The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-04-25
CONGRESSIONAL.
WASHINGTON, April "a.
SENATE.

At the opening of the Court Chief
Jnst;ca Chase stated that the first bust
nass was the order offered for consider
! zion Yesterday by Mr.. Grimes, that the
| 6onr for the meeting of the Senate
Shall be at IL o'clock. The order was
odopted-2l against 3D.
MIR. Edmunds offered an order to adj
nit official reporters to report the
speeches on the final elaboration Of the
Senate. Objected to by Mr.. Sumner,
aud it went over under the rule.
Mr.. Nelson resumed his speech and
concluded Ills argument of yesterday in
support of the position that no offences
are Improbable except those which
were deemed crimes and misdemeanors
by the common law at the time the
Constitution was framed.
Referring to that portion OF Dir, Bout
wells speech which illustrates the Pres
ident's alleged perverse nature by his
treatment of gentleman who was to
have been one of his counsel, Mr.. Mel
son made statement that Judge Black
withdrew from the case simply because
the President refused to send vessels to
seize Alta Vela, refusal made on the
ground of public duty, against the
solicitations Of friends and implied
threats of his enemies. Quoting the
expressions of Mr.. Boutwell, that the
advice given 10 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 had put in evidence message which
showed that their friend Stanton had
preferred tho advice thus characterized,
and that Le now might cry save lie
from my friends if they made him out
the servile serf, abiding briefly to the
high COMMUNICATION of the President,
written by Stanton in '65 and to the
strangeness of the fact that the Presi-
dest is now only impeached for offences
against the defunct Thirty-ninth Con-
gress.
Mr.. Nelson proceeded to consider the
articles of Impeachment separately. lie
held in the first place that there was a
distinction made by both common and
statute law between crime aud all at
tempt to commit crime and
as the civil tenure bill relates
only to the actual removals from
office and the President made none.
The charges made in most of the arti-
eles fail, but aside from this objection,
which, though technical, should still
be claimed to have weight, he would
maintain three propositions, namely:
That the tenure of office law is void;
if it is not Mr.. Stanton's case Is not
covered 10y by it, and even if it is legal
aud applicable tue President is not
gnilty of crime, because he acted from
laudable motives.
He quoted ut great length from de-
bates an the formation of the Constitu-
ton aud GA the passage OF the act OF
1899 from numerous legal authorities, to
show that the question of the Presl-
dents power of removal was definitely
settled by action uf Congress at that
time, aud claimed therefore he had
grounds for honestly forming the opin-
ION on which he acted, from the Con-
stituiioual requirement that the Attor-
uey General is TO furnish the President
with opinions in writing, and the fact
that such opinions are collected and
bound by authority of Congress.
Mr. Nelson argued that they have
quasi authOritIve character for the
Presidents action. He then cited q
large number of opinions, in writing, by
various Attorney Generals since the
formation of the government, in which
they place the same construction on the
law of 1889, and express the same views
regarding the power Of removal as Pres
lGent johnson.
He referred also to the opinions OF Mr..
Jefferson, TO the action of President
jackson and to that OF the Senate i'll
oxpunglng its resolution of censure on
him, aHd then recapitulating the au-
thorities and prccedeuts for Mr.. john
sons course and policy, insisted that the
presumption Of honest intent was clear
~ made out.
tie next considered the position that
Congress has by implication superior
pswer TO the Executive and maintained
that no greater powers were granted III
that way To the Legislature than to the
Executive branch uf the government.