Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1868-01-22
Iaatrbman 4 Stair journal.
BY r. p. WALTON.
MONTPELIER. JANUARY 22, 1868.
pOJTTT(itI

misdcmeanor, TO make the PRESIDENT lnlpeacna-
Bile, and has founded it upon our assertion that
Senator Howard convicts him Of having chad am
Pile information of the contemplated outrage at
New Orleans" and that he "did nothing to pre-
vent it," 1t is necessary to know now what the
courage" was and just how far johnson re-
sponsiblc for it, The outrage, then, was the at
tack upon the Louisiana convention, and the &C.
companying murders The responsibility Of the
President must be judged from two facts. July
%, 1866, johnson was informed that the members
Of the convention to be arrested by civil pro-
cess and that "t would be impossible to execute
civil process without certainty Of a riot" adding
Ills the military to interfere to prevent process
Of courtg"-i. e. to protect the convention. On
the same day the President answered that ''the
military will be expected to sustain, and not to OBJ
struct or interfere with the proceedings of the
court Thus the military were not to protect the
convention. Two days thereafter, on the 30th,
the outrage" was perpetrated, accompanied by
many murders. From these facts it is safe to say
that President johnson is clearly responsible for
not preventing the outrages, and consequently for
not preventing the murders but think that
r. S. u. viii himself admit that the President
not he held legally responsible for murder, or con-
| yicted Of murder, or indeed Of any "high crime or
! misdcmeanorh on these facts. If he admits that,
! he must also admit that Congress could not i'm
/ peach him on these facts That is our defence for
/ Congress. Our readeTt wh'observe a sharp crit
icism on Grant on the question Of exchanging
| prisoners. Most Of them arc familiar with it, but
! those who are not ought to know that there are
two sides to the question. The Union prisoners
certainly suffered, and many died, while Grant
was breaking the neck Of the rebellion and open
ing all the prison doors thereby, but would not as
many or more have suffered and died had Grant
added 80, 900 men to the rebel army by exchanges
1t is significant fact that the rebels most
anxious for exchanges, because they would gain
strength to their army by it This fact therefore
goes in Grants defence. r. s. II. will take no.
tice that Gen Meade, in executing the reeonstruc-
ton acts, requires full respect to the rights of the
blacks. 1t is an excellent example, approved by
Grant.
The Chicago Tribune says that Mr.. Pendleton
claims to be the author of two theories "That
the public debt may be repudiated by its forced
conversion into irredeemable stump-tail currency
and that slavery, it existed prior to the war,
has never been abolished, but the constitutional
right Of the owner to his slave property yet re-
mains, and is udestructbe.'
The Ohio House Of Representatives adopted,
Saturday, by strict party vote, 50 to 81, the
resolution Withdrawing the assent Of Ohio to the
proposed fourteenth article Of the constitution OF
the United State.
There is not a word of truth in the story that
either Of the executive departments have declined
to transac; business with Mr. Stanton. On the
contrary, the Treasury and Navy have interchang-
ed with the War Department daily.
A telegram by Cuban cable, received at Wash
ington, says that the people of St. Thomas and
St Johns have voted enthusiastically to be annex
ell to the United States, only 22 voting in the
negative.
The California republicans are greatly vexed
/ with Judge Oscar L. Shafter, Gan old Vermonter,)
for resgning his seat in the supreme court of that
state just after the democratic governor came in
with power to fill the vacancy. They say he should
have gone of or not at all but he says it
was sudden ill health that obliged him to resign.
CoSGREss AND THE SUPREME CoURT.-As an
impression prevails to some extent that Congress
has right under the Constitution to make rules
for the government of the Supreme Court, it will
net be amiss to quote the language of the Consti-
tuition on this subject Section Of the article on
the Judiciary after enumerating the causes which
) may come before the Supreme Court, speaks OF
certain cases in which that tribunal shall have orig
inal jurisdiction, and then adds
&" Ia all the other cases before mentioned, the
supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction
both as to law and fact, lcith such exceptions ana
! under such regulations as Congress shall make"
s a Washington dispatch says that Senator Trum
bull feels no anxiety about the reconstruction
before the Supreme Court, and if it was to be de
+ cided next week, believe. the Court would moi
pronounce the reconstruction acts unconstitution
al lie does not believe one OF the stories circu
! lating respecting the opinion of the members o
the Court
large majority of the Republican members o
the Ohio legislature have expressed themselves il
favor of the nomination of Gen. Grant for Presi
] dent.
The Washington correspondent Of the Philadel
phia Inquirer says that the statement that Gener
= ais Grant and Sherman have advised Mr.. Stanton
e to resign is incorrect. Neither of them have bee
asked for any advice, and they are not the men t
p tender it unasked.
t CoNNEcncuT.--Ma Jewell is the Repub
lican candidate for Governor. Election in April
The report that Secretary Stanton has draw
pay for tue period of Grants service as Secretar
of War is untrue. Mr.. Stanton does not thin
he is entitled TO it.
Gen. Meade is doing thorough work in his mill
tary district. Jan. l6 the comptroller of Georgi
refused to recognize Gen. Meades authority an
was Immediately removed from office. Jan. Il
Gen. Meade issued proclamation leaving the fri
al and punishment Of criminals to the civil authori
ties so long those authorities are energetic an,
impartial without regard to race and color; Blu
warning the authorities that on their failure in drl
ty they will be promptly removed. The General
d under Grants advice, has refused to postpone thu
= Florida convention, as had been asked on charg
I, of frauds in the election but commission will
be issued to examine the charges.
r The defeat of Gov Swami for the Maryland u
;, 5. Senatorship seems to have been eminenty sat
isfacory to all parties. 1t was the natural punish
4 ment due to treacherous politician. Mr.. Swan
was once a Know-Nothing Mayor of Baltimore
when he was subservient to the rowdy organiza
tons Of that city and left no means unused to de