Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1836-05-09
4 Z. ..'.. ....sed hr hn,h Houses of Congress,

Ia,
,;..,,I can hardly believe that he meant 10
- ,,. ,,,,,ritv of both Houses with an inicn-
- x;el,.ion of the Constitution and breach OF
,l;r official oailS | have heard the Judgments
Of the Suprrme Court publicly impnened, as be-
. inc cor,rar, Ia the Constitution. ! have heard
Chief Jn~,ire Marshall, opinions 50 mpugned ny
men who entertained The highest respect Tor ms -
h,;.s and integrity, and would have considered II
n reproaeb 10 themselves ifthev had been gfa'eiy
,lJ ,b,, fine, had imputed to the court wlllul
d,p,rture from right, truth, and justice. Sir, there
!. but one Il, poilicsis upon Which The allegation
made in the resolution of March, 1881, that the
Presidents conduct illegal and nneonst-
tutional, can Imply or,,ac, and that is, that ms
Judgment is iniahlc, aud that IL Is morally I'M
possible for him 10 do an Illegal AMI uneohstitu-
tioa act, through crrorof Judgment. That Is very
far from my opinion. There Is no man whose
Judgment should esteem iniable on such sub
ject, and the President is one OF the last men ts
whom slouLl attribute any such nfalIibility. And,
though believed at the tine ] gave my voto Oh
the resolution of March, 1891, that the conduct
Of the Presiden, therein referred Ia was illegal and
UNCONSTITUTIONAL and though tll. still, and prob
ably will always continue be- N, firm, nndoubing
opinion. have hesitation in SAY nC thar, II the
President hid been regularly mpeachcd for Il!at
conduct, and had been called upon TO decide his
cause as one olhis Judges upon all tho evidence then
Tor, indeed yct) known To mr., touching the mo-
tive, of his conduct, my voice must have been for
his acquiilal. | could not Iasc found ihe wilful
criminal nien, essential Ia constitute guilt
The gentleman from Missouri loudl, rep. obates
the resolution in question, on the erodnd that it,
allegations ART vague and Indefinite; not perecivrg
thai that very circumstance furni,he, the strongest
proof thai criminal accusation wa, mol made
Il il,, e Il,
dent oi crime OF mislcmcanor never entered into
the thoughts Of any Senator WHO voted Tor the
resolution; aud there not human being, |
am quite SURE. who much as imagined the pos
sib,liiy OF an act OF Impeachment y the House of
Representatives the cast OF such Impeachment
WAS only supposed IN argument, never apprelcnd-
ed in fact.
Ii is said dat tho resolution ol Mach 1884,
cannot be regarded is y proceedina in our tgi~a.
tive capacity aul proof of thu, it las been OBJ
,crvcd that no legislative measure was founded
nl,oa II, and that none was intended. THIS APP
pears my mind the most Cratuon> assumption tat
ever was made. 1t was the opinion of tn, mover
IN those proceedings, that the public depo,itc,, Al
l.as, OF the revenue which should afterwards ac-
erac, ouaa 10 be restored To tine Bank 81 Tho t.
nilod States and it was proper To ascertain the
srnsc of ile Senate on the question, whether Zion
the reasons assigned hv the Exrcuiiyc) they had
been consuonally and legally Withdrawn or not
for il the mate had held the affirmative on that
point, il woad have been vain aud idle ~ prepare
and bring Ia bill Tor the purpose. The course
pursued is usual in all legislative hodits. As il
waS, | have not the least doubt tht the known
state ofoplnion in the House of Representative,
upon the subject alone prevented the Senate from,
passing bill for the restoration al the depoSitcs.
The Senate did take measures, some time after to
ascertain the sense of the House: on lhe lth oi
June, 1881, II passed a JOINT resolution directing
the dcpu,ite Of the public money, to be made
with the Bank of the United States ana il, hranch-
Is, The House never acted upon it.
But bet uS rNnmlne more closely the rca~oa
aud foundation of tbs opinion dat The Senate
Cannot, in il, legislative capacity, discuss anl de-
,crmne upon the consliiution4y or lsality o.
any ACT Of the President and lei Il, see. too, the
extent OF tir principle 1t Supposed illl the ii-
dicia power vested IN the Senate, Il. the court for
the trial Of impcaclm MS, operates limitation
upon Il,e action Of the Senate III lls legislative
capacity that the Senate cannot in lis legislative
capacity, express any opinion inpugniue the con-
siiuonality or h'ea,ity Of any oai,i at of the
President, because il may be called upon 10 de-
eide the same question iudiciail,, upon an i'm
parchment against lin for the ,dnir act. Now, il
obvious, that if the Senate Is, for Tins reason
Incompetent 10 pass any resolution, lmplsuiH. the
conduct OF the President as unconstitutional, nci-
ther IS II competent to pass resolution approving
hi, conduct constitutional and proper: for il
can be no more within The competency oil the Sc
nate 10 preluJcc the Presidents oau,c and acuuit
him, than 10 prrlul,c aud condemn. Partially in
lud.cs towards the accused Is rs vicious Is prciu-
dice again,i him. \av more Is the duy of
every Senator I" avoid the forming, and express
sion of an opinion the cunstitutiomlity OF the
Presidents conduct 10 hold his iudg mcnt in sus-
l,cn,c. Nor is this all. The Senate aud House
of Representatives are made br the constitution
coordinate branches Of th, Legislature, and their
legislative powers are co-cqual, too, with the sin
gle exception that mnne y-hlll, can only be uriui-
mated III the House and then Il distinct lndu ia
function i, assigned To each, The House is IT,.
grand inquest oi the nation 10 accuse nd impcach
the Senate is the court To try and determine. \,
10 all IN ittrrs OF criminal accusation and mpcach-
mrn,, the action OF the llou>r !, lust rs much ju-
diciA ia is nature az the action of the ScntIc
the onl, difference is, that their Judicial functions
different. II the Senate, in its legislative ca
paci'y, is incompetent To examine the con>ijtu-
ionaliry OF the Presidents conduct. and expires,
its opinion upon it, the lllnse also, in It's lc..la
tive capacity, /, Incompetent 10 do So.
Ii, therefore, the President shall, upon any oc-
casion, adopt any measure questionable con-
slimtinnnl grounds. no matter how nschcyous the
measure hids be m lls oprration--no matter how
urgent the necessity Tor prompt and decisive lc-
gisat'e action, tn correct the procedure and ar
rest the progress Of the cyil-neithcr branch of
the Legislature can esanvo, or even inquire into,
the subject in lis Legislative character, much more
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