The Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1865-1870, 1868-03-01
TcoaNuNIcAIxS.1
IEPEACHNEHT AND SUSPENSION.

became resonant with Impeachment
have frequently heard the question mooted a
to the right and power Of the Senate, on re
ceipt Of Articles Of Impeachment, (ths coun
terpart Of an Indictment in a law Court, t.
suspend the impeached from the exercise o
official functions, pending his trial, in the alb
sence Of any express provision Of law to thai
effect. think the trainers of the Constitution
intended that such right and power should be
and believed they were, given. In the first
section Of the second article Of that instru.
ment, find this language, to-wit: In
case Of the removal of the President from
Office, or Of his death, resignation, or inability
to discharge the powers and duties of said
office, the same shall devolve ON the Vice
President; and the Congress may by law
provide for the case Of removal, death, resig-
nation, or inability, both Of the President
and Vice President, declaring what officer
shall then act as President, and such officer
shall act accordingly, until the disability be
removed, or President shall be elected"
1t seems reasonable and clear to my mind
that in providing for the filling of the Office Of
President, ad interim, because Of the Presi-
dents inability, the trainers had in mind,
among other causes Of inability, that of sus-
pension while on trial for impeachment.
And this appears to have been the adopted
theory Of the High Court Of Impeachment"
from the incipiency of its action in the trial
of cases. In 1893, VIM. Blount, 4 Senator
from the State Of Tennessee, was impeached
by the House Of Representatives Of malver-
sation in his said Office /; and Immediately
upon the announcement of the fact, to the
Court, it ordered him under arrest until he
should give bail to appear and answer the
charge. He gave bail and it does not ap-
pear that he made any objection to the right
and power of the Senate to either order his
arrest or exact bail. And though the Senate
decided by vote of fourteen to eleven, after
elaborate argument of counsel, that U. S.
Senator was not constitutionally liable to i'm
and merely expelled him from
he Senate, yet, for the purposes of a prece-
lent, the case 10 as good a. if he had been
ound guilty.
Now, where did the Senate derive its au-
hority to arrest Blount: There was then
10 law Of Congress providing for such act,
my more than for mere suspension, without
rrest; and certainly the arrest was, in Sc, a
for the time being, which act, in
oint of regularity, was never questioned un-
il brought under the ordeal Of Copperhead-
SIN and rampant Treason. Nor can 1 find
nat in the trial Of John Pickering, in 1904,
Samuel Chase, in 1905, or Of ]. H. Peck.
, 1881, different rule was even thought Of
t must be borne in mind that the fundamental
bject Of the establishment of High Court
Impeachment was, not only that civil Off
ers Of the United States might be therein
led for offenses defined by, and to which a
enalty is affixed in, some statute, or at Com
ION Law ; but also for such Manifestations in ,
flee, mot made criminal by express statute ,
!: the Common Law, as are, in Sc, high
lines and misdemeanors-incomp
it'll official purity and the national dignity, |
elfare and security. The charge against
m. BIount was of the latter class-that of r
wing to seduce an United States Indian In
rpreter from duty, and ALLEVIATE the conf
nee of the Indians from public officials in =
cir midst.
The right and power Of the Senate to sus-
nd, pending trial, with or without arrest, as
III as the right and power to order an ar
st, are, it seems to me, in rel nata, incl P
ntal to the authority to try and pronounce
ntence. VIM. Blount, had he been filling
me " civil office of the United States" in r
.ad of that Of U. S. Senator from Tennes- G.
;, "a member, too, Of the Court, could n
We committed the ofense he did commit, N
It as easily and injuriously As he did, stu R
d as he was. Suppose, then, in his case, Il
in a case of treason, or of systematic
berry, the Senate had not the right and RI
xer to arrest and suspend d, or either, what b.
utd be the result F.: Why, one of the main RI r,
ects to be derived from the impeachment b.
trial might be defeated. that is, the arrest Pe
/ prevention Of the ofense. II the Presi- Ca
1t, or any other civil, officer. were under ca a
Irge Of conspiracy, treason, bribery, or Go
ne other Of the many high crimes and Co
sdemeanors for which he might be i'm Ds
ched and tried, he might, pending trial, if De De
could not be suspended, accomplish all Do