Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-03-27
ruE TENURE OFFICE ACT.

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rssE TENURE OFFICE ACT.
There seems TO be a good deal Of misap>
p-chension and somewhat Of my stiHca,ion
/, regard to the act Of the last Congress,
entitled, IAN act regulating the tenure Of
cer,sin civil Offices" Many persona sup. ose
,ha. Il /. act strips the President Of al! pow
~, whilst some affect TO believe thst men
who row hold Office are made permanent
fixtures therein. The positions are, o.
c,u,sc, both erroneous. and, without . DIS
agreement between the Executive aud the
Senate, there 10 really no di6sssocs In Psae'
tice under this law freo what Il was prsvious
70 iss passage, except that the President
cannot remove IN incumbsot until biz sue
ce.scr 10 confirmed BY The Senate. but the
power Of the President 70 suspend u ample.
and ws venture The assertion that, in nine
cases out Of ten VI here il will DO exercised,
the Executive will bc sustained BY the Sen.
ate
Taking from the first section Of the Law
ils verbiase, il provides simply that every
person holding any civil Office. to which he
has been appointed by and ~itA the odsice
aad csnsent Of the Sesats, 10 aud shall to
emitted to hold such Office until . successor
shall have been IN like manner appointed
ard duty qualified There 10 nothing more
in this section, except that il fas,cns upon
ia President Cabinet with which he may
disagree, unless the Senate shall choose 70
agree to the appointment Of other persons.
The second section hes reference entirely
to the suspension Of public officers, and
conicra on the President the power 20 sus-
pend during the recess Of the Senate, upon
evidence satisfactory 10 hum Of their "mis-
conduct in Office. or when they snail "ior
any season become incapable OF legally dis
qualified 10 perforn IL duties" ilaving
suspended such officer, the Presidsnt may
sppoint sno,hes 10 pesf.rm the duties Of
che Office, and on the assembling Of the
Senate At ito next session, he 10 70 report
the facts Of the sase 70 that body. II the
Senate is not satisiled that the charges have
been sustained, and "shsll refuse 70 concur
IN auch suspension" such oGlces Gill then
resume his Office. but ''ths Official salary and
cmoluments Of such officer shsll during
such suspension belong - the person -
performing the du,iea thereof, and not
% the officer 20 suspsnded."
Notwithstanding the great amount Of ver>
biags aud superiority which THE bill COM
tains. is chief features are IN the Two frat
sections and ~ there are. % before re-
marked. many persons who entertain the
belief that office holders are secure from
any kind Of disturbance under il, We ven
ture to point out the error OF ssch position
II we take the officers Of the internal revs'
nue.. there are perhaps not one out u ter
ssainst whom we'll founded charges can
not I've made any day in the week, and VI
10 not go too far when We assert that two
thirds Of them are all the time liable 10 b
suspended under this act, and that upoI
tho testimony which can in each case b
procured, the Senate would be Obliged
acting honestly, TO concur in the susper
sion.
Strange as it may seem 10 some pcopl,
d" mAlfeasance in office IL tho rule and nc
the exception, and our Radical friends, VIII
hands Of the President, will, Of course, mt
complain when no shall visit upon thci
friends tn punishment which they hav
provided ia the act under consideration. -
Tho party which 10 now dominant in Con
grcSs. oven in its madness. will hardly thin
u leaving subordinate officers 10 themsclve
without check or hindrancs TO their neg
iects Of duty, their populations, or the ope
prostitution Of their positions 10 partisA
ends and reasonable purposes; ard "a
have no doubt hut that under this Law ever
Il Walton Of public officer from the pa,
of duty. will be punished according to !,
Provisions. The revoluticnists, who hav
counted on n rintous feast of the fat thing
IT the land by reason .; the provisions
TIN. law, will. We have no doubt, find then
selves sadly mistaken.
0sutler Forced % Tell she Trms,
Gor Oncc.
Huil,r bottled by Besuregsrd, is bottle
Asa,n ny Bingham. though with more trcu
t. than Reauresard had Ia performing n
san,s operation. Tire IDOLS of the Radio,
party are fall cue by Que. not only in III
es'malicn Of the people. but in the estima
TIN oi their Radical conireres thcmsslvc.
Sumner aho used T. lie the grand Mosu.
the Radical camp has been cuffcd by Brook
snubbei by fsssenden. aud cut by .ail II
decent members Of the Senate. Stevens q
longer cracks his whip over the heads
w,lln. worship,ng servitors, and uow Blu
tier. the brave spoon thief. is scorn,d /
Bingham. himself no better than lie oug
g. bc. How amusing it must have be-
to hear the Ohio pot call the Massachuset
kettle black t. hear one taunting Il
other about his (Butles's) glorious exploi
stEort Fisher, and at the baltimore Go,
,rn,ion in his tBinghams) equally elosio,
exploit ~ a high officer at military ina
Is,tian. which condemned IN innocent. ",
man Mrs. Surratt.
De0oeooa Oavlo.
Che Chicago Post, commenting on Il
sssoution Of Senator Wilson to try Je
Davis or release him, Gays:
On what ground any republican can d
ere the continuance Of THE hidsous b.
lesquc on formal Law, We cannot, noe DO !
care to divine. We cannot keep Davis
our hands slwsys; bus Il is possible
US TO hold him . military prisoner, gu
rounded with cooPetens civil tribunals
every hand. sufficiently lsns 70 render hi
the object Of popular sympathy, and 70 Q
.euie the popular sense Of his crimes. nc
growing dim. The longer 10 hold hir, d
more difficult il viii he TO get rid Of him, e.
cept in manner which will be scpuenant
al common scnsc ard sense Of Justice, On
violate about every law enacted for the pr
lection or punishment Of the citizen aud {,
the maintenance Of the public virtue an
veal