The Writings of Carl Schurz/To Edwin M. Stanton, October 17th, 1865

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TO EDWIN M. STANTON

Bethlehem, Pa., Oct. 17, 1865.

At the close of our interview last Saturday you told me not to leave town without having seen the President, and that he was expecting me on that day. I did so; in fact, I considered it my duty to do so. I waited long and patiently to be admitted—a circumstance somewhat extraordinary considering that I had just returned from a three months journey made at his own request. At last the doors were thrown open and I entered with the crowd. The President received me with civility, indeed, but with demonstrative coldness. I was painfully surprised, and availed myself of the first lull in our conversation to withdraw from an interview which under such circumstances could lead to no satisfactory results. I left town the same evening to see my family. My duty to see the President before leaving was fulfilled.

To-day I find in the Washington correspondence of the New York Herald the following paragraph:

The latest explanation of the disfavor into which General Carl Schurz seems to have fallen with the President is that during his recent trip through the Southern States, ostensibly on freedmen's affairs, his time was largely spent in efforts to organize the Republican party in that section. He is accused of attempting to convince the people of the States he travelled through that their readmission would be determined thereby.

This story is simply absurd. But since the thing has got into the newspapers and people are speculating about the cause of my “disfavor” with the President, it seems to me that I should be the first man to know something about the matter. I raise no claim of consideration upon the services I have rendered the party to which the President owes his elevation. But the position I occupy entitles me, I believe, to a frank explanation of whatever differences or misunderstandings there may be between us. I examine my conduct in vain to discover anything that could have been personally offensive to the President. In my despatches, I gave him my views and impressions frankly and without reserve. It is quite possible that on some points the President s opinions and mine do not agree. I cannot suppose the President would make that the cause of a personal rupture. It may be that somebody has made some slanderous report about me. If so, I think they ought not to have been credited without my having been heard about it. Or if there be anything amiss of which I have at present no conception, the ordinary rules of propriety would serve to require that I should be asked what I have to say. I write to you about this matter because my appointment to the Southern mission passed through your hands; you encouraged me to take it, and our relations are—I have no reason to doubt—personally friendly. Will you be kind enough, as a mediator, to procure me the explanation to which I have, in my humble opinion at least, a just claim? After the reception I met with, I cannot apply to the President in person. I never received such treatment in my life. It is absolutely incomprehensible to me, and I should not like to expose myself to any more of it. I shall in all probability soon go West to take charge of a journalistic enterprise, and I am naturally anxious, before leaving the East, to have all these matters cleared up. By acceding to my request you will place me under great obligations. May I expect the favor of an early reply? It will find me here.