, 1866-12-21
Plan of Impeachment.

IL VIII cure tnem oil all 0esponuencV. r
Yours truly, MAJOR.
. - .. .HH
Plan of impeachment.
Several of the ultra-radical papers are pubs
fishing the plans Of Gen. Butler for impesehing
the President. He enumerates six charges upon
which the President should be impeached and
then lays down plan of action which he says
should be pursued and that is substantially this:
Articles Of impeachment are to be prepared
against the President and laid before the Sen
ate he is then to be Immediately arrested and
imprisoned, and another President is to be ins
stalled by Congress. This does not differ ma
terially from the plan urged by Wendell Phil
lips and other rauting politicians, aud it is so
revolutionary in its character, so subversive Of
all law, and so intent upon illegal aud high
handed usurpatiOu in violation Of the Constitu-
ton, that it is well calculated to create conster-
nation. The proposition plainly is for Congress
to do what it has no right to do, viz. To de-
pose the President from office before convicting
him of any offence, and to follow this up by
another illegal act, viz: To make new Pres
ideut-an act for which there i. no warrant or
precedent in the Constitution, laws or practice
of this or any other country having Constitu-
tional Government The House Of Representa-
tives has the right to impeach the President,
and twO-thiris of the Senate may convict him on
the articles Of impeachment aud after convic-
tioa, it may punish him to the extent of remo-
wing him from eifice but it cannot remove him
until after conviction. Neither can Congress or
der his arrest on impeachment, nor can it com
pell him to appear in person for trial. He may
appear either in person, or by attorney, or
waive appearance altogether, at his pleasure.
The Constitution and laws are both very exs
plict on this subject, and both forbid the
course of action proposed by the revoluHonists
The President says the Constitution, "may
be impeachel by the House of Representatives
for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and
misdemeaOoS, and upon conUictioR By the Sen
dte removed from office" An impeachment
is nothing more or less than a charge or mass Of
charges made and drawn up by the House of
Representatives, accusing the party impeach-
| ed of certain offences. Such charge or charges
are presented to the Senate, when that body
summons he accused to appear and answer.
If be mdkts default, the Senate then proceeds
erP Parie. 1.-The appears and denies the charges,
and puts himself on trial, land he may appear
by attorney,) an issue is found, aud time is
appointed br the trial, which thereafter pro-
ceeds according to law and usage, and much in
the same way as in commou judicial trials. !"
The concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators
is required to secure a conviction. In cases of
impeachment, as in all criminal cases, the ac-
cused is held to be innocent until he is proven
guilty and declared to be so BY lawful autho
ty la case of a successful impeachment of the
President the greatest punishment which can
be inflicted upon him by the Senate, is, removal
from office, and this punishment can only follow
conviction. To say that the President can be
punished for a crime before he is convicted, is to
say that we can legally hang man accused of
murder, and try him afterward, to ascertain
whether be was guilty or innocent of the charge.
| If the President should be removed from office,
simply because an accusation was made against
him. a precedent in violation of the Consttu-
tion would be established by which, hereafter,
no President who should dare to, exercise the
veto power, or even to differ from the views of
a majority of the House of Representatives,
could hold office an hour. Our Government
would be forever at the mercy Of the whims aud
passions of factious partizans. As there is most
certainly no legal power by which the President
can be removed from office before conviction,
there is assuredly no power in Congress to in-
stall in the Presidential chair a member of its
own body or any other person. Any attempt,
then, en- the part of Congress, in the direction
and maduer pointed out by Butler and Phillips,
would be direct effort to usurp unlawful aus
thority to overthrow the Constitution, and to
trample under foot the rights and safeguards of
the people. The success of such an attempt
would place the Government in the hands of a
revolutionary and Illegally acting body, which
would be under the restraint of no other power
but its own whims and passions. 1t is quite
| probable that such an attempt will be made, but
we do not think it possible for it to succeed.
We believe that Congress, as whole, possesses
too much selfrespect, too much regard for the
Constitution and laws of the country, too much
| patriotism, and too much devotion to the inter
ests of the Nation and the rights of the people
to pursue the illegal and revolutionary course
urged upon its members But this course is Sc
rlously and vigorously urged by men of energy,
of intellect, and of great influence, and hence
there is cause for the deepest solicitute as to
what the next three months may bring forth;
| and In view of the possibility that tie scheme
may succeed, people should give the subject
their earnest attention, in order that they may
be prepared to act ntelligently in case the worst
should happen.-S. p. Call.