Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1867-12-13

Other5 IN the NerM. How Tar the duty Ut the
| President TO preserve protect and defend the
4 co.sstituti1n requi!es him To 90 in erposiAe Al
unconstitutional act Of Congress is a very se.
! rious and important question on which Iha*e
/ deliberasea M lch and felt extrtma'y anxious
to reach proper conclusion. Where an act
| has Been passed according TO the forms Of the
I constitution, by the supreme Legislative au.
thofity oftie country executive resistance to
lit, especially in times of high party excite
meht would be likely TO proluce violent colli-
son leJwccn the respective adherents Of the
two branches Of the government. This woHlA
| be simply civil war, and civil war must be rs
sorted ta enly as q last remedy for the worst
of evils Whatever might tend to provoke it
slieed =. fnoet carcfu,ly avoided. A faithful
an2 conscientious magistrate will concede
I very mucl to Lsne-t errer, and something
| even to pervcrsc malice, before he will endan-
ger the public peace, and he will not adopt
4 forcitle measures such might lead to
| force as long as chances. which are reaceabc
| remain open to him or his constituents. 1t is
| true that cases may occur in which the Execu-
| tive would be csmpelied to stand on his rights
I AMI maintain them regardless of consequent
| ces.s Ii Congress should pass an act whsch 10
not oaly in palpabie conflict With the cons:i-
| tution but will certainly if carried out pro-
duce immediate and irreparable injury to the
organic structure Of the government, and il
there be neithenjudicial remedy for the wrongs
| II in.iicts, nor the power in the people TO pre-
/ tect themselves without official aid Of their
elected defenders if, for instance the legisla-
| tive department should pass act, even
(throGgb all ferns Of law, 10 abolish a co ordi-
nate department Of the government; in such
a case the President must take the high
Responsibility Of his Office, Ak,2 saxe Sise life
of q nation at all hazards.
The sa-called reconstruction acts though
as plainly unconstitutional as any that can be
imag g.nal, were not he eieyed to be within fszsa
tclass las. mentioned. The people were not
| wholly dsarmed of the power Of .self,defcnce.
In all the Northern States they still hold in
| their hands tie sacred right of the ballot, and
it was safe to believe that in due time they
would come to the rescue of their ewA instith-
tons. It gives ms pleasure to add that an ap-
peal 70 our common constituents was not taken
in vain, aud that M confidence in their WIS.,
dom ami virtue seems not to have been mis-
4 placed ,
TIE TSSrRE OF OFFICE BILL.
T. II is yell and publicly nowndhateneraacss
frauds have been perpetlated OIL tba L, easury,
and tnas considerable fortunes have been
& made at the public expense. This speiees Of
+ corruption has increased. is increasing, and,
if not diminished will soon bring us into total
ruin and disgrace. Public creditors and tax
payers are al ke interested in an honest adj
minstra;ion Of the finances, and neriher cla@s
. | will long endHre the large handed robheries
of the recent past For this discredi;able
, state Of things there seseral causes. Some
or the taxes are SO laid as to present an irrest-
, able temptation evade the payment of great
sums, which officers may well, by convenience
ct fraud, create pressure, which is more than
the virtue Of many can withs sand, and f..rMe
can lie no !ou5s that open disregard Of the
constitutional obligai ions ayowed by some Of
! the highest and most influential men of the
country has greatly weakened the moral sen se
/ OF those WHO serve in subordinate places
The expenses ot1he Ia;ied States, including
! interest Gu the pabiic debt, are. more than six
!, times much as they were seven yeats ago.
i 10 collect and lisbursa this vas; amount re-
! | qtiires careful supervision, as well as svste-
I mat:c vigilance 4 system never perfected,
!, was muc.l aisorganizel BY the Tenure of office
!, bill, which has almost des txeyed offcsl scs-
re coantability. The President may be thor
= ough.y Convinced that an officer is incapable,
dishonest, or un.aitftii 10 the constitution
- but under TIE law which | have named the
!. utmost endaayors Of the President are confined
to complain to the Senate aud ask the privilege
s. :. of sunplying his place with better man. II
!. : the Senate be regarded as personally or po-
= iitealy hostile 10 the President, il is natural
. and not altogether unreasonable for the officer
= to expect that it will take his part and as far
:, as possible restore him to his place aud give
: him a iriu.aph over his executive superior
. : officer. He has other chances OF impuriiy
arising from accidental defects of evidence
made in investigating it and the secresy Of
. hearing 1t. ii Is not wand erful that ina licas-
: ance should aeceue bold in proportion as de>
: : lin4ucnts leafn to think themselves safe.
an, entirely persuaded that under such rule
the President cannot perform the great duty
assigned to him of seeing the laws faithfully
!. executed, and that il disablea him most es-
pecially from enforcing that rigid accounta-
, li.ty which Is due TO the necessary execution
Of tic revenue laws. The constitution inses.s
! The President with authority to decide whether
, a removal shall be made in any given case
The act of Congress lsclares in substance that
lie shall only accuse such as he supposes to be
unworthy Of their trusts. The constitution
makes him tie sole Judge in the premises but
the statute lakes away his jurisdiction. aud
|, transfers it to the Senate, and leaves him
:, nothing bat the eaious and sometimes imprac.
ltcaote duly of becoming prosecutor The
!. prosecution is 10 be conducted before a sribu-
nal whose members are not, like him res.ou-
slble TO the who,e people, bu, to separate con-
| stituent bodies, and who may bear his accusa.
ton with great disfayor. Tie Senate is All
solutely without any known standard Of de-
! eisian applicable to such to case. Its judx.
ment cannot be anticipated. for it is not
, governed By any rule. The law dees not
define what shall be deemed good cause for
removal. Il is impossible even to conjecture
what may or may not be so considered By The
Senate. The nature CT the subject forhas
clear proof. Il the charge is incapacity, what
evidence will support i,2 Fidelity 10 the
s constitution may be Understood or misu,ler-
stood in a thousand different ways, ard, by
violent party men in violent party times,
uafa,l,fulaess 10 tie constitution may even
come to be considered meritorious II an
otFeer be accused Of dishonesty, how shall it
ba made oat ? Will il be inferred from acts
| unconneeted with public iu,.; from private
history or general reputation, or must the
President assail the eomnissioa Of an actual
mis- ,leneaner in Office Shall lie in the mean
, time risk the character and interest Of the
nation in the hands Of men te whom he
canno. give his confdenccs Must lie forbear
his CONF plaut until the mischief is done and
cannot be prevented lfhis zeal in the public
service should impel him to aniieipate nm
over aet, must lie move ut the peril Of beirr
tried himself for tie offence Of slunlerinr
his subordinate? In the present circumstau-
II ces Of the country, some one must be held
responsible for official delinquency Of every
I kiud Y IS extremely difficult to say where
that Responsibility should be thrown, if it be
not left where it has been placed BY the
I cor ~ iit,,fian oil s,,rs ,r:l