Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1868-03-06
8serevs &aGrs ggimss.
BELLOWS FALLS. MARCH 6, 1868,
From the New York Tribune.
Mr.. JOhnsOn's Plea.

three points, VIE rirst, tnat III removing
Stanton he obeyed the Tenure-of- Office
law; secondly, that in the same act he
disobeyed the law in order to test its con-
stitutionality; thirdly, that there was no
opportunity for him to obey or disobey
the law, since it had no application what
ever to the case of Mr.. Stanton. Mr..
johnson seems to have borrowed his de-
fense from that of the defendant in the
kettle case, who plead that the kettle in
question was cracked when he borrowed
il, that it was whole when he returned it,
and that he never had known of such
kettle, and did not believe there ever was
any. 1t is sometimes possible for man
to get too many points in his case, and
we think Mr.. johnson has few too
many in his.
He first argues that the Tenure-of-
Office law prohibits him from removing
only those Cabinet officers who were NOM
mated by him, and confirmed by the
Senate, leaving him free to remove those
who were appointed during Lincoln's ad-
ministration. He seems to suppose that
the republican senate were quite willing
to have him get rid of Lincoln's appoin-
tees, viz: Seward, McCulloch, Stanton,
and Welles, and were in special terror
lest he should remove his own appointees,
viz: Stanbery, Randall, and Browning !!
As matter Of fact, he knows that the po-
litical divergence between Stanton and
himself on the reconstruction question
had developed itself, and was generally
known before the Tenure-of- Office law
was passed, and that part of the special
intent of the law was to keep Secretary
Stanton and the rest of Lincoln's Cabi-
net in office. He rests this point on the
following clause of the Tenure-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 shall hereaf-
ter be appointed to any such office, and
shall become duly qualified to act there.
in, is and shall be entitled to hold Office
until successor shall have been in like
manner appointed and duly qualified
except as herein otherwise provided:
Provided, That the secretaries of state
of the treasury, of war, of the navy, anc
of the interior, the postmaster-general
and the attorney-general shall hold theil
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 anc
with the advice and consent of the Sen
ate.
The obvious intent of the above pro
viso was to give the cabinet officers {
fixed term of Office, instead of leavin.
them to be removed at pleasure as there
tofore. Nothing was more proper thar
that this term should correspond to tn
term of the President by whom they wer
appointed, SO that the old president an,
his advisers might go out together, and
newly-elected president might be free t
select his own advisers. If the law ha,
declared that cabinet officer shoul,
"hold his term for four years." then,
appointed like Stanbery, or Browning
in the middle of one administration, the
would hold over until the middle of tn
next. To avoid this their term wa
made " for and during the term of tn
president by whom they may have bee
appointed But it is obvious that tn
gist of the paragraph was to state tn
duration Of their term of Office by som
general criterion, not to except nearl
the whole of Andrew Johnson's cabine
from the defense afforded by the Law
Let us see if the language differs fror
the intent? The term of the president b
whom Mr.. Stanton was appointed is tn
second term of Abraham Lincoln, whic
Andrew johnson is serving out instea
of Mr.. Lincoln, deceased, as vice-pres
dent and acting" president. Andre
johnson never had any term as pre-.
ident. He merely succeeded to the righ
to serve out the remainder of Mr.. Liz
coins term.
Indeed, he is not president, but onl
acting president, for the constitution doe
not provide that on the death of the pre-
ident the vice-president shall becom
president, but only that he shall perforI
the duties of president. Hence the Tel
lure-of-Office law, in enacting that tn
members of the present Cabinet shoul
"hold their Office respectively for an
/" during the term of the president b
whom they were appointed" and for on
month thereafter, empowered them
hold their offices to the end of Mr.. Lin
coins second term, which will be ON ii
4th of March, 1869. That Mr.. Johnso
should be unable to see so plain poil
shows how stupidity he assumes to de,
with questions of constitutional law.
: But his first point, that the Tenure-o
Office act gave him the right to reno,
Stanton. is hest oyerthrown by his secon