Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-02-26
BY TELEGRAPH
Noon Dispatches,
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

WASHINGTON, February 24.-The Pres
ident to-day sent to the Senate the FOL
lowing message, which wasread inseere
lie session, laid on the table and ordered {
. be printed. The Senate then removes
= from it the injunction OF secresy.
To the senate oEthe United states;
have received a copy Of the resOln
e, ton adopted by the Senate, on the 2ls
: inst, as follows:
2 WHEREAS. We have read and consid
= cred the Communication ofthe President
n stating that he bad removed E, M. Stan
= tor Secretary Of War and has desig
mated the Adjutant. General OF the Army
to act as Secretary Of War ad interim
p Resoirea by the Senate of the U5aitec
S, States, That under the Constitution ant
- laws of the United States the PresidenI
has no pOWer TO remove the Secretary o
; War aud designate RBy other officer tC
perform the duties Of that Office ad in.
teTim.
Tnis resolution, as confined to the
power of the President to remove the
Secretary Of War and designate another
] | officer to perform the duties OF the Office
ad interim, by its preamble - made ex-
pressiy applicable to the removal Of Mr.
, Stanton and the designation to act ad
interim Of the Adjutant-General of the
army. Without, therefore, attempting
10 discuss the general powers of removal
to an officers upon which the subject re-
ferq. noexDression OF opinion is contained
in the resolution. 1 shall cOnfine myself
to the question as to this limited power
TO remove the Secretary of War. 1t is
declared in the resolution that under the
d Constitution and laws of the United
. States. the President has not the power
10 remove the Secretary of War and
IdesignaIe any other officer to perform
the duties Of that Office ad interim. AS
10 ihe question of power under the Con-
! stitutiOu, do not propose at present 10
enter upon its discussion. The uniform
| practice from the beginning Of the gov
erpment. as established by every Presi-
dent who has exercised the Office and
the decisions OF the Supreme Court of
the United States have settled the ques
tion in favor OF the power Of the Presi-
dent 10 remove all officers, except
ing class holding appointments Of
judicial character. No practice or
sny decision has ever excepted
Secretary Of War from this general
power OF the President to make remov-
ais from office. It is only necessary,
then, that ] should refer to the power OF
the Executive, under the laws of the
United States, TO remove from office 2
Secretary OF War The resolution denies
that under these laws the power has any
| existence, IL now affirms that no such
authority is recognized or given by the
| statutes Of the country. What, then, are
the laws Of the United States, which
deny the President the power 10 remove
that officer. l know of but two laws
( which bearupOn the question. The first,
in order Of lime Is the act Of August :,
1883, creating the Department OF War,
which after providing for a Secretary as
/ its principal officer, proceeds as follows
'SEUHoN3 3 Ind be Il further enacted,
/ That there shall be IN the said Depart
/ mput an inferior officer, to be appointed
! bv the said principal officer, TO be en-
! uiayed therein as he shall deem proper,
/ TO De called the Chief Clerk in the De-
I lpartment Of War, and who, whenever
/ The said principal sOfiicer shall be re-
moved from Office by the President of
the United States, or in any other case OF
vacancy, shall, during such vacancy,
/ have the charge and custody of all re-
cords, books and papers appertSining to
the said Department" ~
It clear that the act passed by Con-
! Cress, many Of whose members partiel-
Dated in the formation of the Constitu-
lion, SO far from denying the power OF
the President to remove the Secretary of
| War, recognize il ~ existing in the EI-
ecutiVe alone, without the concurrence
ofthe Senate or of any other department
of the Government. Furthermore, the
act does not puYport to confer the power
by legislative authority, nor, in fact, was
there any other existing legislation
through which it was bestowed upon the
Executive. This act is therefore complete /
as a recognition under the Constitution
itself for there IL $50 other source or au-
thorlTv from which ii could be uefiged. |
The other act, which, refers to this |
question, and that regulating the
tenure OF asTtain civil officers, parsed on
the 2d day Of March, 1867. The first sec |
ti0D of the act is in the fOii9Wi1g words: |
!'Thst every person holding any civil /
office 10 which ne has been appointed by |
and with the sdvice and consent of the |
Senate. and any person who shall here. !
after be appointed to any Office, and /
sLa!t become duly qualified to act herein, (
shsN De entitled TO hold Office until |
q successor shsIi have beRn, in like |
manner, appointed or duly qualified, ex
rent as herein otherwise provided. I
PJ0rfdsd, That the Secretaries Of State,
Of the Treasury, of War, Of the Navy,
OF the Interior, the POstmaster-General, |
and the Attorney General shall hold |
their Offices respectively for and during /
the term of the President - whom they |
have been appointed, and for one month
thereafter, subject to removal by and
With the advice sad consent OF the Sen
ate" The foRrtb sestioa af the same
set restricts the teuuTF Of Ofiice TO the
A F,rrff lay farclu inn
That part OF the first section which pre-
eedes the proviso, declares that every
person holding a civil Office to which he
has been or may be appointed, by and
with the advice and consent Of the Sen
ate. shall hold such office until a success
sor shall have beau in like manner sP-
pointed. It pUrpOTts - take from the
Executive, during the fixed tige estRb-
Hshed for the tenure Of Office, tbs inde
pendent power Of removal, and TO re-
guifa for such removal the concurrent
seton of the President and the Senate.
The uroviso that follows proceeds to fix
the term of Office OF The several beads Of
whose time never had been
defined before, by providing that they
shall hold their Offices respectively for
and during the term OF the President, by
whom they may have been appointed,
and for one month thereafter, subject 10
removal, by snd with the advice and
consent Of the Senate. Thus, as to these
enumerated officers, tbs provisO takes
from the President the power Of Pelpoyal
except by the advice and consent Of the
Senate. BY its terms, however, he can
not be deprived OF the power to displsce
them. II must appesr that he himself
had appointed them. II is only in that
case that they have any tenure OF Office,
or sny independent right to hold, during
the term Of the President, and one month
after the cessation of his official fune-
tions. The prOviso, therefore, gives 40
tenure ST Office TO any ohs Gt these ofh-
GERS who has been appointed by the FFesi-
dent beyond one month after the acces-
sion Of his successor.
In the case OF Mf. Stanton, the snly
under which hs held the
Office of Secretary of WRr-was that com
fsrred upon him by my immediate pTede-
cess0r, with the advice and consent OF
the Senate. Ae has never held nom
me any appointment, as the head Of the
War Department. Whatever right he I
had to hold the Office was derived from
that original appointment and to my |
own sutiicieney. The law was not III
tended to protect such an incumbent Of
the w AT department Dy taxing from tue
President the power 10 remove him. s
This, in my judgment, is perfectly clear, :
and the law itself admits of no other {
We find in allthat portion {
Of the first section which pTecedes the
proviso, that as TO the civil officers gen
orally the President is deprived OF the
power Of removal, and it is plain that ii
here had been no proyisO that power
would just as clearly have been taken
rom him. as far as il applies totheseve | l
heads Of Departments but, for reasons, '
which were no doubt satisfactory {
to Congress, these principal officers {
were specially provided for, and /
The express and only Requirement. :
Is that the President, who has ap.
pointed them, shall not, without 8
The advice ana consent of the Senate, re-
move them from otiice, But as to my
Cabinet, embracing the officers designa-
ed in the first section, the act takes from 9
ne the power, without the concurrence /
II the Senate, to remove any one of them t
have sppoipted; but it does not pro- L
.ect such Of them as ] did not appoint, q
lor give to them any tehuEs of ofice be- :,
yond my pleasure. On examination ofl :