Nebraska advertiser., 1868-07-16
Opinion Of Hon. Thomas w.
TiDfOn. Of Nebraska,

1lDlOns OL NCDLGlSAaS
In the case of the Impeachment Of
Andrew johnson, President Of the
United States.
When the actregulating the tenure
of civil offices passed Congress on I'd
day of march, 1867, Edwin NJ. Stanton
was Secretary of War, having been
appointed to said office by Mr.. Lincoln
and confirmed by the Senate January
Is, 1852, and commissioned to hold
the office "during the pleasure of the
President of the United States for the
time being" The first section of the
act is as follows:
"That every person holding any
civil Office to which he has been APP
pointed, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, and every per-
son who shall hereafter be appointed
to any such office, and shall become
duly qualified to act therein, is and
shall be entitled to hold such office
until a successor shall have been in
like manner appointed and duly quail
flied, except as herein otherwise provi-
ded Provided, That the Secretaries
of State, of the Treasury, of War, of
the Navy, and of the Interior, the
Postmaster General, and the Attorney
General, shall hold their offices respect
ively for and during the term of the
President by whom they may have
been appointed, and one month there
after, subject to removal by and with
theadvice and cOnsentO of the Senate.
Before the passage of the above re-
cited section the only limit to aSecre-
tary's term was the pleasure of the
President; but it was determined to
make the termination definite, and
hence we have a time specified be-
yondWhich it could OteXtend, name
ly, one month after the expiration of
the term Of the President by whom
appointed.
The question relative to the Secre-
tary of the Interior to be settled, would
be: How long will his commission
run? while the answer would be, just
one month after the termination of
the term of Mr.. Johnson, by whom
he was, by the advice and consent of
the Senate, appointed. So his term
would expire on the 4th day of April,
1859, which would be the end of one
month after the expiration of Mr..
JOhnson's term, in case he filled the
full uneXpired term of Mr.. Lincoln.
He being in office on the I'd OfMarch,
1867, under a commission which was
a precise copy Of Mr.. StantOn's wOud
look fOF1UdFd not backward to find the
period of time when the law would
put an end to his term of office, unless
sooner removed by and with the ad-
vice and consent of the Senate,
To find the limit of Mr.. Stanton's s
term 1 would look fOraU0rd also, and
as he is serving with the Secretary of
the Interior, upon the same term, and
under the same identical commission,
I would declare him liable to removal
by force of law, just as one month shall
have passed after the expiration OF
the term, which is being served out
alike by himself and the Secretary of
the Interior.
To the objection that the Secretary
Of the Interior was appointed by Mr..
Johnson, and is serving out his term,
while Mr.. Stanton was appointed by
Mr.. Lincoln, whose term had expired
nearly two years before the date OF
the act limiting terms, [ reply that
the terms Of these Secretaries
are one and the same, and there
is no period of time subsequent to the
date of the act at which one Secretary
shall retire in advance ofanother.
In regard to Mr.. Stanton's term
having expired according to the linn
itations of this law, one month after
the death of Mr.. Lincoln, I deny the
proposition: first, because the law was
not in existence until about two years
subsequent to the event. Second, be-
cause it could not, on the I'd day of
March, 1867, act back and produce a
vacancy in an office already filed,
every act of which has been regarded
valid by every branch of the Govern
ment. Third, because Mr.. Stanton
has been in Office ever since the date
Of the law, and is still performing
the functions ofSecretary Of war. AS
Mr.. johnson received from Mr.. Lin
coin the War Office with its Secretary,
Just as he received each one of the
other Departments of Government
with its Secretary, each and all of them
with subsequent appointments must
be regarded as of his own appoint
ment, for all purposes of the civil-ten-
ure act; and as it is impossible to re-
move a portion in the past and the
balance in the future, they must all
share the same fate and be subject to
the same limitations.
Hereafter there will be no trouble
in constituting the law, for one month
subsequent to the termination of a
Presidents term will vacate every
Secretaryship; and if this act had
been in force at the time of Mr.. Lin
coins death Mr.. Johnson would have
had all the heads of Departments at his
disposal one month thereafter. To
claim, therefore, that Mr.. johnson
can remove Mr.. Stanton without the
consent of the Senate is to affirm
an impossiblity, inasmuch as the ONLY
period of time at which a President can
get clear of a Secretary Independent OF
the Senate is atthe end OfamOnth sub
seQuent to the end Ofa Presidents term
And unless Mr., johnson will receive J
reelection he shall never reach that
official hour in which Mr.. Stanton
would vacate, by force of law. one
month subsequent to the expiration Of
Mr.. JOhnson's term. But if he shouId
ever reach a second Inauguration. and
the month had expired, and Mr.. STAN
ton was inclined to remain, he could
demand his removal independent
of the Senate, on the grounds that
having received him when he received