The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1868-01-09
THE Case ersssretAfy siants9-Repori
ofthe Senate Committke.

.nu,sesi ming some nunured sheete OF foolscap.
VIZ Give the following sbstract, Il being hi we
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sion Of secrstary Stanton by thc President %
the 18th Of August, and the appointment Of Gen.
cites the second es"n Of ,hs tenure sn Of ese
act, In order to show that Congress intended to
prevent such q removal, except for misconduct
tai incapscity OF some legal usiifcstion.
The set requires that before the President can
sSSa I. he s haze
.he evidence must be such as tends to establish
enumerated causes, and not merely that there T.
difference OF opinion between MN and the I'M
sss e s S ~ Bath By
70 perform for the people the duties imposed by
,,ssW, and the one no more and to no greater ei.
differ in public Importance, but the oblis cation Il
eAaesiy the sane: II e 70 the lay that each !,
snd no
tied, under our system, TO claim for himself I'm:
principle hnds no place In the republican system
to \! eel. e destroy liberty. ,.,.u.
act, but contend that the President, BY his pro.
~ binding force. He has adopted II as the rule
! povss srss,sS and es.sias only BY sSs AT
mains for tho eommittee to give their views Of
the sufhcieney Of the evidence and the reasons
this duty they, therefore, address themselves. -
dents message to Congress on the subject Of Mr..
IThe fact Va. already made public by Mr..
johnson himself, that in the Cabinet eouneilt the
opinion of the Aoney General 'i IN reference
to the true meaning and effect of the recon-
struction acts Of March and March ~ 1867,
| acted upon Thowhole country had seen that II
these opinions were carried out In practice, as
out, the plain Intention Of Congress. in regard to
reeonstruction in rebel States would be defeated.
those opinions and. refused to eountenanee an
artiice which had occasioncd the assembling OF
81 "a ne o; x Of SS ne
aside tie dangerous interpret.tions by the At
"Hs he had done to The two former bills, Mr..
johnson vetoed this bill also. II was notorious,
as as. three elaborate vetoe. aided BY b. speeches
opposed to everything OF the kind, and that he
He had not only used his influence and patronage
to that end, but had sttenuously opposed, de-
nouneed, and endeavored to defeat, and even to
| veto, the amendment to the Constitution, known
As Article II, passed June, 1850, and intended at
| that time as the basis OF reconstruction. His
and Violent snasoas% 70 the viii Of The na tEs
as expressed by the two Houses Of Congress.
mt, Stanton, on the other hand, favored the
laws of the land. He would not seek to defeat
thsir objects BY any meah, direct OF indirect
t. S
son in accord with himself in hi. plans Of OBJ.
Such an appointment would, by the Constitu-
session Of the Senate" '"' " "''
The report continues:
A." II was undoubtedly the aim OF Mr.. johnson,
II We may Judge from h, previous CONDUCT, to
to carry out his sehems Of obstruction, and by
every mean: liz II b, povs, and they were many
eonsiderstiens o. high character, MT, stanton
and strongly and mSnfuiiy opposed to them The
duty incumbent upon him TO resist their accom-
q AND
ally" " ,.,,., D...,,.,,
come the final and infallible judge Of what the
may Be, ii Becomes oiieisl miseonduct 70 differ
TSs NJ them ssi 70
.b M; Joh..on serious in thi. most arbitrary
,sss.9gpptioni Gan he no longer brook to Be told
ryins out iesisistion Of Congress Is ofisisi mis-.
g sas aSs
a .tsp toward tyranny, but i. OF Itself the e..
The report enlsrges upon these points, and
then pays warm trlbutet to Mr.. Stanton, as fol-
1--WE recognize in his refusal no misconduct no
that In 50 doing he consulted both his duty and
att Nl NhA mt hnEt Inc thn
bloody civil war; his eminent talents his patriot
Ism, his vigilance, his untiring devotion to the
down the rebellion, had Justly entitled him to
the gratitude and admiration Of the country. In
the worst Of times he was true and faithful.
tude was unshaken. When defeat and discour.
agement darkened the land he was not appalled,,
% ,as and the
pathi1e with that spirit which, without fixing
upon him so much as a plausible charge Of mis-
conduct, would cast him down and ruin his we'll
The committee here quote Mr.. Stanton,s letter
IN reply t9 The note from the President, inform:
charge BY the President that Mr.: stanton con.
CURED IN the veto Of the tenure Of office bill. u
unconstitutional, and was opposed to Its becom-
Ing law. Such, the committee say, was sin
cereiy Ms views and some Of the ablest states
men In the country have entertained the same
opinion; but Others equally able have held the
contrary opinion, and among them was Mr.. Web
The controversy is almost as old as Govern
| ment but the committee contend that 1t does not
follow, because public officer has entertained
such an opinion OF proposed measure, he Ia to
| carry his no -ons SO far as to treat 1t as void
when formally enacted into law by two-thirds
vote OF each House of Congress.
The next point OF the Presidents message
noticed by the committee, Is mis- charge that Mr.
stanton was at one tie In accord with his
(Johnson's) policy, and endeayors to make him
| partly responsible for II. This Is denied on the
strength OF Mr.. Stanton's testimony on the sub
Ject, given before the impeachment committee
| Of the House.
In regard to ME-. Johnson's claim that he Is
| responsible for the conduct Of the Executive De-
partment, the report asks whether he admits
his responsibility for the dispatches sent by the
Secretary Of State to the Provisional @ Governors,
and maintains that he must admit and be bound
| BY them; and yet In his message to Congress in
1900 he suppressed such intimauons, and aston:
| ished the country by announcing that he had
fully reorganized and reconstructed the rebelli-
gress to do but to pass upon the naked questions
tons OF the Senators and Representative
elected. Who, then, the committee ask, has
committed the offence, II 1t be one, of changing
front on this great question Of the power Of Don.
gress1 Who has been the early, the original op-
ponent OF granting to the colored man the ballot,
| for his protection and for the security Of the
| country against another rebellion Not Mr..
| stanton, surely, His opinions on these subjects
have ever been the same, and Mr.. johnson knew
them full well from April, 1906, down to the time
Of the Ruspension,