The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1868-03-12
IMPEACHMENT.

/ LEGISLATIVE POWER - TROUBLES IN
THE SOUTH = HOW THEY WERE PRO
DUCED.
On the 29th.ult the House being in
Committee of the Whole on the articles
of impeachment reported from the COM
mittee, Hon. Leonard Myers, of PhiIa-
delphia, delivered the following speech:
Mr.. Chairman = am In favor of the
articles of impeachment reported by the
committee. Under a deep sense of its
Importance, | voted on Monday last for
the resolution to impeach Andrew John
son of high crimes and misdemeanors in
office, as | had done once before. Sol
emn as is the precedent we are about to
make, 1t is one contemplated by the
founders of our Republic, provided for
IN the character Of our liberties, and, l
believe, demanded of us at this time by
an outraged people Sir, what that peo-
pie ask for is PEACE = rest, not only
from the clash Of arms, the din of frater-
nal strife, but the stronger calm which
saves from the assassin's knife, acknowl-
edges law, enforces order, and invites the
people to industry all over the land.
There IS no such peace to day in ten Of
the States which gave themselves and
their identity up to rebellion. And, even
while we propose in due form of law to re-
move the guilty cause, if the advice of
my colleague from the Luzerne district
| (Judge Woodward were followed we
should have no such peace an the loyaI
States. Thank God, time has overrued
his PrOhecies, as the people did his opin-
ions.
On December IS, 1860, when secession
was already announced, in the very sha-
dow of Independence Hall, he declared
that cotton, the product Of slave labor"
was indispensable to our prosperity; q
have the Philadelphia Age edition of the
speech before me, and find the italics
there); that the negroes need the au-
thority of a master and the eye of an
overseer; that negro slavery was thus
in this production of cotton +" an incalcu-
liable blessing" to us of the North, and
: that property an man was divine,y sane
| toned, if not divinely ordained. He has
the right to claim that these words were
spoken at meeting on behalf of the Union,
but they speak for themselves IF, face to
face with history, these declarations give
him as much comfort now as it did the
Rebels then, | am content. When the
Union soldiers, graphing with armed
treason, begged more men to fill their
shattered ranks, he decided the draft un-
constitutional. Yet the law withstood
even more powerful assaults than his. 1t
reused the people to the danger of their
comrades, meetings in every ward and
/ township raised the needed troops, or
where they failed the quota was filed by
! the execution of the act, and our soldiers,
under Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and
! Thomas, went onward to victory = tri-
umph only surpassed by their virtue of
this hour
Now, following the lead of the very
wrongdoer We are about to try, he calls
this House, where he aids to discuss and
pass laws, and the Senate " irregular, ua-
adding, If he were the Presidents coun-
sellor, which he says he is not, he would
advise a proclamation to that effect,
which, F with the army and navy to sus-
tain it, would meet a popular response
that would make an end Of impeachment
and impeachers."
Sir, | cannot characterize this threat
IN parliamentary language, and will only
say this sentence found its way into print,
but was never uttered on this floor. An
drew johnson has already tried to bribe
the leaders Of the army in vain; the navy
has not been polluted even by his offers
Abraham Lincoln rejoiced, in 1861, that
no private soldier or sailor was known to
join the Rebellion. They are true now
as they were then. The masses favor
obedience to the law, and will take note
of those who desire fresh bloodshed
Happy, indeed, is it that such Presi-
dent, with which such advisers, Jailed to
get control ofhe Var Office.
/ Mr.. Woodward = Will the gentleman
yield to me for a statement?
Mr.. Myers will if it is not to abridge
the time allowed me.
Mr. Woodward = The gentleman
charges against me that published what
/ / did not say in this House. Will he al
low me to say that it was his party who
would not permit me to finish my re-
maks, and got leave to print
! Mr.. Myers Il have not doubt my
colleague would have gone on to his con
clusion. stood near him, however, and
knew he did not speak the offensive
threat. When his time expired he merely
asked leave to print. My objection is not
that he printed what he had not spoken,
but | desire the country to know why he
was not at once, as the rules contemplate,
called to account for this language, aud
say to him now it is well for him the ex-
piration of time prc.ented its utterance.
! Mr. Speaker, the Executive of the ma
tion is upon trial in order that the people
may be relieved from his expressions.
Who is the Executive Of the nation! lie
who is charged with the execution of its
laws. What is among the grayest of his
ofenses = failure to execute the law?