Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-01-24
Impea,hmert orthe President.

Impeachment Of the President.
The waves of the terrible storm which
| burst over the country i'll 1861, and terml
mated III 1865, are surging with more fury
to-day than they did in the very height Of
the gale, and the danger to the country
seems more imminent now than when the
Confederate armies, flushed with victory
and fired with patriotic enthusiasm, bore
the banners of their legions in triumph
within sight of the National Capitol at
| Washington. The Radicals, foiIed by the
! President and the Supreme Court in their
mad attempts to punish rebels at the
expense of the Constitution, and chatting
because their heavy party maiorities and
| their possession of all the Northern State
| governments are rendered barren by the
noble stand the Executive and judicial de-
Dartments Of the government have taken,
seem bent upon the impeachment Of Presl-
/ dent JOHNSON and demonstrating the Su-
prerne Court with fresh materials, who
will constrl,e the Constitution according to
! the "new lights thrown upon it by Radi-
cal supremacy, and to meet the demands of
/ the great ISSUES settled by the war.
The latest advices from Washington city
are that the plan now agreed upon by the
leaders in the impeachment movement, is
to suspend the President as soon as the az
ticIcs are preferred, Mr. Wade stepping
into the Presidents position. 1t is then
proposed to prolong the trial until the reg
ular Presidential term shall have expired,
and in the meanwhile the South is to be
Reconstructed over again. This is an
adroit scheme to avoid the trouble and pos
sible risks of IL new Presidential election,
which would be rendered necessary. in adj
vance of the regular election in 1868
We had supposed the check they received
by the recent decisions of the Supreme
! Court would restrain the Radicals, but the
revolution has been fairly inaugurated, and
to stop now would be an acknowledgment
of defeat which must sweep away the last
vcstige of party organization, and, per con-
sequence, party supremacy ; and their de-
| termination seems to be to cast aside every
impeachment which blocks the way to final
and complete success. And as the i'm
parchment and removal of the President
! from office has become a necessity to the
contamination of this great political revo-
! luton, and us the illegal authority of Con
! gress over the Southern States finds in hinl
! 4 successful opponent we believe it will be
attempted What may or will result from
| this mad scheme, we cannot tell. We know
that a very large minority OF the Northern
people regard the cause of the President
; that Of the Constitution, and in a partlzan
attempt to remove him there may ensue a
counter movement to vindicate the laws and
! Constitution, which would lead to a civil
war without parallel in the history of the
world, not confined to sections or divided
| by geographical lines. In such a strife,
ncighbors, indeed, would be arrayed against
neighbOrs, and the barren remnants of
liberty and republicanism now left to us
would be lost forever
| Fears of such results have no weight with
| the dominant party. The motive and
cue for passion" which they have will
brook no interruption. The innocence of
the President, respect for the Constitution
and the safety of the country will not cause
them to depart one iot OF one title from
the line which party tactics and party drill
have marked out for the &" faithful" They
are determined to work out the great re-
form which they regard us the logical COZ
sequence of the war. Regarding President
/ Johnson as faithless to their party and an
obstacle to their designs, they are deter,
mined to strike him down, if the Temple
of Liberty falls with him. When passion,
disguised under the garb of philanthropy
and patriotism, grows into frenzy, the or
binary restraints of law are not sufficient
to check it, and when judges and jurors
from whose decision there is no appeal, be
fore the finding of il true bill, denounce
the accused as an assassin and traitor, il
requires but little Judgment to divine what
the finding will be.
There seems to be throughout the North
if we are to believe the general tone OF the
Radical organs, an indisposition or timldity
to begin the impeachment, but in no in
stance, VIC DSllSNe. Is bIll5 1eluCtdltc phoCN
upon principle, but on policy. tits regarded
as a dangerous experiment to rid themselves
of powerful enemy, which i'll case of dis
aster would be the death-knell OF theil
party. But such mild remonslances viii
only serve to whet the apretites of those
] who Ere urged by such powerful passions
and corrupt motives to impeach the Presi
dent. Great and popular demonstrations
may check it, but without this, it will pro
gross onward to the dizzy summit that
puts toys of desperation into every
BRAIN" and, whatever may be the conse-
| quenees, will be forced to the bitter end.
i We trust that better and wiser councils
will prevail. This poor country has al.
ready suffered enough from civil strife and
i political feuds, and the Southern people
want repose, desire peace-peace North
peace South-peace throughout the entire
i land. Their moral and material veal de