The Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1865-1870, 1868-03-28
WENDELL PHILLIPS ON IMPEACH
MENT

IL ELY L.
Yu a lecture recently delivered at
Cincinnati by Wendell Philips that
forcible and original thinker expressed
himself concerning impeachment as
follows:
Nv wish to impeash him two years ago
was not technical. 1t was because the man,
either by his wishes or his perverscness, had
set himself up Systematically to save the
South from the verdict OF history, and from
the necessity of the epoch in which we are
living. This is his great crime. Every
single act since the Summer of 1860 points IN
that direction. He has been impeached for
a single legal, technical ofense, and an ar
tiele in one of your morning Journals, which
undertakes to auaign my right to speak
about impeachment, goes on with great
ignorance that no matter how foolish Pres
ident has been, he could not be arraIgned for
his follies or weakness, or his errors. lie
must have committed some great, nagran'
and malignant act. There was never greater
Misunderstanding of the nature Of impeach-
ment There never was more perfect for
petfulness of the fact that impeachment Is
the act of the reserved sovereignty Of the
nation, superior to and sweeping outside OF
all its laws, guided by no precedent, respon-
sible to no Judge, bound to give no warning,
at liberty to violate every Legislative principle,
no ez post facto rule binding it. You can
not be indicted for an act for which the sta
'tute has not previously warned you that you
would be felon if you committed 1t; but
the nation leaves itself at no such mercy III
regard to its great Judicial and executive
officers. Anything which, IN the judgment
of the people makes great Judicial Or execu-
tive magistrate unfit for his place-no matter
whether tn. war has warned HIM or not; no
matter whether it has been described IN law
books or MOTT is law which the people
make on the emergency; and the emergency
makes the law. l do not care whether An
drew johnson has slipped on this statute or
not 1t is very evident from the twenty-four
months of his government, that either from
mental or moral incapacity, he is utterly I'M
able to put himself in the line with the ma
tons purposes, and the great nations neces-
atty, and therefore he ought to 60.
The great danger that We are to run Is the
six months that are to come. Impeachment
only opens the door it only clears the ma
tional honor; it only gives an opportunity to
move, its peace and its prosperity. 1t allows
capital to pay its great loans, to seek demand;
but beyond lies the great political question,
and that is whether we have learned yet what
idea to incarnate in our Government. What
bias to give to the ideas of State And,
politically, we seem not to have learned
them.
There is a world of organic truth in
the position thus taken. Mr.. Phillips
gives US an insight into the 80 higher
law " of politics when be AYERS that
impeachmeut is the act of the reserved
sovcreignty of the Nation; for so indeed
it is. He chooses this manner for e1-
pressing the paramount truth which
governs this Repub bic, namely, that the
ultimate fat of all organized political
power is to be given through tho decla-
ration, whatever it may be, Of the
Representatives of the people. So long
~ we accept and rest upon the funda-
,lIsutal premise that this Government Is
"a absolute Democracy, wholly repre-
sentative in the form Of its condueion,
last 50 long must we admit and sustain
The proposition thus boldly advanced.
Tue government of the people has the
weapon of impeachment for its means
of self defense from such assaults as
johnson has made, just as che people
themselves have the inalienable right to
rid themselves of an obnoxious system
Of government through tho medium of .
CvAvention Of The States.