Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-04-25
CONGRESSIONAL.

Il
resumed and continued his argument Of
yesterday in support OF the proposition
that no officers are .impeachable except
those which were deemed guilty Of crimes
and misdemeanors by the common law
nj the time the Constitution was passed.
Referring 10 the portion Of Boutwelrs
speech which illustrates the Presidents
alleged perverse motive by his treatment
of A gentleman who was to have been one
of his counsel, Mr.. Nelson said that
.Jndge Black withdrew from the cause
simply because the President refused to
send vessels to seize Alta Villa, refusal
made on the grounds of public duty,
aud against the solicitations Of friends
and the implied threats of enemies,
Quieting the expression Of Boutwell, that
the advice given to the President. by his
Cabinet was that of "serfs to their lord
or counsel, offered in fear Of, losing their
places." he reminded the managers
that they ithe couuseDln had put
in evidence message which had
shown that their friend s(Stanton) had
nreferred the advice thus characterized,
and that he might now cry, Save me
from my friends" if they made him out
that servile serf;" abiding briefly to
the high Communications of the Presi-
dent. written by Stanton in 1865, and to
Inc srrangeness of the fact that the Pres
ident is only now impeached for an
oifense against the defunct Thirty.ninth
Congress. .,.r,,-.,s,E .oa4b :,
| the articles Of impeachment separately.
He held that in the first place, there was
a distinction made by both common and
statute law, between crime and an at
tempt to commit crime, and as the
civil tenure bill relates only actual
rem oval from office, and as the President
made none, the cbarges'in most Of the
articles fail, but aside from this objection
which, thou Oh technical, should still be
claimed to bear weight, he would men
ton three propositions,
| First. That the Tenure-of-0 Office bill is
void, and if it is not, then that Mr.. Stan
ton is not screened by it, and that even
| if it is legal and applicable, that the
President is not guilty Of a crime, be-
cause he acted from laudable motives.
He quoted at great length from the de-
bates on the formation of the Constitu-
ton, and on the passage of the act of
| 1889. as we'll as from numerous legal au.
thorities to show that the question of
the Presidents power of removal was
definitely stated by the action Of Con-
eress at that time, and claimed that
| therefore he had grounds for honestly
forming the opinion on which he acted.
From the constitutional requirements
the Attorney General is to furnish the
| President with opinionsin writing, and
the fact that such opinions are collected
and bound by the authority of Congress,
| constitute a quasi authority for the
Presidents action. He then cited q
large number, of opinions by various
Attorney Generals, since the formation
of the Government, in which they place
| the same construction on the law Of
| 1899, and express the same views regard.
ing the power of removal as, President
Johnson. He also referred to the
opinion of Mr.. Jefferson, the action of
President Jackson, and to that Of the
Senate in expunging its resolution of
censure on him, and then recapitulating
| the authorities and presidents for the
Presidents course and policy. He in
sisted that the presumption of honest in
tent was clearly made. out he then
considered the position that Congress
has by Implication superior power to the
Executive, and maintained that no
greater powers were granted in that way
10 the Legislative than to the Executive
branch of the Government. At this point
the Senate took recess for fifteen min.
utes, and on reassembling, Mr.. Nelson
continued the citation of authorities in
support Of the Pres dents views on the
question of his power of removal, and
proceeded to argue that the President
had the same power to construe the
acts Of Congress asCongress itself Again
supporting his views by numerous quo
tations. all the preceding argument, he
held, proved the Tenure-ef Office law
institutional and void. He then
elaborated the proposition that no charge
can be maintained which does not allege
a criminal intent, which he said was not
done except in the 9th article. 10 the
course of his remarks he spoke of the
friendly embrace of Mr.. Stanton and
Gen. Thomas, and the equal division of
the spoonful Of liquor between them, as
the most remarkable exhibition of force
on record (great laughter) and while eulo-
giving the honesty and simplicity Of Gen.
Thomas, he explained his language to
Mr.. Burleigh and others, as caused not
only by pride Of office, but by the en-
livening effect Of the good liquor then
consumed, in the appearance of the sup
Elemental bottle; Gnd proceeded to give
a humorous and satirioal account of the
arrest and subsequent discharge of Gen.
Thomas, and ridiculing the idea that
any one believed that be designed to use
force. Passing on to the consideration
of the second and third articles, he
adopted the statements in the Presi-
dents answer, he said, as a sufficient
reply to them, With regard to the
fourth article, which charges con-
spiracy to obtain possession Of the
War Office, by intimidation and threats,
he claimed it was not caused by the act
Of 1861, which, il was deemed, had been
violated. The fifth article, alleging
the intended employment - force, he
held, was not supported by the testi-
mony. The sixth, in which violation
Of the Tenure-of- Office law is also al
legged, had been disposed Of by the
Constitutional Attorney Of that Law. The
seventh article was passed over with the
denial that the Presidents oath OF Office
was violated BY the onense charged. The
eighth article he met by the argument
that the alleged endeavor to obtain pos
session Of the moneys Of the War De-
partment. even il made, was not 10 vio-
lstion Of the civil lsnnro lev a. stated.
With reference 70 the ninth article, he
held that the President WAsin The line Of
bis duty when conferring with General
Emory about the disposition Of the
| forces, and that no evidence whatever
had been adducei 20 prove that his pur-