The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1866-10-24
The impeachment. :,

The New York lYorM has tho fol-
loving admirable article on Butler,
threatened impeachment Of the Prosi
dent:
This ingcnius fallacy rests upon an
assumption which little scrutiny will
easily explode The assumption i, That
IN officer under impeachment stands in
the same relation 10 the tribunal ap.
pointed to try him that an ordinary
criminal does to an ordinary court. Be.
cause a court Of justice never tries a
criminal unless it has custody of his per-
son, it is inferred that the same rule
holds IN the trial Of an impcachcd officer
by the Senate. The anulogy fails in
consequence OF total difference in the
liability Of. the persons accused. The
Constitution declares that Judgment in
eases OF impeachment shall not extend
further ,hnn removal from Office" and
disqualification to hold any future Office.
! is moi necessary for tho Senate to
have 'hc chstody Of tho accused in or
der 10 iniict' this punishment. But an
ordinary criminal, on trial for theft
murder and other crime, is liable 10 be
punished by iniliclons on his person.
1t would be an idle folly to go through
the form Of passing n sentence of death
or imprisonment il the culprit was be-
yona the rcach Of the officers of the law
a person mpcachel OF II crime other.
wise punishable tl!an by deposition from
Office, is also liable to the ordinary pen
altirs Of The same crime by the jndg.
mnnt of the ordinary tribunals. The
impeachment having no otlnr aim than
to simply vnca'c his Office, can accom-
plfSh lis purpose jnst as we'll without
Ia" custody oi Lis person as with. He
Is summoned to appear on the same
principal that the defendant in civil
sui, IS summoned to appear, ! Ifac stays
away, h only wives his opportunity
OF defence An officer summoned to
appear and answer to an impcnc;imont
las these three alternatives, with per.
feet freedom Of selection, namely he
mny.arpear inpcrson; he may appear
only by counsel; or he may decline to
appear atrall. In The case Of Justice
Samuel Chase, of the United States Su
prcme Conrt impeachcd in 1905, the
Senate, Otter organizing as high court
fimp"acnmrn', adopted, The following
as one IF lis rules Of proceeding
$40. The person imprachcd shall
hen be called to appea, aud answer the
:ri les Of impeachment II exhibited
agairSl him. If he appears or any per-
son FOR him, the appearance shall be re.
corlrd, stating particularly irby himself
~ II h,- t,ro a 4 i,,r ~ 4 ",
The person appearing, and The capacity
in Which he appears If he does not
nppca", either personally or by agent or
attorney, the same shall be recorded"
1t is clear, fnom this wcghty and All.
thorlivc precedent, that Gen. Bntlcr is
wholly wrong in his law. Instead OF
the President being taken into custody
and imprisoned, it. depends on his vollin-
tary choico whether he will appear be-.
fore the court at ALL Ifhn appears, lie
is jnst as free TO appear by attorney as
in person.
Judge Story, in his commentaries on
The Constitution, describes at length tho
foymn)iics observed in trials for impcach.
: mcnt We cite the following passage
rs corrobo.atng the infrtGnccs. we have
draws from the rule of tho court in
Judge Glasses case "If he" 1.-The per.
son impcachcdJ "locs not appear in
person or by attorney, his defcult is
recorded, and d.,hc Senate may proceed
CO pa,tc to Tic trial OF tho impeachment
II he does not appear in person or by
attorney, his appearance is recorded"
There have been, mall, four cases OF
impeachment since the beginning ofonr
Government namely, that of VIM.
Blount. 1899; John Pickering; 1903
Samuel Chase, 1905 and James Fl.
F.. Peck, 1881. The law governing such
trials hs stntcd by Judge Story, is found
I'd on the prcccdents furnished by thesH
fur cases The argument of General
Butler in support Of the position d
Wendell Philips, that lhc President
mustncccssarily he suspended from off
&c during The trial, falls to the ground IL
,hc face Of this uniform usage. But
even if the exploded assumption of But
Ter wcrc correct, the taking Of tho Presi
dent into temporary custody would no
operate as n suspension from o!lice.
he should be disabled for six weeks by
typhus lever, wc suppose nobody is alb
snra cnonSi, to say that he would cease
to be President during his illness ant
that the President OF the Senate Wonle
be inducted-into tho executive chair
Tha Government wonld, in that case, b
administered by tho heads Of depart
mcnts. and papers requiring the Presi
dents name would remain unsigned unit
lis recovery.
That fis office ,conl not be filled b,
another person during his transient dis
ability, may be shown by a conclusiv
analogy. Suppose Chict Justice Chas
should be impeashed would his Ollie
hr vacant during his trial2 If so, tn
President conld send to the Senate
nomination TO fill tho vacancy. III