The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-23 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THE UNITED STATES.

THE PRESIDENT'S VETO OF THE DIS-
TRICT NEGRO SUFFRAGE BILL.
THE PROPOSED 'IMPEACHMENT.

A heavy batch of New York papers, some of
which were long overdue, owing to the bad we Cher,
came to hand this morning. In those of the latest
dates the chief subjects discussed are the Presi-
dent's veto of the bill passed by Congress in De-
cember last " to regulate the elective franchise in
the district of Columbia," and the proposed im-
peachment of the President. Under the bill re-
ferred to all male persons of the age of 21 years
and upwards, without regard to race or colour, who
have been residents of the district for one year, are
entitled to vote. Against this the President, in a
lengthy message, submits his objections, con-
tending that in a population like that of
Washington, composed of about one hundred
thousand whites and some thirty thousand negroes,
with the great body of the latter just relieved from
the ignorance and barbarisms of Southern slavery,
this experiment of universal suffrage is calculated
to bo mischievous in its consequences. From this
view of the subject the President diverges to a
general argument on the constitutional powers of
Congress, the executive, and the Supreme Court.

The New York Herald holds the veto to be well
grounded upon the question of the propriety and
expediency of the measure ; but " beyond this we
think the President, notwithstanding the earnest,
respectful, and dignified tone of his message, has
entered into a tilt with Congress which contributes
nothing to strengthen his case. The bill will
doubtless be passed into a law over his veto [this
has been done], and then from its practical work_
ing we may. expect soon some convincing evidence
of the necessity for its modification. It is only in
this view that this bold experiment may be turned
to a good account in the general settlement of this
negro suffrage question."
The New York Times says that the argument
with which President Johnson supports his veto
will not convert Congress or the country to his
views. His denial of the right of Congress to
legislate for the district is so flatly opposed to the
terms of the constitution, and the ground upon
which aid for district projects has always been
invoked, that it amounts to little.
To the .Tribune the message seems the least
plausible veto message it has ever read. " Can it
have been intended to aid the measure of radical
justice it seems to oppose and deprecate I"
In the House of Representatives on the morning
of the 7th an impeachment resolution from Mr.
Loan, of Missouri, was turned over to the Recon-
struction Committee, andreproduced in a new shape
by Mr. Kelso, also of Missouri, when a motion to
lay it upon the table was rejected—yeas, 40 ;
nays, 103.

Mr. Ashley, of Ohio. brought forward a resolu-
tion, the preamble declaring, that " I do impeach
Andrew Johnson, Vice-President and Acting
President of the United States, of high 'crimes
and misdemeanours. I charge him with usurpa-
tion of power and violation of law, in that he
has corruptly abused the appointing power ; in
that he has corruptly used the pardoning power ;
in that he has corruptly disposed of the public pro-
perty of the United States ; in that ho has corruptly
interfered in elections and committed acts and con-
spired with others to commit acts which in the con-
templation of the constitution are high crimes
and misdemeanours. Therefore be'it resolved, that
the committee on the judiciary be, and they are
hereby, authorised to inquire into the official con
duct of Andrew Johnson, Vice-President and dim_
charging the duties and powers of the President of
the United States, and to report to the house"
whether in their opinion he has been guilty of
crimes and misdemeanours requiring the interpo-
sition of the constitutional power of the house, and
that the maid committee have power to send for per-
sons and papers and to take the oaths of witnesses.
This proposed the initial step to an impeach-
ment, and the question recur:lug, Shall the reso-
lution be adopted ?--Mr. Spalding, of Ohio, a re-
publican, interposed with a motion to lay it on the
table. Upon this preliminary test question the
call of the roll resulted—yeas, 39 ; nays, 105; the
republicans, radicals, and conservatives, with a
few exceptions, standingtogether for the resolution,
which was next adopted.

The New York Herald and the New York Times
condemn the impeachment. The former says, if it
be followed up to its legal conclusion it will bo
productive of a serious panic and derangement in
financial affairs, and needless and damaging delays
of those practical measures of legislation de-
manded to meet the general interests and
wants of the country. It thinks it probable, how-
ever, that the Judiciary Committee of the house
will be occupied to the end of the present Congress
in their preliminary investigations, and that with
the meeting of the now Congress in March the
intervening chapter of events may serve to bring a
treaty of peace and co-operation between the two
houses and the President.

The New York Times says that nearly all the
charges would be dismissed at once by any court,
and " if they ever come before such a body as the
Senate, we have no doubt of the disposition that
will be made of them."

Even the New York Tribunc fears that in endea-
vouring thus to remove the evils of the President's
administration the comity may fly to others it
knows not of. " May sie not," it says, " put a prece-
dent upon our statute-books which will give any de-
mocratic majority of the Senate and house in future
years the right to revolutionise the government in
thu interest of slavery ? Let us walk slowly, and
survey the ground as we go. Let us not lay violent
hands upon the Executive-office until we find that
no other course remains for the honour of the
nation. Perhaps we are wrong ; but it does not
seem to us that the time for the sterner alternative
has come."