Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-11-25
THE TESTIMONY sEFORE The COM
MlTTEE.


-
Al twenty mlnutss before tvo O'Clock TO-
say, hr Boutwell, ob,a,ued The aoor 10 ,fse
Hosse OF Represe atativss. and said oa behalf
Of the Judiciary Committee ne desired 10 re.
pert the testimony taken by thsi comm tee,
and fse resoIBton adopted Dy ms,ority OF
the committee favor of the impeseh-
meet OF the President OF the United S;ases.
The labor of preparing the MAJOR ~ report bad
bsen performed by the gentleman from Pena-
sJIyania. Il MI. wnlisms) the duty OF ssbnii-
sns ssid report devOlved npon bim, (sr.
BoItv.Il) he beng the second man on sasd
committee, and the Chairman Mr.. Wilson
tsssnnng ffom the majority report.
The rsPor;. with the testimony. was then
seat 70 the Speakers desk by NJ. Bosiwell
Rr T. y. wsshourn Suggested mat the ordi.
nary eourse be taEeu; thaI IS, that the repor,
se is,d UPou the table and printed. Mr.. Eiso',
of Massachusetts, desired that the report
sAosld be read.
lr. James Brooks said Il was likely the
Rouse would oscome lred OF the matter be :ore
the reading continued fifteen minutes, and
NE committee having q report 70 make,
should BE- alIo wed 10 state the substance
ef their several Ieporis instead of having then
rese, as be understood the reading " on III LAKE
bve nosrs. Some members exclaimed "9aad
me report We want il read" &C.
Mr. wasnsurn said he was willing 20 have
ne report read, If the &c ntIeman from Massa-
sha-etts mr.. EIiot)was.
The CIsrl theu proceeded, at a qaare- -
fAree O'Clock, 70 read the report of the ma
prity Of the con mIt,eS. which closes With a
resolution prefering ardeiss of Impeachment.
against the President OF the United States Al
sgred by Messrs. CnurehII. Boatxsl,
Lawrence. OF Ohio, Williams, OF Peaa asy.ya.
sia, and Thomas, Of Maryland.
The testimony upon the subject is ,A,v
vsibninoH., covering over 1850 pages q
Drnsed matter, embracing orders, letter.
starssncs, &c.
sshJoIred We give the main points OF n,
hsaing Witnesses:
rKsrrsosY or GkNxRAL Grant
III. following is the testimony OF tieneYst
Srant, VINO was exam md July II, 1857
Aave seen tae Preside 1t very frequently fa
reference 20 The co ldition OF affairs in tie
rebel States. Whea 1 was asked 70 be AZ
Cabinet meeting, IL was becanse so-le
question was up IN wnich, as General
OF TIE army, was interested 1 Am not
aware OF any Interview win the President,
% amnesty. i thought myself 81 that tune
thAI thee v ts no re- son why because a per-
son had risea 10 the rink OF General he
should be excluded from amnesty any more
than one who had failed 10 reach that rank
spoke on toat point ] did not see much
reason for the 2O,oOO dollar clause. These are
"A nr Nx swryaN rhaE
spoken OF at the time. Afterwards, however,
told hIm that 1 thought he was much
nearer right on the a1.COO dollar clause
proclamation was read in Cabinet but INV
views Were not asked. 1 never gave gave any
opinion 10 the President that it would be bet
ter 20 issue proclama ion OF general amnes-
y y. Did you ever give your opInioa TO the
President that his proclamation interfered
Win the stpulations between yourself and
General Lee A. No. sir I frequently had 10
iRtereede Tor General Lee and other paroled Of
ncers, on the ground that their parole. so long
as they ooeyed tee laws OF the United States
protected then from arrest aud trial, the Pres
Ident at bat tine occupied exactly the same
grounds. VIZ That they should be tried and
punished; De wanted 20 know wren the tim.
would come that they would be punished. 1
told MN not so long as ;hey obeyed the laws
and complied with the stipulations That WAS
the IIound 1 took. II applied to every one
who took the parole, but that matter
OF the leaders. j claimed that in surrend-
erlng their armies and arms they had
done what hey could not all OF them
oeen compelled 10 do as a portion OF them
could have escaped. but they surrendered IN
consideration of the fact they were 10 be ex-
empt from triai so long as Trey corfermed 70
The obligations trey had taken. and thsy
were enttled 20 that q. You looked on
that in the nature of a parole and held
that they could only be tried when hey
violated that parole! A Yes that was me
view took OF the question; thar Is NV view
still understood this 20 sppiy 20 Gen Lee
That was my uncers ,sndIng OF an arrangement
which l gave voluntarily. Gen. Lees army
was the fiT-t % surrender. and believed th-t
with such terms all he rebel armies vouI !.
Surrender, and that we would thus avois
onsn na sIng end continuation Of tue war
m way that we would make very little pro-
gress with, having no Organized armies 20
mee- q. You considered that the like :srus
we're given oy Gen Sherman 70 the armies
which surrendered 20 him Yes sir and
- all tue armies hat surrer dsIed after tnat I
held mat so long as they kept their parole
1i eonor and ooeyed ne laws they
were not subject 20 be tried By court I viii
state here that am not quite certain whether
D Am being tried, or who is being tried, oy the
Questions asked. Mr.. Eidridge 4 am not trv
ing any body. am inquiring as 70 the Presi-
dents proelsm q ton, and 10 the vIews he en-
,srtained DID you give these views 70 the
fresident Ish. Grant. have stated these
views 10 the President frequently. and as 4
have said. he disagreed with me in these
views He insisted on IL that he lead
ers must be punished. and wanted 10
these persons could be tired told him when
they violated their parole. q. DID you CON
slider That that applied 20 Ien. Davis No
SIR; he did not take any parole. o. He did no,
surrender A. No, sir. IL applied 10 no prr
son who was captured only 70 those who were
paroied Insisted on II that General Lee voutd
not have surrendered nis army and given mn
all their arms n he supposed thar afrer .ur
rendering he was going 70 be tried for
treason, and hanged. i thought we 20;
a very fair equivalent for the lives of a feu
leaders IN getting ali their arms ana setung
themselves under control boupd d by their oaths
10 obey the laws. Thar was the cousic.ration
vhieh I insisted upon We received. o. DID
me Pres dent argue that question WIN Won ,
A There was NOT much argument about IN. n
was merely assertion. q After you had ex
pressed your opinion abou II, did ne Coincide
win YOU A. Not then. He aftsrward
eot 10 agreeing with ns on that subject
Il never claimed that the parole gave these
prkoners any political rights whatever
houeht that tna, was q matter entirely with
Congress, over which 1 had no control That
simply as General IN Chief COMMANDING the
army nAd right TO stipuiale for the sur
render on terms which protected thar
lives. That l. all 1 claimed The parol.
gave them protection ana sYsmntiop
from franehisement foi All ofsrs.s Nc,
in violation Of The rules OF civiIized y.yf.r. 40
long IS their parole was kept up Tbs con .
veIsat.ons were FREQ usnt alter tne iasnxnra
uon OF Mr.. johnson. He seemed 10 h. .ns;a,. !.
70 get ~ the leaders 70 punish them RI. ,rauIS
say tnat the leaders or the rebellion m n, -
penished. and that ssirsason mus, h. nn.s
edioEs. He cared nothing for IN. men -. - .