Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-06-13

TUESDAY, JUNE Il, 1867
The Triumph of Legislative ih"e-
pendence and Privilege.

pendenCe ana friNheEc'
rb,. recent impeachment OF Judge
4 g..,ipr of the Criminal Court Oy the
l senate Of Tennessee, is an impressive
| lesson to the rebels Of that State, and to
t5a people of the whole country ,declar-
no in emphatic terms that !egisla-
| tve BODY is not to be trihed with and
| ts rights invaded by an inferior court
\ -,bfch chooses 70 arIOgate to itself that
| robt. This decision is great triumph
| ~ legislative independence and priVi'
| Lace and its effects upon the tutuIe
rights, the dignity and power OF legisla-
rive bodies, will be o! the greatest con-
saapence, ant far exceed those Of any
PREVIOUS Impeachment.
The circumstances of this case were,
that Immediately after the promulga-
+.on Of the amendments OF the constl'
ts,lon proposed by the thirty ninth Con-
PRESS Gov. Brownlow summoned an
,xtra session of the Legislature OF Ten
ressee to meet on the 4th Of July, 1866,
+o consider the amendments to the con-
sHtutiou of the United States. Soon
alter the proclamation Of the Governor
vas issued, it was rumored that no
Quorum would be present. The LegIs-
lature assembled on the day appointed
and adjourned to the next day. On that
dav and for many days following no
ouorum was present, and although the
members were known to be in Nashville,
they could not be found, A sufficient
humber would appear in the Legislature
.o make within one or two OF a quorum
suu Jncn disappear eluding every effort
ot the proper officer to discover them.
The House of Representatives, Wearied
with this mockery Of legislation direct
I'd the Sergeant-at-Arms to employ
force and bring the absent members to
tbp Bar of the House. Two members,
sufficient with those present, to make
quorum. were arrested and brought to
the State House and there held to
swat the pleasure OF the House. After
much scheming and threatening, at last,
.th. two members who had been arrested
and confined sued for writ OF hobeas
rsrpus which was granted by Judge
Frazier. This important question was
presented in court by counsel who made
political speeches rather than legal ar
guments. and a crowd Of rebel sympa-
thlzers applauded every word uttered in
. ceusure of the Legislature, and 1t became
a caucus of demagogues rather than a
temple of Justice. The case was hurried
through with indecent haste and
the members released from custody.
That evening the capitol was invaded
and the Sergeant-at Arms arrested and
| fined by Judge Frazier for contempt OF
court The excitement ran high, and
infamatory articles appeared in all the
conservative papers. Had occasion Of
szred. riot of the most serious character
would have taken place. Every kind Of
argument, inspired by haste, disap.
p0intment and malice, was used to des-
troy the Legislature and impair It's
power.
The motives to all this movement IS
readily apprehended as deliberate pur-
pose to prevent the adoption Of the re-
construction amendments TO the consti-
tuition. Had success crowned the efforts
0. this rebel horde there would have
been no civil government in Tennessee
at the present time, which was the OBJ
lect which the leading men Of the op-
position were aiming to accomplish.
All honor is due to Gov. Brownlowi
Horace Maynard and the radical mem
bers of the Legislature Of Tennessee,
for the courage, integrity and 1rmness
which they displayed in preventing these
schemes Of anarchy that toe untamed
spirits of the rebellion were seeking to
impose upon that struggling common
wealth.