Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-26

! States minister Ia Paris, Gen. Schofield de-
! c.ded to first undertake the mission to
France. His arrival at Paris had been pre-
coded few days by information of his
coming, with thefAssertion that his mission
was Of hostile character. Great excite
| ment consequently prevailed In Paris, but
giving banquet, which occurred very few
| days after mis- arrival to allay the excite
| ment by a pacific speech abiding to the
ancient friendships between France and the
| United States. Gen. Schof1eld was soon en-
abled to make plain to the French govern
| ment the situation as viewed in this coun-
try, and that in such manner as to give no
Just cause of offehse, which would neces-
| sarily have been given by an attempt to
convey the same Information through or
| binary diplomatic channels. The result was
that upon the opening of the session of the
| legislative corps the emperor announced
army from Mexico. This result having been
| reported to Mr.. Seward and Gen. Grant by
| mail, there being at that time no cable
across the Atlantic, information was re-
no need existed for Gen. Schofield to re-
| main longer in Europe, whereupon he re-
turned to the United States. In due time,
and after some further diplomatic corre-
| spondence on the subject, the French army
| was withdrawn from Mexico, according to
| the emperor's promises, and the great dan
| ger was averted of a rupture OF the friendly
| relations that had existed so long between
Under the Reconstruction Acts.
A few months after his return to the
United States Gen. Schofeld was assigned
to the command of the military depart
| ment Of Virginia, and was charged with the
| execution of the reconstruction laws under
| which state governments in the former
seeding states were finally organized. In
the execution of these laws, by his just.
firm and courageous conduct, the state OF
Virginia was saved from the great evils
| that marked the hasty reconstruction IN
other seeding states.
Made Secretary of War.
Shortly after the approval by Congress
of this conservative course in Virginia the
controversy between the President and the
War Department arose, which resulted IN
the attempted removal of Secretary STAN
ton and the Impeachment of President
johnson. When the articles of fmpeach-
ment were rejected, Gen. Schoheld was
nominated as Secretary OF war, and ne
was confirmed by a nearly unanimous vote
Of the Senate. Thus ended controversy
which threatened to rekindle the flame OF
civil war in form far more deplorable than
the sectional war just closed The newly
constructed governments in the southern
states could not stand for moment with
out the support Of troops, and yet peace
full election in those states and the count
ing OF their votes in the presidential cleo
ton of 1868 was of vital consequence to
the peace of the country. TO accomplish
this it was indispensable that the army
then occupying in considerable force all
the southern states should be in the hands
of a man who would preserve the peace
and secure a fair election without reference
to any possible partisan consideration.
Gen. Schof1eld's duties as Secretary of
War were discharged in such manner as
to receive the commentator of all parties
Hon0red by Gen. Grant.
At the request of President Grant, Gen.
Schofield remained in the war Office several
days after the Presidents Inauguration, IN
order that perfect peace and good order
might be assured during that transition
period. In fact, for long time, President
Grant had made known his intention to
offer the war portfolio to Gen. Schofield,
but it vas finally seen that this would not
be compatible with the promotion which he
wished to give him in the regular army.
few days later Gen. Schofeld was NOM
ina ted and confirmed as a major general in
the army. Since then Gen. Schofield has
commanded in'succession all the military
departments and geographical divisions OF
the country. While he was in command
of the department Of the Pacific, with
headquarters id San Francisco, in 1872, Gen.
Schofield was sent by the President on
special mission to- the Hawaiian Islands.
At that time the Question Of annexation
had been thoroughly agitated, and such
u
and Fish had expressed themselves on the
subject. Although Gen. Schofield's report
was never published, 1t Is known that he
pointed out the great advantages to be de-
rived from the annexation Of the islands
from military standpoint. That such were
his views is shown in a letter. evidently
based on his report, written by Secretary
Fish, in 1873, in which he said of the is
lands:
at is very clear that this government
cannot be expected to assent to their trans
fer from their present control to that of
any powerful maritime or commercial ma
ton. Such a transfer to a maritime power
would threaten military surveillance in
the Pacific similar to that which Bermuda
has afforded in the Atlantic"
In Command of the Army.
Gen. Sehofield was in command of the
department of the east, with headquarters
at New York, when Gen. Sheridan died, in
August, 1888, when he was transferred to
Washington and placed in command of the
army, a responsible duty, which he has
executed with pronounced success ever
since. In February of the present year. as
reward for his long varied and distin-
guished services he was. upon the earnest
recommendation of the President, and by
special act Of Congress, given the exalted
rank of lieutenant general.
Since he has been in command of the
army he has been called on to perform
many delicate and important duties, in
Guiding the suppression of several Indian
outbreaks and in guarding the interests of
the government in various conflicts be-
tween labor ard capital. The successful
employment of federal forces in averting
serious trouble at Chicago during the great
labor riots was mainly due to his wise judg-
ment and discretion. Presidents Harrison
and Cleveland reposed the utmost conf
dence in his wisdom and discretion, and
were guided almost entirely by his advice
in the employment of the federal forces for
the protection of government property, and
the preservation of peace and good order in
the states when the civil authorities had
exhausted all their resources.
His Last Tour of Inspection.
Gen. Schofield has recently concluded an
inspection of the military posts of the
army. Speaking of this tour, he said
Il desired to spend few Of the last days
Of my active service in the army in a spe-
cial and thorough inspection of the army,
with view to making deductions and sug-
gestions, based upon my experience for the
beneAt of future administrations. Although
the suggestion was my own, it met the
very cordial approval of the President and
the Secretary of War. l visited nearly all
of the important posts west of the Mfssis-
sippi river, including the Pacific coast, except
some of the posts which the Secretary of
War himself visited in his tour"
Many Years Before Him.
From his incsiVe manner firm sion