Stearns War Record

From The .Vlriiui Daily Times Tlio democratie Cxndldate for congn'ra in tli is district is po-ing ug a golclier, and asks for soldier votes, because of ti Is service in the arinv. hls nc'Uiination, lie bas purciiased i (JiiukI Arniy button, mul nuw wen Tí t c Bnptcuoucly dlsjlayed at every point at wliicli lic mnkes a speech. Thnt stuDd.ird RUtlinrlty "Michigan n Ihc Wnr,'' is confjiiciiously sil'tit is to the dtfds of daiing wliicli Williird Stearn? was rcsponsihle f r in the times tbiit tried meii's souls, anil we givc Ihc jrentlenian the benefit of that record, hei e and now: 'Starns, WIllBrd, Frnnklln. First Mentenant Elev ntli ciivulry, Auk. 1, Í888. it slgncd Oct. -29, 1804." A unell of powder bout t lint record Is noticeubly absent Itnr, forliinately, good friends of Mr. Steiirns have arransed for a more ex tended record, and it s this extended record whicb we propose now to give to the volers of tbesecond congressioual dis ti iet. Ever slnce tbo time when this warrior ceiiscd to war, minors havo been itloat in reirnr.1 to the circumstances and snrroumllnirs under whicti ho left the service Bul su far as we know, tlie lirat public itlon of' the charge that Lieut ritenina rosigned from theiirmy. "for the !(hI of the Rerire."was made in The Timos, by a Fmuktin correspondent, in Ititne of September 11, 1876. This correspondent charged that Willard Stearns had resijiiicd bis position In the iinny for the good of the service, "and dare not deny it." The mxt day Mr. Stearns nppeared in The Tunes witb a card, from whlcli we quote: " I once for all, in order to silence this fülsc charge, daré and do deny, and dely any person to provo tb at I ' reslgned for the good of the service,' or anythiiig Hke it, nor did I evet give any siich reason for resigning.'1 This outspoken deDial PtagKel"ed the editor of The Timps, and he proposed to get hls informaüon from heiulquartpri, from whith there could be no Hppeal. Accordingly he wrote to Hon. Z. Chandler, who was then secretary of tlie interior, askinjr for infoniuition In regaid to Stcnrns' record. A prompt responso was received, uiii the accompanying report trom the war dcpiirtment was printed in The Times of Sept. 28, 187G. Bnt since tliut time a gocid niany peo pie have forgot; henee we print Mr. Stearns' record again, and this time we print a fac simile of the letter received from the war depiirtmenf, nnd rcferred to above. Here it is, and t expUins Itsclf : 7 , ? r #c 6bí.#, 6. té, J y , ,,