Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-03-05
MIR. Johnsou,s Plea.

of. 20 .o5 as
l. Mr.. Johnsons Plea.
| From the N Y. Tribune. -
Mr.. johnson bases his defense, as set
forth in his message to the Senate, on
three. points, viz; First, that in remov-
| ing Stanton he obeyed the Tenure Of
OfficeIaw; secondly, that in the same
act he disobeyed the law in order to test
its constitutionality; thirdly, that there
was no opportunity for him to obey or
disobey the law, SINCE 1t had no applica-
! ton whatever to the ease OF Mr.. Stanton.
Mr.. johnson seems to have borrowed his
defense from that of the defendant in
the kettle case, who plead that the ket-
tie in question was cracked when he
borrowed 1t, that it was whole when he
returned 1t, and that he never had
known of such kettle, and did not be-
lieve there ever was any. 1t is some
times possible for man to get too many
points in his case, and we think Mr..
Johnson has a few too many in, his
He first argues that the Tenure-of-
Office law prohibitslhim from removing
only those Cabinet officers who were
nominated by him, and confirmed by
the Senate, leaving him free to remove
those who Were appointed during Lin
coins Administration He seems to
spppose the Republican Senate Were
quite willing to have him get rid OF Lin
coins appointees, viz. /: Seward, McCul-
loch, Stanton, and Welles, and We're in
special terror lest he should remove his
own appointees, viz: Stanbery, Ran
DALI and Browning! AS matter Of fact,
he knows that the political divergence
between Stanton and himself on the re-
construction question had developed it.
self, and was generally known before
the Tenure oi-Oflice law was passed, and
tnat part of the special intent of the law
rest of Lincoln's Cabinet i'm office. He
rests this point on the following clause
of the Tcnure-of-O Office law:
That every person holding any civil
Office TO which he has been appointed,
by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, and any person who sholl
hereafter he appointed to any such office
and shall become duly qualified to act
therein, is and shall be entitled to hold
Office until successor shall have been
In like manner appointed and duly
qualified, except as herein otherwise
"Procided, That the Secretaries of
State, of the Treasury, of War, of the
Navy, and of the Interior, the. Postmas-
ter-Hcnefaki and the Attorney General
shall hold their offices, respectively, for
and during the term of the President by
whom they may have been appointed,
and'for one month thereafter, subject to
removal by and with the advice and con-
seiit of the Senate" e-
The obvious intent of the above pro-
viso was to give the Cabinet officers "a
fixed term of Office, instead OF leaving
them to be removed at pleasure as here
toiore. Nothing WAS more proper than
that this term should correspond to the
term ofithe President by whom they
were appointed, so thatth old President
and his advisers might go out together,
and a newly elected President might be
free to select his own advisers. II the
law had declared that Cabinet officer
should hold his term for four years, ~
then, II appointed like Stanbery, or
Browning, In the middle of one Admin
istration, they would hold over until the
middle of the next. To avoid this their
term was made FOR and during the term
of the President tyf whom they may
have been appointed" But it is obvious
that the gist tofthe paragraph was to
state the duration OF their term of office
by some general criterion, mot to except
nearly tile whole of Andrew Johnson's
Cabinet. from tue .defepse afforded by
THE law. LetMs see II the language dif-.
tefsl lrQnl the intent? The term of the
President by whom Mr.. Stanton was ap
polluted is-the second term of Abraham
Lincoln, which Andrew Johnson Is serv-
ing out instead of Mr.. Lincoln, deceased,
as Vice Pre- 4itleir and acting Presi-
( dent. Andrew Johnson never had any
"term' as President. He merely sue
ceeded 10 the right to serve .out 1the re-
lnainder of Mr.. Lincoln's term. Indeed,
he is not President. but only acting Pres
ident, for the Constitution does not pro
wi Al. s.f Il.
the Vice President shall become Presi.
dent, hut only that he shall perform the
duties of President. Hence the Tenure
of-oiiirelaw, In enacting that the mem-
bers OF the present Cabinet should "hold
4 their office resi- slecti velyrfory ante during
sthetefin f'the President by whom they
Were appointed" and for one month,
thereafter, empoweredthem to holdtheir
offices to the end of Mr.. Lincoln's 8 second
term, which Will he on the 4th OF Mai, h,
1869. That Mr., Johnson should te un-
aoie to sec 50 plain u point shows how
stupidity he assumes TO deal with ques-
tiOlis of constitutional law. e1n q
But his first point, that the Tenure of
ONCE act gave him the riasl1 To remove
Stanton, ia best ovefl brown by his sec-
oud point, viz: thai lie feinaved him in
order To test the conslitutionality OF the
-Tenure-ol-0iiie law. For if thrs order
removing Stanton was in accordance
with the uct, the constitutionality of tile
law would not come into question. III,
as the President claims, he can only test
the constitutionality OF the law by dis
obeying it, and II, .as he also claims. he
has not disobeyed IL, then with what
sense can be claim TO be engaged In Test
Jng its constititiOnality? Finally, In
pleading n statute passed in 1889 as au-
thority for making the order, the Presi-