These extraordinary proceedings show that Congress was right in withdrawing from the President the power of removal which the act of 1789 assumed that he possessed, and in declaring that it should be exercised only by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Secretary of War is, in ordinary times, when there is perfect accord between all the branches of the Government, as important to Congress as to the President. It is in the power of Congress at any time to abolish the office, and to create it again at their pleasure. These are the words of one of the authors of the Constitution, of its most distinguished commentator, and of a Cabinet officer afterward of the highest authority. The President has encroached upon this distribution of power in face of the advice of the Senate deliberately given, in face of the solemn decision of Congress, and, it now appears, in face of the true meaning of the Constitution.
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