Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-06-04
ROSS AND IMPEACHMENT.

store for the demented Africans in our midst.
80 ROSS AND IMPEACHMENT.
The Washington correspondent of the Baltimore
Gazette, furnishes the following account of the
close of the Impeachment proceedings, and how
Ross bagged the whole crowd: -.
Last though not least This has been the
last day of impeachment, though by no means the
least interesting In many respects it has exceed
ed In profound interest any which have preceded.
The impression had become general that no vote
would be taken, and hence there was nothing like
the rush upon the Capitol which has heretofore
characterized the impeachment proceedings. Ney-
ertheless, the immense galleries were packed with
brilliant assemblage, while the diplomatic section
contained the representatives of twenty eight for
eign countries, all manfesting the most intense In
terest in the proceedings Of the Senate, as each
held in his hand list of the Senator's names.
The arrangement for preserving perfect order were
complete as shown by the files Of policemen that
decorated the aisles and corridors. -. ,... -.
The floor of the chamber appeared almost de-
serted, no impeachment senator being seen. There
sat the Conservatives, and there were the seven
recreantsi butwhere were the thirty-hve impeaoh-
ers? 1t was q mystery to the galleries. but others
knew that caucus was being held in President
Wade's s room to determine whether they would or
wonld not proceed with the vote. Just before the
hour of twelve o'clock Senator Edmunds came in
and announced confidently to few friends around
him that the voting would be postponed, such be-
ing the determination Of the caucus A few mo-
ments later the other senators entered the chamber
with an air of indifference, and were soon engaged
in conversation, groups being formed, during which
the action of the caucus was discussed and specu-
lations freely offered as to the probable effect OF
the contemplated postponement on party interests.
At this time no senator doubted for moment that
the vote would be postponed-the managers had
requested it. and the caucus had voted to grant it,
vet the vote was taken and the President acquitted
How was it done The details will furnish an in
terestng page for the future historian. Soon after
the court had organized for business and all the
dramats person9 were in position, Senator Ed
munds rose slowly from his seat, and drawing from
his pocket, offered resolution resembling all pre-
vious rules on the subject of voting. T he Chief
.Justice thought the resolution was not in order,
the Radical majority of the court thought other
wise, and the rules were rescinded. Next came
resolution postponing the vote on impeachment
until the 23d of June The Chief Justice consid-
cred this out of ORDER but was again overruled by
the caucussing senator's On each Of these propo-
sitions Senator Ross, of Kansas, voted with the
impeachers; and decided sensation among them
was perceptble Radical senators were bobbipg
their heads at each other, and great effort made
to communicate and confer one with another
Ross had defeated them on the eleventh article,
Was it possible he had repented at the eleventh
hour, if not on the eleventh article? Conkling Of
fered substitute for the motion to adjourn, which
provided that the Senate, sitting as Court OF I'm
peaehment, should proceed at once to vote on the
remaining articles of impeachment. This was
supposed BY many to be motion offered in good
faith by the Senator from New York, and when it
was rejected by an overwhelming vote, many Of the
spectators left the galleries, supposing the days
performances at an end. The newspaper men, IN
their anxiety to outstrip all competition, flashed
the news over the wires, impeachment postponed
until the 2Sd of June" No one doubted the fact
except the parties engaged in the desperate game
Conkling's purpose proved to be to draw out an
expression from Ross, who, understanding the
game, in turn set trap for the impeachers. Ross
voted squarely against Conklings substitute !;
another buzz was heard on the Radical side OF the
chamber. Sumnerleft his seat and hurriedly passed
to the seats of senators Edmunds, Williams and
others, holding brief conferences with each. 9th
er senator's leaned towards each other and passed
hurried words Spectators continued leaving, and
the telegraph had already spread the news in eve
nv direction that the Senate had voted to postpone
which was virtually the case when the vote was
taken refusing to proceed. But now an under cur
rent was seen and felt, though its exact character
was still unknown Some new development was
about being made. The countenances Of the i'm.
peachers seemed to brighten up, and some une1-
pected turn in events was evidently anticipated
Ross had been drawn out he was upon the record
with theimpeachers on every preliminary. question;
he, too, seemed acting in the best hith-jpresto
'We wont postpone" said the impeachers, 'but
while Ross is voting rightwe will give him chance
on the second article" They voted down their
own caucus to postpone until the 23d of June, and
moved to 20 into vote on the second article OF
impeachment The impeachers werenow all smiles.
They had, by adroitness, ascertained exactly how
Ross would vote, as they supposed and now they
would convict johnson certain. They little sus-
pected that there were two parties to their game,
and quite as little suspected the modest, unsophis
ticated senator of Kansas of intending to entrap
thirty-fve impeachers at a single haul The roll
was called amid breathless silence and the interest
heightened as the votes Of the doubtful senators
were reached eliminated when the name of Sen
ator Ross was called Now came the tug of war.
The impeachers had hazarded everything upon
this vote-could it be possible that thirty-fve poll
tcians had been over-reached by one man? 1t
was true Ross had set his trap and caught the
ringing voice, mot guilty, there were countenan-
ces on the Radical side of the chamber which
would have furnished subjects worthy of Hogarth.
impeachment had been long dead, and now it was
buried. Bingham and Boutwell, hurried from the
chamber. Butler retained his seat until the third
article was voted down and the others abandoned
On the opposite side of the chamber sat Evarts,
Stanbery and Nelson, of the Presidents counsel,
apparently unmoved by the great events transpi-
ring around them.
PLATFORM OF THE RADICAL PARTY.
The National Republican party of the United