Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-05-13
lFrom the New York Tribune (RadicaD May 81
The Statesm anship of Impeach
menr.

We do not intend to be driven from our
position, nor to be led into angry and per-
1 sonal issues by the concerted attack OF
the Democratic press. We are coolly
charged with attributing corrupt motives
to certain Senators, and distinguished men
are singled out as having incurred in some
special way the wrath of the Tribune. All
| that is neither here nor there. We have
| charged no Senators with accepting mon
| ey. We merely commented upon state
ment OF the World that large amount of
money was about to be subscribed to COM
| pei the Presidents acquittal, and upon the
current rumofs that there were men claim
! ing to be Republicans who were MOI bid
and sick with dissatisfied ambition. These
| things were not of our information. They
were in the mouths of all men, and the agi-
| tation attending was universal. We felt
bound in the interest of friendship and patri
OtiSDl to point out the danger toliich threatened
Senators, and the tnamy a0ith aohtch they aoere
said to be triftng. But one illustration came
out of our history. If the World-speak-
| ing for the Whisky ring, and the gangs of
local, State and national thieves for whom
| it is the organ and apologist-came forward
| with insidious suggestions and tenders of
| millions, the least we could do was to illus
| trate the career of the one American whose
disappointment and ''conscientiousness" led
him to sell his country to its enemies.
impeachment is statesmanship-iustic
peace. The logic of the Republican par
ty brings it directly to this issue. We
should be very glad to view it as merely an
impartial and spontaneous work of the
Senate. But the Democrats will not per-
NIT us. They are the partisans in this pro-
ceeding. They tried and acquitted Presi-
dent johnson long before the articles were
read to the Senate. They fought Impeach-
| the Union-Emancipation The vote in its
favor was as distressing as our victory at
Gettysburg The triumph of Lee would
have given them the mastery at the polls,
the triumph of johnson would have caus-
ed a similar result. All this clamor and
cant about the Constitution merely recall
the days when Vallandigham moaned over
he unconstitutional proceedings of Sheri-
dan in the Valley, and the extremely con-
stitutional adventures of Lee in Virginia
When Beauregard fired his guns upon
Sumpter he was doing precisely what
johnson did when he removed" Mr..
Stanton. The intent of one was to test
the legality of the election of Lin
coin. The intent of the other was to carry
| certain law to the Supreme Court. five
had fought the war as the Democrats desir-
| ed, Mr.. Toombs and his negroes would be
quartered on Bunker Hill. If zoe abandon
Impeachment, as they propose zoe shall haze
Sheridan asking pardon for his unla,oful pro-
ceedings at Winchester. Loyalty ,oiu become
q crime. This oindictiue, petuldnt, furtire, bad
President, confirmed inhis Illegal assumption of
po,cer, sustained By a Republican Senate, cheer
| ed in his madness and ambition, a0iH haze the
country at his feet, and all its resources the
agents of his malice and revenge. Oh. but,
we are told, the men who acquit Mr. john
son will give US assurances of his penitence
and comfy This is an old story. We have
| had these assurances before; and coming
from man whose word is OF no more val
ue than the ashes OF his cigar, who trusts
/ h06r md Sc
not accept them.
| For treason is but trusted like the fox,
Who, ne'er so tame: so cherished. and looked up,
Will have wild trick of his ancestors.
If war was craftsmanship, what is Impeach.
ment? In what essential do the issues be-
| tween Bingham and Evarts differ
from those between Grant aud Lee?
The hopes of loyal millions hang as eaqerly
| upon the success of Impeachment as then did
upon the issue of the aodr. Else ,oterefore the
Intensity Of the national feeling? Why do pe
see the Republican party incandescent aoith
zeal? Why IS 1t that euery convention, eue,y
newspaper, euery pub!tc man, the solid mass of
representatives the great and mighty peo-
pie ,cltose uoice they speak, demands Tmpeach-
| n,ent acith Uetemence Is it the clamor of
demagogues? Then why has the country
| rested with so much content and patience?
impeachment is the whim of the Tribune
All, gentlemen, this is honor overmuch
Go to Wall street, and you find gold
cheaper than when Impeachment was pro-
posed. The sensitive, varying, tickle money
changers are as eager to scent danger as
the stormy petrol. To them. Impeachment
means onfidence-security-- times in
trade. Acquit the President, and throw
the country back to his unmolested con-
troll, and we shall have panic in New
York surprising in fierceness and misery
any that the country has known.
Impeachment is imperialism. Have we
ceeding is claim on Mr.. JOhnson's part
that he has judicial cognizance of the laws?
This is but small claim. So was that of
Charles l. He merely wanted to have iu-
dicial power over ship-money. A trifing
matter of pence in the pound. Louis de-
sired very little from the States General
George LII. wished the smallest possible