Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-04-11
GEN. GRANT AND THE IMPEACH-
MENT OF THE PRESIDENT

The New York Tribune announced on
The Sd inst, in the most conspicuous style
its type could furnish, that Gen. Grant had
announced il as his opinion that the only
hope for the peace of the country is the
auccess Of the pending impeachment trial"
And that Journal adds
"IIe feels that national security demands
the removal Of the President. If the trial
should fail, the people can only expect
more assumptions of power, and more
determined resistance to law. When the
General of our armies entertains this con-
yiciion, there is no room for doubt as to
the duty Of the Senate. The loyal nation
demands the removal of the President"
The New York Times, a moderate Re
publican journal, administers very fitting
rebuke to its more Radical contemporary
for this attempt to badger the Senate into
removing the President Says the Times
This strikes us as in every respect a
very extraordinary paragraph. Its object
on the face Of il IL to overaWe the Senate
sitting as a Court of Impeachment, and to
coerce that body into convicting and re-
moving the President, whatever may be
the opinion Of its individual members on
the question of his guilt. The opinion"
Of the General Of the arnies-professing
10 be ANNOUNCED on his authority-is
brandished over the Senate, and is declared
TO be decisive as TO what the action of that
body should be- When did lhe voice of
the General III our armies" become thus
potential When did the Tribune first
begin TO accept Gen. Grants declaration Of
opinion, on this subject, as equivalent TO
the Yoice of the nation, and as closing the
door 10 all doubt and debate "a to the duty
Of the Senate ?
Such declaration, put forward az the
opinion of Gen. Grant in his military ca
pacity-as the opinion of the General of
our armies" with the direct and avowed
purpose of debating the verdict of the
Senate, land this is the form which the
Tribune gives IT, would be equivalent to the
issue Of military order Gen. Grant
might as well march his troops to the door
of the Senate at once, and order them TO
convict and remove the President az TO
make use indirectly of his military power
for the accomplishment of the same OBJ
iect. Gen. Grant is not in the habit of re-
sorting to indirect ways and measures for
the accomplishment of purposes which
he has made up his mind to achieve
He is subordinate officer of the
President, in his military capacity,
and ia not at all likely to take any step,
OF 10 "announce any opinion, tending TO
the violentremoval of his superior. Heis a
man Of good sense, of acknowledged respect
and regard for law and order, seeking no
usurped authority and never travelling be-
yond the line of his own duties. And,
therefore, we do not believe that the Iiri-
Jupe's formal and pretentious pronuncia-
mento on his behalf was made on his au-
thority or with his knowledge and consent.
IL il has even the shadow of foundation in
truth, il is probably the repetition, by
some superserviceable and unteruldlous
eavesdropper, of some chance remark
which Gen. Grant may have made in pri-
yate conversation.
The Senate in this trial have a very
plain duty to perform. They are to judge,
acting under oath, whether the President
has or has not been guilty Of the acts
charged upon him in the articles Of inn
peachmtnt; and whether, if he has, those
acts constitute high crimes and misde-
meanorsp for which they may rightfully
remove him fron office. Ii is quite posi-
BILE they may err in their Judgment on those
points, and that they may be swayed in
their verdict by the belief that the public
welfare will be promoted 10y the Presidents
removal from office. But il betrays pre-
mature distrust Of the verdict of the Sen
ate, to brandish over their heads the
opinion Of the General Of the armies /;
and we are confident that nothing but a
very gross over-estimate of the Senate s
readiness to obey such behests, could have
prompted the Tribune 10 resoH to this
menace, at this early stage Of the impeach-
ment trial.