Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-02-01


When the suggestion was first made that
the President OF the United States should
he impeached. the idea was secuted and de-
rided as the dream of our overheated par
tisans, It was thought that none but rash
political adventures, desiring to make
themselves famous On very small capital,
would be found to advocate the measure
The course of events has shown that it was
no idle wish which fathered the suggestion,
but it was part of settled policy from the
beginning. It requires time to educate the
public mind up to the acceptance OF acts OF
! revolutionary violence. The same process
ses have to be gone through, OF abhorrence'
endurance, tenderness, and final acceptance,
as when starting wrong offers its tempta-
tions to the individual man, and therefore
the real movers of political machinery keep
themselves and their motives concealed for
time, until they find the public prepared
for their adoption. In a revolutionary Pc
Rod. such as that in which we have lived
for several years, it requires but'a little
while to accustom men to the most extrava-
CANT propositions Eight weeks ago Gen.
Butler had apparently the sole glory of the
impeachment scheme, and it was derldlng-
ly said that as he would not be clothed with
the functions of a Representative until the
next Congress, the discussion. might be adj
iourned, yet preparation has been dlllgent-
" conducted from that time forth, until the
proposal has been made by two members
on the floor of Congress in solemn form,
and bv a vote of more than two-thirds the
Judiciary committee of the House of Rep
resentatives has been charged to inquire
and report upon the subject. Mr. Stevens
has declared that the plans of the RepubIl-
can party were foiled, the Constitutional
amendment failure, and the policy of the
Congressional ma ority overthrow unless
Mr. johnson were impeached and deposed
from office.
But an important preliminary had to be
accomplished before the matter could be
avowed as a settled purpose. That prelimi-
nary has now been arranged. Congress
has passed q law fixing the time for the
meeting of the next Congress on the 4th of
March next. Practically, this amounted to
decree for the perpetuation of the power
of the maj ority withouta moments Interrupt
ton until the 4th of March 1869, and placed
them beyond the responsibility or chance
of disturbance from the people. With the
same overwhelming o-thirds vote in both
branches and perpetual session, all the
powers ofthe governmental are now absorbed
by the legislature. The checks and balan-
ces provided by the constitution in the Ex-
/ ecutive veto, and in the distribution of
all been practically annihilated by the con-
centration of power in a single body, the
caucus of the radical party, ruled and gov
erned by member from the State of Penn
| sylvania. What impeachment remains in
| the way of an impeachment? None what
| ever.
| Is it important to inquire of what high
crimes and misdemeanors the President
could be convicted The answer is, that
the same power which can put in motion
the impeachment will control it's decision.
There are no prescribed forms or defini-
tons of crime to limit the articles of accu-
sation, nor any rules of law by which to re-
strain and control the body having power
to pass sentence. The court which is to
try is composed, in part, of the same men
who are to determine upon the prosecution
the blinded majority which is swayed
through the unseen caucus Under such
circumstances arraignment is equivalent to
conviction and sentence,
Some few weeks only remain of the pres
ent session. Within that period the neces-
sary formalities could not be perfected, SO
that the trial should wear that show of con-
formity to the law which would be expec-
ted by the American people. The mind of
the public, hardly yet fully awakened to
the purpose of impeachment, could not
very WGl1 UettE tJlc SnOCh VI a.
trial nor is it essential to the objects in
view that it should take place Immediately.
There are lingering doubts whether an i'm
parchment, initiated at one Congress,
would not fail unless the trial were compile
ted before its adjournment. For these
reasons it is expedient that the full devel-
opment should not take place until after
the 4th of March. Then, with the same
assumed majority in both branches, with
the color of popular support derived from
the fact that the members of q new Con-
gress come with the sanction of a recent
election to their work, all will be ripe for
the coming act Of revolutionary violence.
To use the language Of Per Of extensive
circulation, now openly advocating the i'm
parchment, "The essential demands of this
great revolution will be met, the govern
ment in all its parts respond to the voice Of
the people as represented in Congress, the
States be reconstructed and reinstated up
on the pending constitutional amendment,
and new epoch dawn upon the country
with the removal of President Johnson"
Such appears to be the position in which
this momentous question stands at present.
Our institutions have so far borne every
strain to which they have been subjected.
We may possibly be saved the terrible or
deal of one branch of the government over
| throwing another, and using the forms OF
law to subvert all law and to trample upon
all the just limitations of authority. But
we will only be spared that ordeal by the
people becoming awake in time to the
dangers which threaten, and uttering in
language too plain for doubt their con-
| domination of schemes which will reduce
this country to a condition worse than that
of France during its fatal revolution, or
more pitiable than the state of anarchy
which blights the republic of Mexico.
Baltimore iSun.
Ca inc and II.