Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-11-27
IMPEACHMENT REPORT.
Synopsis of Majority and
Minority Reports.
Majority go for Impeachment,
Minority Against 1t.
The Democratic Members Charge
that it is n Political Move
and Give their Reasons for
the Charge.
SYNOPSIS OF THE MAJORITY REPORT.

SYNOPSIS OF THE MAJORITY REPORT.
The charges made, and to which the in
vestigations of the committee have been
especially directed, are the usurpation of
power and violation of laws in the corrupt
abuse OF appointing, pardOning and the
veto power; in the corrupt Interference in
elections, and generally in the cOmmissi on
OF acts amounting to high crimes and mis-
demeanors under the Constitution, and upon
the recital it was charged with the most
general duty ofinquiry into the official con-
duct of the President of the United States,
and of reporting whether he had been
guilty of any acts which were designed or
calculated to overthrow, subvert or corrupt
the Government of the United States, or
which, in contemplation of the Constitu-
tion, would constitute high crime or
misdemeanor requiring the interposition of
the constitutional power of the House. 1t
will be observed that the great salient
point of accusation standing out in the
foreground and challenging the attention
| of the country is the usurpation of power
which involves, of course, a violation of
| the law; and here it may be remarked that
perhaps every great abuse, every fiagrant
departure from the well-settled principles
, of the Government which has been brought
home to its present administration,
whether discovering itself in the special
| gate use of the high powers conferred
by the Constitution on the President, or
| revealing itself more manifestly in the sys-
tematic attempt to seize upon its sovereign
ty, and disparage and supercede the great
| council to which that sovereignty has been
entrusted, in reference to the one great pur--
pose of reconstruction of the shattered
governments of the rebel States, in accord
| ance with his own wishes, In the interest of
the great criminals who carried them into
| the rebellion, and in such way as to de-
prive the people of loyal States of all
chances of Indemnity for the past and sccu-
rity for the future by pardonng their Off
GERS, and restoring their lands, and bring
| ing them back to their hearths unrepentant,
and their hands yet red with the blood of
our people, Into condition where they
could once more embarrass and defy, if not
absolutely rule the Government which they
had vainly endeavored to destroy. 1t is
around this point, and as auxiliary to that
central idea, that all the special acts of mall
administration we have witnessed will be
| found to gravitate and revolve, and it is to
| this point, therefore, as the great MASTER
key which unlocks and interprets all of
them, that the attention of the House will
| first be directed. f.-r
The report then goes into recital of
events since the Inauguration of President
johnson, and concludes as follows: -1b er
In accordance with the testimony here
with submitted, and the view of the law
herein presented, the committee are of
opinion that Andrew johnson, President
of the United States, is guilty of high crimes
and misdemeanors. requiring the interpo-
sition Of the constitutional powers of this
| House, in that upon the final surrender of
the rebel armies ard the overthrow of the
rebel government, the said Andrew john
son, President of the United States, neg
lected to convene the Congress of the
United States, that by its aid and author
ity legal and constitutional measures might
have been adopted for the orgaization of
| loyal and constitutional governments in the
States recently in rebellion, and that in his
proclamation to the people of North Caro-
lima, of the 10Th day of May. 1865, he as
sured them that he had the authority to
decide whether the government of North
Carolina, and whether any other govern
ment that might be set up therein, was
Republican in form. a.5,.-..
! IMPEAcHMKNT-MINoRI REPORT.
Representatives Wilson and Woodbridge
handed in their report, dissenting from the
conclusions of the majority of the commit
tee. They say on the third day of June,
1867, it was declared by a solemn vote in the
committee that from the testimony before
them it did not appear that the President
of the United States was guilty of such
high crimes and misdemeanors as called
of this House. The vote stood yeas 5,
nays 4.
On the 21st inst. this action of the Com
mittee was reversed, and by a vote of five
| to four declared in favor of reconsidering
to the House an impeachment of the Pres
ident. Forty-eight hours have not yet
elapsed since they were informed of the
character of the report which represents
this changed attitude of the Committee.
The recentness of this event compels gen.
eral treatment of some features of the case,
as it is presented by the majority, which
otherwise would have been treated more in
detail.
The report of the majority resolves all
presumptions against the President, closes
the door against all doubts, affirms facts as
established by the testimony, in support of
which there is not particle of evidence
before US which would be received by any
court in the land. We dissent from all this
and from the temper and spirit of the re-
port; the cool and unbiased judgment of
the future, when the excitement in the
midst of which we live shall have passed
away, will not fail to discover that the po-
litical bitterness OF the present time, is by
no considerable degree given to the docu-
ment which we decline to approve, dissent
ing as we do from the report OF the COM
mittee, both as to the law of the case and
the conclusions drawn from the facts de-
velOped by the testimony. A due regard
for the body which imposed on us the high
and transcendantly important duty invol-
we'd in an Investigation ofthe charges prefer
red against the President, impresses us to
present at length the subject which has been
committed to us by the most solemn vote
of the House of Representatives. In ap-
preaching this duty we feel that the spirit
of the partisans should be laid aside, and
that the interests of the Republic as they
are measured by its Constitution and laws
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