The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-02-05

ever, is . dangerous one, as they viii soon find
out to their cost. The arrest Of Regan Is an
outrage that will not escape unpublished. He
has good ground for suit for damages against
an those concerned in 1t, and we are glad to
/ learn that steps are being taken to bring the
matter Immediately before the courts.
The Charges Asainss the Presidcnt "A strong
The conviction Is daily be- ning more gene
raj that the impeachment and removal from
ONCE Of President johnson are inevitable. He
Is little likely to resign, there is but small
chance Of his yielding, and As the dead lock
cannot be allowed to continue, Congress has
no choice but to impeach, convict and remove
him. 1t is absurd to imagine that there can be
any difficulty in making out a case against
him. AS we have shown again and again, his
stubborn and unconstitutional use Of the veto
power in numbers Of cases In open defiance of
the will of the people, as expressed by their
legally chosen representatives in Congress as
sembled, is of itself sufficient to warrant his
impeachment and removal. Loudly, however,
his removal from Office, it is called for on
grounds of a totally different and even more
serious description.
We have no desire 20 pry into the doings Of
the committee which is now collecting evil
dence with view to impeachment. We have
no doubt they will do their duty. We are will
ing to wait with patience the appearance
Of the report which, in all likelihood,
they will submit to Congress before
the present session is brought to close. 1t
win be impossible, however, for that COM
mittee to overlook the fact that Mr.. johnson
has been guilty of class of offences Of .
more serious kind than is implied in his abuse
of the veto power. It is impolitic and illegal
in chief magistrate, like the President, to
assume doggedly obstructive attitude. 1t is
still more impolitic and Illegal in chief magis-
trate to assume and to exercise an authority
which is not only not vested in his office, but
positively forbidden by the terms of the con-
stitution. II was the assumption ana exercise
Of such authority on the part of Charles (
In The case Of The ship, meney which pro-
duced the great Rebellion aad ultimately
pdepsised shat nonarch u his head. II wss
precisely similar conduct which drove James
/ H. into exile. or such conduct such
wilful usurpation and exercise. of authority
President johnson made himself guilty when
he undertook, on his own responsibility and
without convening and consulting CongrcsS to
rearrange the affairs Of the subjugated rebel
States after the cessation Of the war; and for
this offence alone, even in the absence Of all
others, Congress would be justified in i'm
peaching and removing him. $50 I'd
Il is impossible to lay too much stress upon
this point. II is scarcely conceivable that Mr..
Johnson did not know he was acting uncon-
stitutionally. If such an excuse can be made
for him, it certainly cannot be made for his
Mephistopheles Of an adviser, Mr. Seward.
When the war was ended it was clearly the
duty Of the President to summon the members
of Congress together, submitting to them what
proposals he had 70 make, but leaving It to
them to determine in what manner the sub
jugated States should be immediately gov
erned and on what principles their reconstruc-
tion should be proceeded with. The circum-
stances in which Mr.. johnson was placed were
scarcely less serious-they were certainly not
less important-thau those In which Mr.. Lin
coin found himself when, on that memorable
4th Of July, the Southern confederacy already
in full blast, he summoned Congress TO his aid.
Mr. johnson would have acted wisely and
saved himself and the country world Of
trouble had he initiated the example Of his
predecessor in ONCE. But he did not do
SO. In not doing 80, 1t would not be
difficult to prove he was guilty OF gross
dereliction of duty; but this was not all. Not
only did he not call Congress together. but,
usurping authority which belonged only to the
legislative branch of the government, he ac-
complished series Of acts which are almost
without parallel even in the history Of despotic
rule The wisdom or the folly of Mr.. Johnson's
measures is o question altogether aside. Our
object at present Is to call attention to the fact
that Mr.. johnson did on his own responsibility
legislate for the South, and that in so legislat-
ing he rendered himself amenable to justice.
We have said already that Mr.. Johnson could
scarcely be ignorant that he was acting
unconstitutionally We are encouraged in
this belief by the fact that when Congress did
assemble he submitted his acts to them for their.
approval The non-ratiscasion Of his acts BY
Congress gave birth to that struggle which still
exists and which can only be brought to .
close by his impeachment and removal Evi-
dence abundant exists to prove him guilty.
Nor will his displacement occasion more incon-
venience than would the displacement Of .
Mayor Of New York.
PRESIDENT Joz,ssox AND THE New TARnF<-
There Is report that the President intends
vetoing the new Tarir bill, known as the bin
Of denominations. We hope the report may
prove true; for Congress never proposed q