Year: 1868




Courts. You perfectly understood that
in this interview, some time after you
accepted the office, tho President, not
content with your silence, desired an
expression of your views, and you
answered him that Mr. Stanton would
have oappcal to the Courts. lfthe Pres
ident had reposed confidence before
he knew your views, and that conf
denco had been violated, it might have
been said that he made a mistake !;
but violation of confidence reposed
after that conversation was no mis-
take of his or yours. 1t is the fact
only that needs to be stated that at
the date of this conversation, you did
not intend to bold the office with the
purpose of forcing Mr.. Stanton into
Court, but did hold it then and had
accepted il, TO prevent this course from
being carried out In other words,
you said to the President, that is the
proper course, and you said TO your
self, 81 have accepted this office and
now hold it to defeat that course"


The excuse you make in a subse-
quent paragraph Of that letter Of the
2Sth ult. that afterwards yon changed
your views as to what would be a
proper course, has nothing to do with
the point now under consideration.
The point is, that before you changed
your views, You had secretly determ-
ined TO do the very thing which at
last YOU did-surrender the Office to
Mr. Stanton. You may have changed
your views as to the law, but you GER
tainly did not change your views as
TO the course you had marked out for
\ yourself from the beginning.


/ will only notice one more state
ment in your letter of the Sd inst,
that the promises which it is alledged
were made by you, would have involv-
ed you in tho-rcsistanceo of law. ] know
of no statute that would have been
violated, had you carried out your
promises in good faith and rendered
your resignation when you concluded
not to be made party in any legal
proceedings You add, 81 am in a
measure confirmed in this conclusion
by your recent orders, directing me
to disobey orders from the Secretary
of War, my superior and your subor-
dinate. Without having counter
mandcd his authority to issue orders
| am TO disohey."


On the oath ult, you addressed a
note to the President, requesting in
writing an order given to you YER
bally FIVE days before, to disregard
orders from Mr.. Stanton as Secretary
of War, until You knew from the Pres
ident himself that they were his or
ders. On the 29th, in compliance with
your request, did give you instrue-
tions in writing not to obey any or
der from the War Department assum-
ed to be issued by the direction Of the
President, unless such order is known
by the General commanding the arm
les of the United States to have been
authorized by the Executive.


There are some orders which a
Secretary of war may issue without
the authority of the President there
are others which he issues simply y as
the agent of the President, and which
purport to be by direction of the Pres
ident For such orders the President
is responsible, and he should therefore
know and understand what they are
before giving such direction.


Mr.. Stanton, in his letter of the 4th
inst, which accompanies the publish
ed correspondence with the President
since the 18th of August last, further
says that since he resumed the duties
of the office, he has continued to dis
charge them without any personal or
written communication with the Presi-
dent, and he adds "no orders have
been issued from this Department in
the name of the President with my
knowledge, and | have received no
orders from him." IL thus seems that
Mr.. Stanton now discharges the du
ties Of the War Department without
any reference TO the President, and
without using his name. My orderto
you had only reference to orders as
sumed to be issued by the President
1t would appear from Mr.. Stanton's
letter that you have received no such
orders from him


In your note TO the President Of
the Both ult., in which you acknowl-
edge the receipt OF the written order
of the 29th, you say that you have
been informed by Mr. Stanton that he
has not received any order limiting
his authority to issue orders to the
army according to the practice Of the
Department, aud state "that while
this authority to the WarDepartment
is not countormanded, il will be salts
factory evidence to me that any or
ders issued from the War Department
by direction Of the President are au-
thorized by the Executive" The
President issues an order to you to
obey no order from the War Depart
ment puporting to be made by dlrec-
tion OF the President until you have
referred it to him for approval. You
reply you have received the Pres-
dents order and will not obey it, but
will obey an order purporting to be
given by his direction, if it comes
from the War Department. You will
obey his indirect order. If, as you
say, there has been a practice in
the War Department to issue or
ders in the name of the President,
without his direction, does not the
precise order you have requested and
have received, change the practice as
to the General Of the army p! Could
not the President countermand any