Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-01-30

A Pen Photograph of the Conn
mIttee 10 Inquire into the Pro.
priety of ImPeaching lhe Presi.
dent. .r uull 1....
| 1t is proper that the public should know
something of the character and ability of
| the men who constitute the committee to
which has been assigned the task of inquir-
ing into the propriety of Impeaching the
President. The Louisville Journal has
taken the following pen and ink photo
tograph of them: H IsW. .rr
Asthe charges laid against the President
have beer referred to the Judiciary COM
mittee, and as the moral effect of the report
| of the committee will very much depend
on the character of the body, 1t is perhaps
worth while to take a glance at the mem
bers, whose names, accordingly, we here
give: James F. Wilson, of Iowa; Geo. S.
Boutwell,. of Massachusetts; Francis Thorn
as, of Maryland; Thomas Williams, of
Pennsylvania; Frederick E.. Woodbridge,
of Vermont; Daniel Morris, of New York;
| Andrew j. Rogers, OF New Jersey; Will
| liam Lawrence, of Ohio, and Burton G.
Cook, of Illinois. The committee includes
| but one DemOcrat-Mr. Rogers OF New
| Jersey; all the other members are extreme
| Radicals, whose partisanship, Furthermore,
| is not restrained or tempered by legal abil-
I tiles of high order, since there is not
among these members a tirst-rate lawyer.
They'are all extreme partisans and nothing
else. ..... .. r. ...-.r rri-.r o."
Mr.. Wilson, the Chairman, is a we'll
trained and effective pettifogger, who might
| be good lawyer, if he were morally quail
filed, as, however, he Is not. Mr. Boutwell,,
who is second on the committee, spent the
best part of his life in the mercantile busi-
ness, and, when he came to the bar at last,
plunged into politics, seeking out the dir
| tiest pools, wherein he has been swimming
ever since. Indeed, we think he was pol
itician before he became a lawyer, so that
his professio nal character is probably the
mere veneering of his party character,
having been acquired as protection and
' an instrument in the prosecution of his
trade. In short, he is a Jack leg lawyer.
\ Moreover, he at best has q cast in his intel
leet, which Is forever taking him away from
the broad highway of thought into the
| brakes of subtleties and crotchets. He is
what Bacon calls splitter of hairs. He is
| incapable of recognizing truth when he
sees it. Mr.. Francis Thomas is very
old man, an old pOliticial, and Bor-
der State citizen; and when such a
person, turns Radical we all know what
he does next. He out-herods Herod.
His better training makes him so much the
worse. 1t is a secret otfense which at first
irritates and at last inturiates him. This
old Border State politician is now in state
of infuriate Radicalism., He even wants
Congress to reconstruct Maryland, as Thad
Stevens wants Congress to serve Pennsyl-
vania. He is as crazy as q March hare.--
Mr.. Thomas Williams is Pittsburgh law
yer. The Pittsburgh lawyer Is consider
ably narrower than the Philadelphia law :
yer, who, in the general estimation, Is
morally and intelle tually incapable of
comprehending the simplest question of
Constitutional law. And Mr.. Williams is a
very perfect specimen Of bis kind. On the
opening of the present session, the first
thing he did was to press bill, which,
among other Irrational prohibitions,
prohibited @ the President 3 from re-
moving member of ohis Cabinet
without the consent of the Senate. And
Mr.. Williams, we believe, is yet exerting
his powers in behalf Of this statesmanlike
proposition, unless, indeed, his exertions
have been exclusively fixed upon the kim
Cired but more captivating proposition to
remove the President himself. This propo-
sition, as everybody must see, Mr.Williams
is peculiarly fit to consider. Mr.. William
Lawrence, the only remaining member OF
the COMMITTEES whom the Radicals them
selves regard as anybody, is the man who,
shortly after the opening Of the present
session, reported albfll which even Mr..
Thad.. Stevens pronounced ca post Jdcto, and