ooo from
the product of the swndle. They were men OF some
political Importance about Lycoming, and eminent
politicians took hand in getting them out OF the
scrape Among these the Hon. David Wiimot, then
Senator of the United States and author OF the
famous Wilmot PIoviso, was very active. lie went
TO Mr. Lincoln and made such representations anu
appeals that finally the President consented to go
with him over to the War Department ana see
Watson in his Office. Wilmot remained outside,
and Mr. Lincoln went in to labor with the Assistant
Secretary. Watson eoquently described to him the
nature of the fraud and the extent to which 1t had
already been developed by his partial inv estgaton
The fact that S175, 900 had been refunded by the
guilty men wasslwelt upon, and whom the PRESIDENT
urged the safety of the cause and the necessity
of preserving united the powerful support which
Pennsylvania was giving to the Administration IN
snppressng the rebellion. Watson answered, very
we'll Mr. President If you wish TO nave THESE men
released all that necessary Is to give the order
lint I shall ask to have it in writing In such
case as this it would not be safe for me to obey a
verbal ORDER and let add that If you should re-
lease them the fact and the will necessarily
become known to the public" Finally Mr. Lincoln
took M his hat and went out, and when WilInot,
who was waiting in the corridor met him, he said ::
81 can't do anything with Watson; he won't
let them co." The reply which the Senator made
cannot be printed here, but 1t did not
affect the Judgment Of the President. The men
were detained for long time afterward. The fraud
was fully investigated and future swindles OF the
kind were rendered impossible. If Watson could
have had his way the guilty parties ana there were
some whose names never got to the public would
have been tried by court martial and sternly dealt
with But all my reflections upon the subject since
lead me to the conclusion that the moderation OF the
President was wiser than the unreenting justice oil
ths Assistant Secretary wonld have been.
Another incident connected with Pennsylvania
recurs to inv memory which interested me greatly
ut that time as showing the habtual breadth of Mr.
Lincoln's judgment and action. In the spring OF