The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1868-01-16
Political.
SECRETARY STANTON.
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The Report Of Senator Howard
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The Secretary's Course Vlndlcated.

considered by the Senate Military
Committee this morning, and will be
laid before the Senate in Executive
ses ion to-day. II is very long, GOV.
ering upwards of one hundred sheets
of foolseap paper, The following are
the principal points!
After rcciting the circumstances OF
a supensiou of Secretary Stanton by
the President on the 18th Of August,
and the appoint tment of General Grant
as Secretary Of War ad interim, tho
report cites tho second section of the
Tenure of Office Act, in order to show
that Congress intended to prevent
such a removal except for misconduct
in office, or on account Of some phys
ical or mental incapacity, or some
legal disqualification. Tho act re
quires that before the President can
order such suspension, he shall have
evidence, satisfactory to him, that
some one Of these causes exist He
must be satisfied by the evidence, aud
the evidence must be such as tends to
establish tho existence Of somo one
Of these distinctly enumerated causes,
and not merely that there is differ
ence of opinion between him aud the
incumbent, or mere mutual dislike.
Both are, by the Constitution, but
officers of the law, bound to perform
for the people the duties imposed by
law, aud one no more nor to any
greater extent than the other. Their
duties may greatly differ in public
Importance, but the obligation is ex
aotly the same. 1t is to the law that
each of us is responsible. The FIRST
principle of constitutional govern
ment involves this responsibility, and
no official, however high, is above the
law or entitled, under our system, to
claim for himself impeccability or
immunity That monarchial princi-
pie finds no place in the republican
system under which we live, and be
who seeks to resort to it seeks to de-
stroy liberty.
The Committee say they do not
propose to discuss the constitutional
ty of the Tenure of Office act, but
contend that the President, by his
proceeding now under consideration
has recognized its binding force. He
has adopted it as a rule of his con.
duct, by actually using and employing
a power created and existing only by
the act itself, the power Of suspen.
sion, aud it only remains for the Com
mittce to give their views of the suffi q.
cheney of the evidence, and the rea.
sons upon which he relies to Justify
his action.
The report then proceeds to analyze
the Presidents message to Congress
on the subject of Stanton's suspen.
SION, and adds that the fact was al
ready made public by Mr.. johnson
himself, that in the Cabinet council
preceding that in June, Mr.. Stanton
had dissented from the opinion Of the
Attorney General in reference to the
true meaning and effect Of the Recon
struction acts of March 2nd and
March 23rd, 1867, which opinions Mr..
Johnson had adopted and acted upon.
Tho whole country had seen that if
these opinions wcro carried out in
practice, as Mr.. johnson proposed
they should be, and as he had instruct
ed his subordinates to carry them out,
the plain intention of Congress in re.
gard to reconstruction in the rebel
States would be defeated. Mr.. Stan.
ton had expressed his dissent from
these opinions, and refused to coun =
tenance an artifice which had occa
stoned the assembling of Congress on
the 3rd of July. Congress, to the
exclusion Of all other business, passed
at that meeting third act on recon
struction, setting aside the dangerous
interpretations by the Attorney Gen q.
eral of the two previous acts AS he
had done 10 the two former bills, nv.
johnson vetoed this bill, also. 1t
was as notorious as three elaborate
,etoes, aided by his speeches aud
conversation, aud the corps of presses
iu his interest, could make it, that he
was strongly opposed to everything Of
the kind, aud that he intended to
render all such legislation abortive.
he had not only used his influence
and patronage to that end, but had
streuuously opposed, denounced, and
endeavored to defeat, and even veto
the amendment to the Constitution
known as article fourteen, passed
Junei 1866, aud Intended, at that
time, as basis Of reconstruction.
The whole course of his conduct was
VIGOROUSLY in open and violent antag-
onlsm to the will of the nation, as
expressed BY the two Houses Of Con-