The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-09 00:00:00

THE PALACE AT WESTMINSTER.

The discovery of the entire unsuitability of the
present House of Commons is raising discussion
in several directions. First, as to the matter itself, is
the present House large enough ? If not, how should
a new House be constructed ? The first question
may by no means be considered as settled. The
House of Commons is large enough to hold all its
members, but it does not give every one a speaking
place. Is it advisable or needful that this should be
given ? The House is full to overflowing only on
certain great days. The number of speakers is then
few, and they can easily be heard in the galleries.
Even if it is advisable to have more room on the
floor, more room can be obtained by a rearrange-
ment of the House. Such are the arguments
against change. But the members themselves,
the old ones especially, find the present state
intolerable. How can the nation expect its legisla-
tors to do justice if they are being worried night
after night by such petty things as not finding a
seat ?
The moral of the matter is given by "An Archi-
tect," in the Times. In building . the Houses of
Parliament, he says, a national monument was
required. A demand was made for the du/ce rather
than the utile. We have the former, and the Palace
at Westminster will descend to all time as a memorial
of the present age. But we have not got what was
really wanted after all. Let us take warning, then,
from the present failuie, and in our law courts look
rather to the useful than to mere aesthetics.

FOREIGN NOTES..,
ItEPUBLICAN MOVEMENTS IN ITALY;

The Florence correspondent of the Herald confirms in
every particular the information given by our Rome cor•
respondent respecting Republican agitation in Italy.
The 19th of March, St. Joseph's day, sacred to the patron
saint of both Garibaldi and Mazzini, passed off quietly,
because the authorities took special precautions ; but it is
not the less certain that the party of action has for some
time been making preparations for a general outbreak at
the first propitious moment. The committees correspond-
bag with the Mazzinians centred at Lugano are busily
working in every direction. But the hope of success
seems small indeed. The facts brought to light at
Piacenza, at Faenza, at Ravenna, and, more recently still,
at Naples, on a still larger scale, have placed some of the
principal threads of this complicated web in the hands of
the police. These are not likely to be taken by surprise.

THE " 111013NING POST' ON THE TENCHE

OFFICE ACT.

(From the Anglo-American Times)
• ,
This is the article alluded to in our leader, Whl eb,
as a sample of English knowledge of Amerian sub
jects, is worth preserving :—" President Grant 11at
sustained his first defeat at the hands of the 801 l
of Representatives. It will no doubt be in the rei
collection of all that during the PresidentshiP
Andrew Johnson Congress thought proper to Pas;
a measure very seriously curtailing the authoriti°,` •
the Chief Magistrate in dealing with such 001!
Ministers as lost, his confidence, and that, notwin,t
standing the President's veto, the measure beeaele
.t
law. According to the Constitution the Preside;o
may appoint the M inisters of State, but the appnie,
ments must be ratified by the Senate in order '
acquire validity, The power of dismissing e'eo
was, however, until the passing of the Tenure elr
,
Office Act, reserved absolutely to the Preside
but when that measure was adopted this power ic,3o
practically transferred to the Senate. It will al-
be remembered that it was Mr. Johnson's conten3.
tuous disregard for this statute, in dismissing 3\,t t
Stanton from the office of Secretary of War, wbleo
filled the vial of wrath against him and led to P
impeachment. It is, however, one of the Pseo
liarities of the American Constitution that a 1P„,:
though passed with all due formality by the Pre„
sident and both Houses of Congress, is not nee%
sarily binding, and it is open to any citizen
call it in question as inconsistent with the Cefo
stitution, and refer the point thus raised for
consideration of the Supreme Court, which tr
bunal, if it deems the objection valid, theretleoo
quashes the law. It was consequently urged tt
much force, on Mr. Johnson's impeachment, tret
the President was as well entitled as any et',
citizen to violate the law for the purpose of • aster
taining, by appeal to the Supreme Court, whether
it was consistent, with the Constitution or not,
and that the article of the Impeachment, based et
his dismission of the Secretary of War, could net
in consequence, be sustained. The President 10,,,:
acquitted by a single vote, Mr. Secretary Stantehe
retired, and the legality of his dismission by Pe
President was never referred to the Suprefil,
Court. At the time when the Act in question
passed no one entertained a doubt that it was P 9:
yoked by the obnoxious character of the Preside
and that the large Republican majority assented
it, partly to restrain the action of a Chief in wins
they had lost confidence, and partly in order '3
wound his pride. These facts not unnaturally lei
to the conclusion that the measure was only intend
to be temporary, and would be rescinded as soon
a President was chosen who commanded the COl.,
fidence of the dominant faction. The Republica':
party selected General Grant as their candidate ?'
the Presidential election, and he was triumphant!l°
returned. A variety of circumstances tended 1
make him extremely popular, and probably no rnso
has entered the White House for the past half eelli
Wry with the approbation of so large a section e°
his fellow.citizens as General Grant. By tbesho gave it a thought the Tenure-of-Office All
which deprived the President of all control over
his own Ministers, must have been considered el.;
the 4th of March as being as good as repealed.
General Grant, as a military man, and one aeon'
tomed to enforce obedience from his subordinate`'
naturally regarded this singular statute with pests;
liar aversion. Immediately after entering on oflis
lie made no secret of his feelings on the allb(i
ject he declared that the occasion which loti
called for it had passed away, and intimated a Nvie,
that one of the first legislative acts of Cougresl
should be to repeal it. The Senate manifests'
their concurrence in these sentiments by introdils,
ing a measure which, though not absolutely r
l.e;
scinding the obnoxious statute, deprived it of '°
sting—without, however, giving to the Preside'':
all the powers which his predecessors had enjoyed'
It provided that the President, though still
barred from absolutely removing his officers, shoal"
be enabled, without assigning reasons, to suspen t
them and appoint successors, such appointme°
being, of course, subject to the approval of 0/
Senate. It was also provided that the rejection °
the newly-appointed individuals should have the
effect of reinstating those who had been suspended.
It must be admitted that this measure was
paratively mild, and fell far short of what General
Grant would have desired. It is not improbable+l99,
however, that the Senate had reason to believe t
an act of repeal would not have been assented 9
in the Lower House, and they were desirous s'
making it sufficiently palatable to secure the se"
ceptance of the latter. But be this as it may, t‘,ll
bill passed the Senate on Wednesday last by 0
against 16 votes, and was then sent down to the
House of Representatives. There, however, it wag
less fortunate. We are unacquainted with •wWt
passed in the course of the debate to which it gave
rise,.thc grounds on which it was opposed, or ths
political bas of the members who opposed it, 10
the result was that on Saturday the bill O,
thrown out in the House of Representatives b.!
99 against 70 votes. It is not easy at present
to say what may be the precise significance of this,
vote. It was natural that Democrats who opposed
the Tenure-of-Office act in the first instance, be
cause it was intended as a slight upon Pr?'
sidOnt Johnson, should now oppose its repeal I.°
the interests of President Grant. But why a vain'
her of Republicans, sufficiently large to secure 5
majority, should have joined them in order to Ore
out the measure is not sufficiently clear. To the
chiefs of the Republican party General Grant 110'
questionably gave great umbrage by the singularbf
independent manner in which he formed his Cabi"
net. Instead of summoning to his councils those
who had chiefly aided him in attaining his piesent
position, and who, by their political antecedentg,
might not unreasonably have expected to have
been sent for, he selected for his advisers wen
who, for the most part, were unknown in the
Parliamentary world. So great an innovation n'l4
not only have startled, but nettled, those who svnti
prepared to give hiln the warmest support, and
to place in him the most implicit confidence. It
is therefore far from improbable that when it
was proposed to relieve him of the restrictions
posed on the late President in dealing with bi 4
Ministers of State and other officers, they gladii
availed them Selves of the opportunity of showing
their own strength and demonstrating his own de-
pendence on them. However this may be, it 19 5,
little unfOrtunate that at the very outset of Genera'
Grant's Presidential career an event should have
happened which will. be universally regarded as 5
collision between the President and his Congress'
Whether the Tenure-of-Office Act be a good or
bad statute, and we consider that it is the latter, 3,
bill ought not to have been introduced for its repeat'
unless its acceptance by both Houses was alniost
matter of certainty. It is not pleasant for a well-
meaning President to be told a fortnight after be
has entered office that Congress has so little eonfi-
dence in him that it will not grant him the power'
enjoyed by all his predecessors with the exception
of one, whom it was deemed expedient to impeach.
Yet such in effect is the substantial meaning of the
vote passed on Saturday in the House of Repre-
sentatives."

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