The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-09-07
PRESIDENT JOHNSON.

!
struction would be easy. The Presi
dent is perverse. pig headed and brutal.
| His talent, such as 1t is, comes from
pugnacity, or, as the phrenOlogists have
| 1t, combativeAess. When aroused
| against JEFF. Davis, in the Senate, he
was on the right side, and his temper
| gave to his arguments additional force.
| We all sympathiZed with him then.
We did not know how foolish and shall
| low he was, nor did we see his preiu-
dices. Little did we think of the evil
he would do! Ihave often said that no
man In history has ever done so much
| evil TO his country in the same time.
| OF course he is a usurper and a tyraut.
The wonder is, Congress did not act
| accordingly long ago. 1t will read bad
| ly enough hereafter that Congress did
! not put him at once in n straight Jacket.
His crime is shared by Congress. But
| am blameless. / have protested and
insisted. To me the case for proceed
ing was always clear as noon"
CONGRESS AND IMPEACHMENT.
"What were the true reasons, in
your opinion, for the hesiIancy of Con-
| gress2"
"Congress, )" replied the Senator, "has
hesitated on every important point and
at every important stage OF lis recent
history. 1t hesitated about emancipa-
ton; II hesitated to assume Jurisdiction
over the rebel States; it hesltated to put
arms in the hands of the blacks; and
| IL hesitated to confer the suffrage upon
the same colored citizens. And so it
has hesitated in its duty toward the
| President. OF course the country loses
| by this. Business, commerce, manu-
factures, finance, everything suffer. II
| Is futile to expect specie payments and
| financial prosperity until reconstruc-
| ton is established and society at the
South assumes condition of pernIa-
1 a a, 4 NSl =,
| over and over. But at last Congress
| has done its work. l have never doubt
ed that the President would be i'm
peached. l do not say what Judgment
should pronounce. as Senator, if he
were before us; but have always felt
| 1t proper to declare what l thought OF
him and my sense of the duty OF pro-
ceeding against him. Some good men
have been befogged ON the law
Only little study is needed to
clear this up. Let them read Story
and Bishop. As general rule i'm
parchment is a political proceeding for
political misconduct. There are per-
sons who think that Impeachment
would cOnvulse the country. Such talk
reminds me of what Charles James Fox
said to Napoleon when Napoleon said
that the English Ministry had employed
assassins against hin.-'Clear your
head of that nonsense There is but
one thing the country cannot stand,
| and that is misrule, which is precisely
what we have now. But am not ma
king a speech-you have led me far
enough"
WHAT has Influenced Congress ?" 1
asked.
~ can answer" said Mr.. Sumner,
"for the Senate rather than the House.
In the House the most Intelligent MEM
bers have been for impeachment. In
the Senate the subject has been consid-
cred only incidentally. There are some
there who thought it indecent to speak
plainly OF the President; but most OF
these belonged to his friends, or at least
visited him and asked him for offices.
OF course such persons we're naturally
against any proceedings, and cultivated
silence. do not like 10 speak of any OF
my associates there except most kind
ly. Some of the most wrong headed are
agreeable and excellent in other re-
spects. 1t is hard 10 account for tine
ways of some of them, especially Of
some of the new recruits. Edmunds,
of Vermont, for instance, coming from
that earnest and determined Stale, is IL
prodigy of obstructiveness and tech
nicality. So, also, is ConRlin, coming
from Central New York, and beng
still young man OF admirable talents
and with u great future, if he does not
get shipwrecked at the beginning; Pat
IersOn, of New Hampshire, and Ere
linghuysen, of New Jersey, have good
sentiments and give you the impress
sion of personal purity; but II is strange
| that they do not see that something
more is needed in dealing with rebels
| and their present chief-JOhnson. Or
all these Fessenden is the Captain, SO
at least it seems to me-"
SENATOR FEssENDEN.
"Now, Senator" remarked here, 81
would like to have your photograph OF
Mr.. Fessenden. see Mr.. Phillips calls
him 'dyspeptic Scotch terrier.' But L
will not repeat what you say unless you
leave me free TO report what please of
this conversation. However, L would
like to know more about him, whether
ever use 1t or not"
Mr.. Sumner said: : 81 do not know
whether to answer or not. For several
years he has been very unllind to me
unaccountably so. L cannot compre-
bend it. Sometimes it has seemed 10
me akin to insanity. 1t is said by his
friends to be chronic dyspepsia. l
never alluded to him in debate except
with resEect. He has been always
against my ideas; but why should lie
contend personally? 1 cannot explain
it, When in 1862 insisted that Con-
gress had Jurisdiction over the rebel
States, he made haste to announce that
Ii stood alone.' Very we'll, 1 have com
pany enough now. And so, when l
insisted that we must confer the suf-
frage upon colored persons in the rebel
states by act of Congress, there seemed
to be no limit 10 his bad feelings. All
these measures have come hard TO him.
While the slave masters lodged in the
Senate, they were willing enough to
attack me. But all of them together
never wounded me AS did this colleague
from New England, Such conduct
from one SO conspicuous was an evil
example in the Senate"
"What order of talent has Mr.. Fes-
senden2" 8E 70 a--a--
"His peculiar TALENT" replied Mr..
Sumner, sis controversial, His forte is |
as a duck TO water-if not in language,
then in manner and tone. He is noth- |
ing If not personal. Until he gets heat |
ed he is dull. He always quarreled |
with everybody over the appropriation |
bills which he conducted. The discus |
sion was one prolonged jar. JOHN |
Sherman in the same place is always /
aniable-often opposes your motion,
but without discOurIesy. Fessend0n |
teTs the Mississippi, land discOlors it |
with temper filled and surcharged with |
sediment. But he has not the volume |
of the great river. "He is of much finer |
fibre than Andrew johnson, but re-
sem bles the President in prejudice and |
talent for combativeness. His words |
are more select and his sentences bet |
ter. He is accurate in speech and logi- |
cal in form. As a lawyer he is OF the |
niSi prittS order. There is nothing of
the jurist in his attainments or his ma |
ture. From his position he has exer- |
cised much influence in the Senate; but /
from the beginning he has been drag |
on reconstruction. He has always |
seemed to have IL soft side for /