New-York tribune., 1868-04-28

rnt upo the PRESIDENT the acts OF that small and
inexperienced Congress and to be taken as oi pnang
force upon their successors upon the courts as sort
OF oracular outgving upon the meaning Oh Oh %
OF the several passed at that session Ior ne ,
shment of the Departments II NOT 70 oS arY not with
In the province Of the lawmaker as 10 Ihe 40
of oassoS tas sense The Of ete eHa of hese acts
think been greatly misunderstood by those VINO iS Ia
to the President such form as was agree
able his friends OF power Of removal when tne i mn
iorv was disposed TO accord to him in cases where the
tenure of office left indefinite and the office was
therefore determnabe at Will bat Which fnGSe Il as
right The result was that compromise whlch eyaueu
ons s s anS et he question in dispute just where it found
It, The record shows however that even IN ths snaps
o. In the Senate however where the debate does not
appear, it was carried 9hy nroner,v one o"1s hns
self legislative but an Executive ni 0mcer
who had very direct interest IN sngSosted ,S that
there question involved az to ne @ 0 0 % m
and not, Of course decided That It might De 50 Is os
done the right to do it acqnieseed in and affirmed as
shown already in the of Marhury agt Madison as
carly as 1901. 1t cannot be shown, however,
that that there is any difference between the case
There is no word in the Constitution to require that the
latter shall hold only at pleasure Boh arc cleaea o
l7s9 that the Legislative power created the office defines
the power limits its duration and annexes tnI eonpe
tOn from the general power OF appointment IN tne
authority Congress 10 vest that power IN Inferior eases
in the President alone IN the courts oi w os 10 10 @ the
Heads OF Departments. But there s notDlns rs 10 Tue
power OF removal nothing but as to the privilege OF dls
pensng with the Senate In the matter OF appontneets
and limitations whatever upon It's power over tne
GSo Xnd now now let me ask what did the decision
amount to, supposing that II had even ruled sn Oh
Legislature with greater power than ourselves;
Is there anything in the proceedings OF me Congress 0
1889 to indicate that IL ever assumed TO itself the prerOg
tive of setting itself up as an Interpreter OF the IndE n
mental law The men that composed IL understood thelr
f1uc het
on questions Of tnis sort IL 1t had so nave we;
sttuions cannot be but il it did exist where was it de-
rived How the Congress to bind the people by alter
all its power It could not bind its successor by making
its own enactment irrepealabe II II had I'M 70
give an opinion upon the meaning OF the Constitution
| why may not we do the same thngi Inc fIeslueht
obviously assumed that they were both better and wiser
than ourselves II the respect which he professess for
their opinion had animated him III regard 70 the Cohges
which has sat under his administration the nation w9u1
have spared much tbulaton, aud we relieved OF
the painful necessity Of arragnlng the Chief MAGISTRATE
and liberty and his open defiance OF law. However u
MY be with others am not one Oh .oe WHO Wh E onr
fathers that they better able to comprehend the
they were Unfamiliar than We, who are sitting under Tue
| light iof an experience Of so years and suffering
to the future. They made greater than the Illusion
Of supposing that i was impossible for institutions to
throw TO the suIfaceq man like Andrew johnson and
yet & was @ %h Which & Pea1s no % Other be- dSed m
regard 10 the mscheyous power of removal office
But If 20 votes the IIouseiat th day. making meagcr
majority OF only seven and nine oIiy in "a Senate that
was equally divided in the first stage OF constitutional
life, and with such President as Washln5ton TO fling
colored light the future OF tho Republic had even
intended to give and did give construction to our great
charter Of freedom what to be said OF S5 voters TO 81
constituting than three0urtbs of the House. and Of
o,ber IN IN, Tho matgrity Of our strength, with
population Of nearly 100000 and under the light Of
experience that had proved that even the short period
tors supposed TO Be Impossible even the long track OF
time But there Is one other CONSIDERATION that pre-
sented tsefJus here and Il - that It does not strike me
! by clear, that there was anything ID the
OF 1859 aside from any supposed attempt TO give ho
force Of authoritative exposition OF the Consultation
that necessarily inconsistent WITH the view Ol ta IN
| strument which have been endeayoring 10 maintain
Taking the authority lodged by with the President az
general grant O power there was nothing ctralny
inferior officers IL resulted from the express authority
Of Congress o vest the power OF III he Fes
removal in the same hands, and too to the superior
S Te to esy rsSxS any a@eS enable the
Executive 10 perform his proper functions under the
tho Illegal inference that must belong 10 him qo ere
tire It prevented one OF the very eases for which u Is
provided expressly that Congress shall make all laws
that ,ha be ana proper rep d0r INTO hS
p the United states or IN any deParnent
officer thereof" To infer, in the face OF such pro
either department Of the Government belong them,
Of course because they are necessary reelection on
and in effect TO nufy the provision itself by enabling
the other Departments Of the M Ut to dispense
the act Of 1859 to mpart In It's extent all that Il Is claimed
ndcsSsS ats e. been pened into nnaeabe by long
and uninterrupted practice IN conformity with IT, II
were stated there would be nothing mar
yeous that II has been followed by other leg
saton Of kindred character II not TO be doubted
that genera! opinion did prevail for many years
not otherwise provided for In the Consttu-
| ton ought TO be held at will for the obvious reason.
among others that rendered the process OF removal
easy by making impeachment unnecessary. The only
question in dispute was whose hands this power could
be most appropriately lodged IL so happened however,
that the first OF Presidents brought with him into the
office elevation Of character that placed HIM above all
suspicion and assured 10 him confidence unbounded
flufif
bim with unlimited command and it was but natural as
10 cerainy highly convenient that the exercise Of
that will which was 10 determine the life OF the officer
should be lodged with hun. 10 was so lodged. But
should have been followed up In the
practice Of the Government II would have been still
tIon Of patronage and power OF rewardng friends and
Furnishing enemies. successful candidate for the pres
the popular branch a least along with host OF hungry
followers flushed with their victory aud hungerng after
power reward his friends, air their virtue by
self denying ordinancesf That would have been too
statesman Of the country had realized and depored for
! forty years, at least, the giant wee which
had been gnawins into the very entraiI; ntrI;
it in all its members. There remedy left but the
intervention Of the Providence which has purified the
heart Of the nation through the blood Of Its children aud
east down the who but yesterday might have stood
against the world 40 low that with all his royal patron
age, there are none lett no. ink not one SO poor as TO
do him IL Is not true however that the pre-
cedent OF the Congress OF 1889 has been followed nyari
ably and without interruption since that time The
history of Legislatures shows not only repeated
instances wherein the tenureof office has been
se defined as TO take the case entirely out OF the con-
troll O the Executive but some In which even the power
Of removal itself has been substantially exercised by Con
gress, as one would suppose II might reasonably be
where IL creates and may destroy, makes and make
the subject Of controversy Itself n the act OF 1901
already referred TO connection with the OF Mar
bury and Madison, assigning tenure OF five
years absolutely to the ~ Office Involves a mani
3.