The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-31
The President versus the will of the
People.

ThR RTeBl0eut NOlSNo N"S 'AN " ~--N
People
sCr..,, 4. a ranublio where the will Of the
-. e Tho law Of the land" was the noble
nttaranoe of the General OF our armies, as ne
Orolasted to the President against the re-
,oox.I Of the gallant Sheridan. No expression
oo,,ld have more truly embodied the spirit of
80 institutions and it is a most fortunate
thiuS for the country at this oonjuncturel that
tbo great military chieftain of the age is man
Svbose every sympathy is with the people.
How significant the contrast, too, when great
military commander, who might naturally be
eunnoaed to have imbibed something of the
snirit of absolute rule, thus nobly pleads for
the vital principle of the republic with the
chief civil officer of the nation, who, sworn to
defeud the Constitution and the laws, attempts
to set ND his own mere will as superior to
both For, if any one thing has been appa-
rent throughout Mr.. Johnson's whole career,
il has been his stubborn, dogged defiance of
the will of the people. He has had a "policy"
of his own, which he wished to see carried out
He has apparently thought himself wiser
than the whole nation beside. He has at
Of the vast and difficult problems growing out
Of the war. He has assumed to be the State.
In short his whole course has been in di-
rect opposition to the truthful and patriotic
sentiment of General Grant, that this is
republic in which the oiH of the people is the
law Of the land.
Now, in such contest as this, defeat and
disgrace can but continue to wait on the steps
of the President. He precipitates himself
against one of the primal forces of the Ameri-
Oan political system, and he might as well
attempt to wrestle with fate itself as to think
of overcoming it. No matter though his
"pOlicy" were the perfection of wisdom and
the consummate flower" of craftsmanship,
the result would be all the same; and for this
simple reason, that the principle against which
he is fighting is vastly more important than
any question of mere policy which can
originate in the Government under it. We
might have king, who would rule more
wisely than any President or Congress that
we have ever tried; but in that case we
should cease to be a republic, and should
have launched ourselves upon the unknown
sea of despotic possibilities. When, there
fore, Mr.. johnson tells US that his 'policy"
is the best, we reply that we don't care fig
for the character of his policy; that he has no
business with any policy, good or bad but
that his simple duty is to faithfully and hon
estly execute the nations policy as he finds it
expressed in the nations lars.
Mr. johnson is in ia lse position-a position
which the Constitution of our country and the
spirit of our institutions do not allow any
President to occupy. The American system
has no place for an Executive seeking directly
or indirectly to give to his will the force of law.
The people elect their Representatives, those
Representatives pass laws, those laws are the
nations policy; and any President who assumes
to have different policy, which he is endea-
voring to force upon the country, becomes 8
'-surper, and commits one of the highest o
official crimes and misdemeanors. This is the
position of Mr.. Johnson, and General Gran
did well to remind him of the great prima
principle of our political system. If the Pre-
sident is not utterly given over to "hardnes
of heart and blindness of mind" he will hesi
tate before he pushes this contest to extremes
s'This is a republic where the will of the peopl
is the law of the land" This is the grea
foundation rock of American institutions, and
reverently adopting the language of Scripture
we may say, that ''whosoever falls upon it shal
be broken, but upon whomsoever 1t shall taH
it shall grind him to powder!''