Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-03

hGA1AR ~
afterwards by Mr.. KELso his coIeague,
came up;
Resolued, That purpose OF seeur-
ing the fruits of the victories gained on
the part Of the Republic during he late
war, waged by rebels and traitors against
the life Of the nation, andof giving effect
10 the will of the people, as expressed at
the polls during the late election by ma
~jorities numbering in the aggregate more
than four hundred thousand votes, il Is
| the imperative duty Of the Thirty-ninth
| Congress to take, without delay, such
action 81 will accomplish the following
objects:
/. The Impeachment of the officer now
exercising the functions pertaining to
the office Of the President of the United
States Of America, and his removal from
Office, upon his conviction in due form Of
the crimes and high misdemeanors OF
which be Il manifestly and VIGOROUSLY
guilty, and which render it unsafe longer
to permit him to exercise h powers he
has ~unlawfully assumed.
.. To provide for the faithful ard eff
eient administration Of the executive de-
psrtment within the limits prescribed
by law.
>" Mr.. Loan tbereupen proceeded to
read a written speech, in which he ar
raigned the President for acts Of his adj
ministration, and suggested that he was
privy to the assassination of President
Lincoln
He was called to order, and his manu-
script read at the clerks desk, as follows
1.-THE crime (meaning the assassination
of Mr.. Lincoln) was committed. The
way was made clear for the successor.
The assassin's bullet, welded and di-
rected by rebel hands, and paid for by
rebel GOLD, made Andrew johnson Pres
ident Of the United States. The price
which be was TO pay for his promotion
was treachery TO the Republic, fidelity to
the party Of treason and rebellion"
The Speaker o~verruled the point OF or
der, saying
"This resolution makes 8 general
charge Of high crimes and misdemean-
ors, without specifying particularly what
the high crimes and misdemeanors are.
The resolution is now open for debate.
II a member, in debating IL, charges
that the President was an aecOmplice
in the assassination OF Mr.. Lincoln, that
is certainly in order, both under the
/ Constitution and under the rules of the
House, and for this reason II it were
not, then, If any member charged the
President with treason he could not state
the grounds on which he charged him
with treason. If il were not in order,
then, if any member charged the Presi-
dent with bribery, he would not be al
lowed to state the particular grounds on
which the charge was based. The
charge in the resolution is not a specific,
but a general charge of ''high crimes
and misdemeanors, of which" 1t says,
be is manifestly and VIGOROUSLY
guilty" The member from Missouri, in
debating it, sees fit to specify one, which
he charges against the President of the
United States. This is certainly not OUT
Of order.
Mr.. Hale said he feared he had not
stated the point with sufficient explicit
ness. His point was that the President
Of the United States could be put OF trial
only by a solemn form of impeachment,
and that on a resolution declariDgsimply,
as this did, that il was the duty Of this
house TO ~inaugurate such proceedings;
but. before that was done, such charges
could not be made in debate against the
president.
The Speaker-That would be q good
Doiut Of order in the senate when trying
specific charges made by the house Of
representatives. But before charges are
made by the house il Is of course within
the province of a member to state the
points Of his charge against the president.
If completely in assassination is q "high
crime and misdemeanOr AS the chair
certainly thinks ii is-it is certainly in
order to charge II in debate. The charge
is made on the responsibility of the
member. not on tine responsibility Of the
house. The ruling which the gentleman
desires would apply in the senate, where
the specific charges, presented by the
house, car alone be tried.
MI. Hale ask the speaker if the res
olution now before the house is a resOlu-
ton for the impeachment of the presi-
dent.
The speaker. 1t IA a resolution de-
claring il to be the imperative duty Of
congress to impeach the President. 4
resolution affirming congressional duty
opens up the whole question, according
TO the ruling OF every gentleman who
i as occupied this chair. If it be the i'm
perative duty Of congress to do so, q
member has the right to state why he
thinks 40. and the chair cannot restrain
him.
Mr.. Loan continued to read his speech
to its conclusion.
The sentence Immediately following
that excepted TO by Mr.. Hale, was,
i" Has he meaning the PRESIDENT per-
formed his part Of this agreement as
faithfully as the Rebels did theirs.
"Mr. Hale then said The member
from Missouri has made the deliberate
charge against the President Of this ma
ton of completely in assassination and
murder. 1 ask him if be does not feel il
due, as well TO his own sense of self
respect e. to q proper respect for the
dignity of the House, a fOT the GhErac-
ter of the Government at home and
abroad, that before he takes his seat, he
shall at least disclose TO the House some
particle Of evidence on which that
charge-sO grave q One-is founded. /
have waited, thinking that before the
gentleman took his seat he would at least
intimate to the House that he had such
proof. ! now challenge him to specify
the first particle Of proof that he car lay
before the House, or a point to Is eX-
isting. insist that it is due 10 the cha.
acter OF thiE body, as well g. to -
character Of the nation, that he shall do
so before he takes his seat.
"Mr. LO8nEdid he proposed 10 pursue
this matter in his own way aud in his
own good time. He was taking the ini-
tiatOTy steps in this matter, aud they
were now ia progress, TO inquire into it
in the legal way, and he presumed that
the proof which would Ju furnished
would be satisfactory to the gentleman.
Mr.. Hale remarked that Mr.. Loan
had not answered the further part Of his
question.
Mr.. Loan de0liued to do 50.
Mr.. Hale wished 10 ask him q single
question.
''1he Speaker here announced that the
morning hour had expired, and that the
resolution went over ill next Monday.
We do not believe there is an intelii-
gent man in the country who really
thinks that the President had the slight
est connection with the assassination Of
Mr.. LINCOLN, and we know that when
his completely in it was charged by
BEVERLY TUCKER, in q pamphlet writ
ten in Canada those who disliked Mr..
JOHNSON most, gave it no eredsnce, and
censored Mr.. TUCKER for the suggestion.
But, unfortunately, it seems that sl the
villanies OF past ages are 20 be reproduced
at the present day and men are now to
be found, in high places too, IS ready to
suboTn witnesses in order to murder inno-
cent men by accusations known to those
who prefer them to be false, as they were
in the days Of SEJANCs and, long after,
in those Of R~OBRsPTERRE. The very
sense Of shame seems TO be lost. The in
famous attempt to fix upon Mr.. DAVIS
the stigma of cOnnivanee in the plot Of
assassination, IS still persisted in and no
doubt SURRATT will be used, il be eau be
bought or bribed by money or the dread
of death, to implicate either Mr.. DAVIS
or Mr.. JOHEsOG. As it will be more
profitable to fix the suspicion, at least, Of
guilt On the latter, we do certainly look
to hear in due time that SURRATT has
made disclosures showing that the Vice
President was eognizsnt Of the intention
of BOOTH 10 murder the President. tits
already limited, by way Of cue, that be
has done so. The worst practices Of the
worst times are becoming nsturalized in
the nation Of which we are Provinces,
while politics and the excellence of pun
ishment and revenge are preached from
Northern pulpits; and in the Provinces
neprO wenchss are taking lessons on fba