The Portland daily press., 1866-05-01

Il OeSs~A OA-@SN'
The repeated efforts made by the Secretary
of the Treasury and the Post Master Genera
| to induce Congress to modify the oath for fed
eral office holders will be fresh in the minds o
our readers The matter was referred in tht
] HA,.AA Of pn.rAaA.44A4iHas- thu -Garnnait4a.
on the Judiciary, whose report is now made
THROUGH Mr.. Wilson, of Iowa. In this repor
the Committee, after showing that the oath il
in entire accordance with the acts, the ex
pressed sentiments and the demands Of Presi
| dent Johnson-a fact, by the way, of litt,t
real consequence to the country-proceed t.
declare that in deliberately disobeying an ac
of Congress, the Secretary of the Treasury
and other public officers have been guilty of &
| grave offence. The report says:
| But the test oath was established by law
and no officer had any more right to dispense
| with it than he had to dispense with any 9TH
| er law. The Constitution says the President
shall take care that the laws be faithfully exc.
| cuted,' and neither he nor any other officer OF
| the government has any right to dispense with
any law. All officers should know that the
dispensing power does not exist in this gov
| eminent, and that its exercise is dangerous
| and will not be tolerated.
1t is the duty of public officers to obey and
execute the laws. No obligation is palmer
than this, and none should be more rigidly OBJ
served. The legislative department. OF the gov
eminent is entrusted with the law-makile
power, and when the power is once exercised
all officers must yield obedience to it. If the
act of July 2, 1862, stood in the way of a prop
er execution of other laws to the extent ,indi-
Gated by the Secretary Of the Treasury, the
duty of the President was very plain. It was
not to dispense with the law, but to assemble
Congress and ask for a removal of the obsta-
cle Had this Oeen done in the spring of 1865
the complications now existing in the affairs
of the nation would, in all probability, have
been avoided, for with the views then enter
tanned by the President relative to the power
Of Congress over the subject of reconstruction,
the legislative and executive departments
could have worked together with little or no
friction.
Here follows list of great number of Of
ficers who have not taken the prescribed oath
and Immediately after we find the following
which may serve to give our readers an idea
of what kind Of persons are thus, in defiance
of the law of Congress, appointed to lucrative
federal Offices:
IL Is HUI Il lndtlSl VI Su pi LoC tudG uOuU-
gomery Moses, who is reported in the forego-
inc list as collector first district, South Caro-
lina' cannot subscribe to the oath of Office,
for the committee is informed that he was a
Coniedei ate tax collector. The following letter
relative to the case of Mr.. Moses, was recently
received by the committee as disclosing state
of facts calling for modification of the oath
of Office. The letter is in these words:
SUMTER, April 10, 1885,
Dear Sir:-For four years Of the war Montgomery
Moses collector of war tax for JEFF Davis, grind
ing the people here and now is assessor collect of
United St ties internal revenue and all bis sens were
rebels, and are sucking government Zap IN rev.
enue. Is this right? Plenty Union iheh nefcld
r.. Your servant, b. .aF
PETER HAYNES freedman.
This letter, though brief and written by an
humble man. contains much on which those
who advise modification of the oath of Office
may seriously, and perhaps profitaby, reflect.
Each one of the officers embraced in the fore
going list is acting in violation OF law. Their
commissions represent fifty-four transgresslons
OF a national statute. Each act of appoint
ment was an assumption of grave response
olity. Why were these things done? An an
swer 10 this question will present some inter-
esting facts.
LII VIII oe remembered that the Secretary of
the treasury, in his communication to the
Senate in relation to this matter. stated that
he had been compelled to adopt the course he
did by the fact that nearly every man in the
southern states, possessed of sufficient char
acter and ability to qualify him for revenue
officer. was either willingly OF mwillingly en-
gagged in hostilities against the governments
This plea the committee meet with tn, very
damaging Systematically proved by official
figures-that more than Jsf$y-taoo thousand
southern sohite men seroedjn the Union armies
during the Warl Are not these men, officers
and priyates, likely to be found as intelligent
and fit for Office as those who filled similar po-
sitions in the rebel armies? Faithful when
all around them were faithless, they sacrificed
everything for loyalty to the government
which now rewards them with neglect. In
deed, neglect is not all of which they have a
right to complain. The committee adduce a
great number otinstances in whichwhere there
were rival aspirants to Office an actual discrim-
ination has been shown against the claims of