The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1868-02-28


the Secretary oil War was within the opera
ton of the act of 1867; whether the causes
assigned by the President for his suspension
from Office were sufficient. The Senate lie.
liberated upon it; they pronounced theil
: Judgment upon it, and the whole country j.
f advised what that judgment is, namely
that the Presidents reasons were insufficient
and they solemnly decided that by force o
the act Of 1867, Edwin M. Stanton was the
! Secretary of War, the suspension Of the
President to the contrary notwithstanding
That judgment of the Senate the country
approves.
Now, sir, upon that state of the case il
, must be apparent TO the mind of every can.
did and intelligent man that it was the duty
of the President to bow TO this deci 'ion o.
the Senate; and if he desired TO signify his
wish for a change of the war office, to make
a nomination of the Senate, under the Con-
stitution aud laws, of successor to Mr..
Stanton. That is Just what he refused to
do and in refusing 10 do il, and taking the
bold step of disregarding the plain letter OF
the Constitution, and the plain letter of the
act, the obligation and force of which he had
solemnly acknowledged, he has dared to
commit the offense defined in the sixth Sec
tion of the act, and to challenge represent :
tivcs of the people to hold HIM to account
for it.
The gentleman tells US TO beware beware,
bewarel Beware of what, sir? To beware
of rendering faithful obedience to our oaths
as the repr, sentatives of the people? To
beware of taking the steps authorized by the
Constitution and demanded by the public
safety to put this usurper of authority and
criminal violator of public trusts on trial be-
fore the only tribunal on earth authorized
TO try him for his crimes? Did the gentle
man from New York [ Mr. Brooks not know
when he uttered his warning, and his great,
swelling words about the Democratic party
coming to the rescue, that it is written in the
Constitution of the country that the Presi-
dent and Vice President, and every other
evil officer of the United States, shall be re-
moved from office upon Impeachment for,
and conviction of high crimes and misde-
meaEors? Did he not know that ii is further
written in the Constitution that the repre-
sentatives Of the people shall have the sole
power TO try impeachments? And yet he
tells us to teware, beware of putting the
President on trial Beware, you Representa-
tives of the people, if mindful of your oaths,
i you faithfully discharge the duty enioined
uron you by the Const tuition.
| The gentleman assumed-and | thank
him for the assumption; his warning would
have been wholly unintelligible without it
that this is not the House of Representatives.
He ventured tosay, in order to find some
justification for his significant words of
warning, that this was but partial Con-
gress. And yet be affects to be the friend
Of the Constitution. l aver, and challenge
contradiction of any man living whose
| opinion is entitled TO any respect, that par
tial Congress can neither imreach any body
nor pass any law. 1t is a Congress com
posed Of Senate and House of Repre- enta-
| tives of the United States, which alone, by
the Constitution, is vested with Legislative
power under that great instrument. par
tial Congress is unknown 10 the Constitu-
tion. l protest against the gentleman pre-
tended affection for the Constitution when he
stands here before the country warning US
against the discharge of our duty, and in the
next breath, in order to justify himself 10 his
strange position, telling us we have 20 Con-
gress. live have no Congress-if this be |
not the House of Representatives of the |
United Statcs-of course our legislation is |
void; if we have no Congress, but only |
partial Congress, of course the President of |
United States is not responsible for his |
usurpations and crimes in office to any trib- |
unal on earth by way of impeachment nor |
can he be held TO answer for crimes by |
proceeding in Impeachment by anybody, |
neither for W at he hls done nor for whatever |
he may hereafter do or attempt to. Ifthere |
be no Congress 10 impeach and remove this |
recusant President, there is no remedy left |
but for the g eat people themselves to come
to the rescue.
But, Mr.. Speaker, l have said enough in |
reply to that asserertion Cf the gentleman
| say there is enough in the facts al
i t,, 4lo
tween the President and the Secretary of
War and his appOintee as Secretary ad inte-
rim to Justify this House in drawing the in
ference-and inference is for the grand in
quest of the nation-that the President of
the United States was by that act guilty of
another crime under another act of Congress
additional to that Of 1867. l refer TO the act
of 1861, which makes il hi III crime, pun
ishable by fine and imprisonment, for two or
more persons to conspire together by force
or by intimidation or by threat to attempt
to prevent any person from accepting or
holding any Office under the United States.
No one in this land wonld rejoice more
than myself to know that when this case
shall have been presented to the Senate of
the United States as high court of ofimpeach-
ment it shall become clear to the satisfaction
of that body that the President of the United
States has only erred in judgment, and has
not intended to invade the Constitution or
to defy the authority or set aside the
supremacy of the laws. | would rejoice at
his acquittal thus honorably, for his own
sake and for the sake of the Constitution of
my country. But, sir, as l said before, in
the light of what he has already declared
and placed upon the record, l am precluded
from the conclusion that he meant anything
IL d ,Jof,, |
you, in the language of his advocate, "What-
ever laws you have passed or whatever laws
you may pass | will disregard them on my
own Judgment whenever see fit as being
not in pursuance of the Constitution of the
United States, and let you do your worst"
That is his position. The gentleman from
New York himself SO understood it. The
President having taken that position, and
criminally violated the Constitution and
laws, propose to put him on trial
The gentleman talks about liberty. Lib
erty, sir, is as dear to me and mine as it can
be TO the gentleman or his. stand here to-
day for that liberty which is regulated by
law, that liberty which belongs alike 10 us
all, and which is not the exclusive right Of
those who hold high official station. As for
this lawless liberty, the liberty which the
kite shows to the dove, the liberty which the
wolf shows TO the lamb viii have none of
it. The pc pie of the United States, trust.
will have none of it. They will insist upon
it that in this country men shall enjoy the
liberty of obedience and subiection to law
law just in itself and protective to all
There was surely nothing in this statute
that operated oppressively upon the Presi-
dent of the United States. 1t was simply a
statute under the Constitution of the United
States, enabling the people of the United
States to exercise their own powers as to the
mode and manner of executing their own
laws | ask the Preside mt to submit to it
gracefully, to submit o it decently, 10 obey
it, and to set the example to all tie people of
the land that the first duty of the citizen is
Obedience to the peoples laws, as it is the
first duty of their Chief Magistrate to see
that they be faithfully executed.
If the President will thus deposts himself
We will have no contest with him; but if, on
the other hand, he exercises powers Of Office
in criminal violation of the Constitution as
well as of the statute, ], for one, ask the
question may be tried, tried before that tri-
bunal which alone can, under your COnsti-
tuition, decide. If the law be valid, the act
of 1861, clearly, upon the record, the Presi-
dent is guilty of crime. If the law be not
valid and the Constitution does not have the
operation and eff=ct which l have given it,
and which l believe belongs 20 il; if oo the
contrary, the President of the United States
has really the power notwithstanding the act
of 1867, notwithstanding the provision of the
Constitution to which 1 have referred, to
create vacancies in every office of the Re-
public at his own pleasure during the ssion
of the Senate, and fill them at his pleasure
without the consent of the Senate, doubtless
L i |