Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-03-06
THE EVENING STAR
CONGREASfONAL-

=
ocsIrt Contia Is-d
Mr. johnson urged the proprsety 90 nis mo-
tioD, that the question should be postp onec AL
to-day. IL wns question an which the people
of the United States v ere CONCERNED. and sy ss
oohduct Of has, by no waiver OF hs rtshts
couiu tbe court b. orCa nixsd IN any other way
than that the Constitution provide he rep aliei
we inunatlon that the body was not court
ON "a AZ y nate AZ the Senate, he argurs. -
PoWsrs wer- only legislative. ana it h nd no a
sieIai power except as a court. In conclusion.
BE- susp' nded the motion. and moved that the
other members b. now svo rn.
/ MI. sherman DECLARED that the night OF hs
eoileasue TO take the oath. and has duty Go do II
Was clear IN has own mind. II hereafter, the
question of interest were raised aga inst HIM a.
Gould be discussed and decided he cls.raed
that the State Of Ohio has a right 10 Ia r~prp-
I -entgd on this trial BY its two S4astors IA.
| colleague should decide for himself "a hether ne
would pa ticipate on tie trial and 5te on auas-
tions arising In a.. Questions had BEEN intro
| duced an the debate " hich he thought shouh
| not have been introduced. Tha only question
az issue was, shall or shall not the senator from
Ohio be sworn in.
Mr. Bayard arg ued arains, lhe night of s,~ns-
tor Wade TO take the oath, the object OF the Con
stitution being 10 exclude the person " no vss
to he bebett, d by the deposition Of the Presi-
dent from taking part an the proceedings lead
ing 20 snoh deposition. He proceeded 70 argue
that the character OF the body IN trying I'M
peaehment was that Of court, not that of
senate. IL he stood in the same position a the
Senator from Ohio, the wealth Of the world
would not tempt him 10 sit in such a case.
Mr.. sumner. Il shall not be Irmpted D fol
low learned Senators on the question whether
| this Is a Senate or a court. The question 10 my
mind Is, sir, simply one of language Our
powers al tbs moment are under the Constitu-
uon OF the United States; nor We add 10
them little BY calling ourselves a court, OF
calling ourselves a Senate. They there-ip
| the Constitution, search its text, and you will
| md them. The Constitution has not given ne
name, but Il has given US powers; and these We
are now 10 exercise, no matter for the name
| The rose under any other name has all those
4 IL WA Rut n
should not at this time have entered into this
discussion II had not listened to objections on
the other SIDE, which seemed to me fo1nded-
4 VIII not say IN error, for that would o.
bold, when We are discussing a question of
such gravity; but they are fou nded, AT least on
reading of history that have not been able 20
verify. When Senator'S dlsting uisbed by ability
and learning inform US that the Coustitu ton
intended TO prevent person who might become
President from presiding at the court Of inn
parchment for the trial OF a President would
ask the learned Senators who have thus an
Dounced, where they have found that text in
the Constitution The Constitution says ~Wh n
the President Of the United States A. tried. the
Chief Justice shall preside" The Constitution
does not proceed 20 say why he shall preside
senators supply the reasons. They would un-
dertske TO apply II a. actual precedent for
the Senate Where, sir, do they find the reason,
| They cannot fnd the reason they would now
assign IN any cotemporary texts illustrating
the Constitution. They cannot find IL in me
| text Of Madison. or in any Of the texts Of that
time; nor can they ind a IN the FederalIst
Wh.n does that reason first come on the scene
Others msy b. more fortunate than I: hat \
have not been able TO find NJ earlier than l-a5
in the commentaries Of William Rswle We
\ eli know the character of this work-one OF
great responsibility, which most Of Us m our
| early days have read and studied; and how
dCee he STeak of az
Mr.. Sumnsr then quoted the work in question
and other authorities sustain Ia views and
| sand of the objection that Mr. Wade had an IN
terest in the result that IL seemed 10 him that n
| Troce' ued on a perfect mIsconceptiOn Of the
character OF this proceeding. We are not sit
| ung a. county court for the trlal of a for
assault and battery. but sitting upon =
great question concerning the welfare OF this
Republic. dear 10 US all. It's question
| the one side OF the highest Justice aud the in-
terests OF This great Republic, and on the other
we have brought before the suggestion OF A
pecuniary tsmpationi for that was part OF the
argument OF my learned friend from Mary land
tMr. Johnson.l Sir, ii seems 10 me that this Is
not the occas ION for an argument of this kind.
who can put IN one scale the great interests Of
| this country, and that supreme Justice which
the =, nate must administer. and put ia the 9th
| OF scale any temptation Of this sort \ know
l well that Il you let the Senator from Ohio hold
hold these scales, that the scale in which YOU
put all the personal interest, all the personal
TEMPTATION you can imagine would ssinck tho
| beam"
Mr.. Howe thou ght the question would not b.
very difficult one II they Were willing TO read
| what was written and to abide by IL Itwx.
| written that the senate should be composed of
| TWO Senator'S from each State and IL was else
| where written that Ohio Nas a State IL WA
| also written that the Senate should have the
power TO ny Impeachment The Senate and
no one else. He conceived. therefor. that IN
was the end of the law. Whatever the ques-
ton OF delIcacy might b, the question of Law
was clear that the Senator from Ohio was en-
titled 10 participate in this trial Ii the Con
stliatlon was silent on the subject, no one would
have challenged the right OF the presiding ON
Ger OF The senate to preside on this trial. The
Constitution. however. had provided for thai
question. and had gone no further Ifany Oh
Jectlon oId exist 10 the Senator from tshio, IN.
onlN party " ho had right to raise the oh ,ction
was not here, and Was not represented here.
| MI. Drake argued that AZ the objection had
any gal validity whatever. ii was one which
mao to he passed upon afiirmatyely or negs-
uNely by he same body, ana he would like to
| know who that body was. Vas al TO be PASSED
upon by the presiding officer OF the Senate
He hardly thought 30. Was it TO be passed
upon by he body itself Then comes an the
difficulty that there were still four Senators
| Gnsworn. Ii might have been among the first
| or the very frst one, and the objection thai
would have had TO he decided by Senators not
one OF " HON had been sworn.
| Mr ThaYer discussed the question as 10
WHETHER they Were a court or 1T. They hsd
10 come down TO tie plain words of the Csnst-
tuition, The Senate shall have power to try
imleachments." If this body was not a CONT
now, when die the transformation take place
IL was the Senate when il met at tx Give @ clock
| IL had not since adjourned nor could il bs .sid
NJ what particular point of time the transforma-
ton took place. II AT all. IL the question of
inurrst was 10 be- raised IN the case of the = m
ator from Ohio, IL might with greater reason.
he raised agalnsi the Senator from Tennessee
| Mr.. Patterson. who was closet, allied with
the President Besides. every Senator who
| might succeed 20 the Office OF the presidine
officer was also Interested but one degree less
than the Senator from Ohio. The senator from
Ohio could not be deprived Of his vote except
by gross usurpation OF power. Suppose ten or
/ hitet Senators Were closely allied To the SC
| cused, the OBJ lection might be made and the
! whole movement defeated by reducing the BODY
| below quorum
| Mr.. Howard rose to call tue attention Of
the Chair to the real question before the S,n-
ate, and asked wheth'r the pending m otion.
that other Senator'S be sworn in, was not IN
! order.
| The Chief Justice said that the Senator from
Indiana having objected 10 the Senator from
| OHIO taking the oath, there " a. now a mouop
! that the remaining names be called. emitting
The name OF the Senator from Ohio.
| Mr.. Howard said there was 10 rule requiring
The names 10 be called in alphabetical order
The n naming names cou Id BE- called now He
saw no necessity Tor further discussion of thls
motion.
Mr. Puckalew asked AZ tbs rules did not pro
vide that the presiding officer should submit All
questions 10 the senate But ass uming Al 10 be
| question OF order, he contended that the
clause was intended TO apply TO the old form
| of taking the votes by States. The Senate had
air ady adopted rule for excluding votes an
particular cases-a rule founded in iu.tice
| The argument was tina. the Senator ha 4 a right
UnCer the Constitution TO represent Ohio On
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