The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-02-17

military usurpation in the orders for
martial law by Bragg and Van Dorm
on the whole system of passports and
Provost Marshals, which is utterly wrong
and without authority of law. After
| all that may be said or written by my
self and others against these usurpations,
not one word has escaped Mr.. Davis
| showing his disapproval of them.
again, it is we'll known that the
subject of dictatorship has been
! mooted, talked of, and discussed in pri-
vate and in the public journals, and
that the most earnest advocates of such
course, the virtual doing away with
Congress and the Constitution, have
been editors near him,-right under his
nose,-editors Of journals recognized at
the time to be the organs of the Admin
istration.
Now, it seems to me strange that
this should be so, and men holding and
advocating such sentiments for months
should hold such near relations to him
if such sentiments were distasteful to
him. These are bad signs to me, yet
they are not conclusive evidences Of bad
objects or intentions on his part. They
leave me in doubt, but certainly awaken
my suspicion and watchful jealousy.
They teach me to be on my guard, and
they should, in my opinion, put the
whole country on their guard.
THREE YEARS OF QUIET.
In the Spring of 1885, with the assist
ance of his confidential clerk, Mr.. j. M.
Barrett, then recently appointed by the
War Department, the General revised
and corrected his Memoirs, and author
lied the publication of the second edition,
with the simple remark to ID. Appleton
q CO., the publishers of that edition, 81
would rather have my publication follow
than precede Grants"
With the exception Of such literary
work as was demanded by this revision,
by an occasional controversy on some
military matter, and by large and
varied correspondence, Gen. Sherman
had no definite occupation during the
three quiet wears of his life in the West.
Though surrounded by his family, visited
daily by devoted friends, and ready at
all times to receive those who came to
him for assistance or advice, he does not
seem 10 have found enough in the social
and domestic pleasures of st. Louis to
occupy his singularly alert mind, or to
furnish him the field Of hustle and act
ivity that should supply the place of
more definite occupation.
He had lovingly followed Gen. Grant
from Mount McGregor to Riverside; he
had seen Hancoci, laid to rest in Norris
town, Pa. Mcclellan, too, was gone;
the number of surviving chieftalns WAS
sadly diminished.
Shadows were lengthening, old age
stealing on him, vet this young old man,
still full of intense vitality, sought and
found in New York City home more
stirring and more congenial than his
loved St. Louis could give him.
In the Summer of 1886 the General
took one of bis long journeys across the
continent to attend the National En-
campment of the Grand Army of the
Republic in San Francisco, returning for
the first time by way of the Canadian
Pacific Railroad, the only route which
he had not previously traversed. He
was charmed with the road itself, saying
that cit compares most favorably with
each and all its predecessors" )"
OF the scenery he remarks that "the
western section is by far the most sub
lime, and the parts between Yale, on
Fraser River, and the summit of the
Rockies, snrpasses in grandeur and
beauty any other equal extent of rail-
road ON this continent"
1t is interesting to recall in this con-
nection that the General was one Of the
first to conceive the plan Of transconti-
mental railways TO bind the Western to
the Eastern coast, and that as earl Y as
1855 he subscribed $4,000 to start the
Pacific Railroad eastward. He says in
letter to Commodore Mutt, President
Of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad
81 was Nice-President, and we did
actually build and equip 22d miles out
to Folsom, still in operation, and which
was the real beginning of the Central
Pacific, indeed the pioneer Of all Pacific
railroads. Among you you owe me
$4,000 with interest. Now, with pleas
ure | throw off all the interest and give
credit for $4,000, heretofore received in
favors."
In September, 1886, we find him in
stalled, with his family, at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel, occupying suite of
apartments on the parlor floor, and going
daily to the Army Building, where he
continued his semi-official life. He be-
gins to breathe more freely in the strong
and glowing atmosphere of our grand
metropolis. His letters Of this period
are full of verve and genial warmth
that shows how congenial to him were
bis new surroundings.
HIS OLD COMRADES LOVED HIM.
For instance, in letter to Gov. Hum
nhrey of Kansas dated Der 16 1893