Blair denounces the practice of dismissing officers without
trial as oppressive and wrong. Mentions the case of Lieutenant Kelly, a
Pennsylvanian, who, he says, has been unjustly treated. I know not the facts in
this particular case, and am aware that a bad President or Secretary might
abuse this authority, but a peremptory dismissal without trial is sometimes not
only justifiable but necessary. If the authority is abused, let the one who
abuses it, whatever his station, be held accountable and, if necessary,
impeached.
Stanton wishes me to go with him to Fortress Monroe. Says he
has a boat; wants, himself, to go down, etc.
Governor Buckingham was at my house this evening. Has come
to Washington to consult in relation to the draft.
In a conversation with General Spinner, the Treasurer, a
radical, yet a Democrat of the old school, he condemns the error into which we
have fallen of electing too many officers by the people, especially judicial
and accounting officers, who should be selected and appointed by an accountable
and responsible executive. Admits his mind has undergone a revolution on this
subject.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30,
1864, p. 406-7
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