The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1868-09-16

the early adjournment of that body
The office of Secretary off, War0vas-
now vacant; the office building, With
its books, seats and other nuliments Of
Iofice, were in the hands Of hNless ,in.
truder, who was directed to t'stick."
In this state of things the President
Eappointed one of the officers Of the
Department to take charge OF IL pro
tempore, until regular. nomination
should be confirmed by the Senate.7
This fact charged in one of the articles
of impeachment as a high misdenean7
or, and the Republican, Senators, All
except seven, including, those who de
clared and voted that the President had
| full power to remove. voted this. at
tempt to take care of the Department
its seals, its correspondence, ard its
archives, during the two, days Of in
evitable vacancy, high misdemehnor,
| 1t was not a trivial effense, this attempt
to take care. of the executive oalce,
bat high lnisdem eaiiors for which hSl
ought to be removed from office, and
give place to the nan wh3i had told the
intru1er to "stick" This vote was
given under the solemnities Of an oath
to do impartial justice: The like is not
to be found in any tribunal anywhere,
certainly not in our own or in English
history. Stafford was impeached BY
the House of Commons at o time when
party spirit ran highest and widest
in England, but they failed roo prove
him guilty of any crime known to the
laws. This being settled, they knew
conviction was impossible, as, the
Peers, in entering On the trial, pledge
their honor that they will do Impartial
Justice. These ARTICLES of ihpeach-
ment were, therefore, withdraw, and
a bill of -attainder substituted, ), Whichs |,
as it involved no oath and no pledge ok y
honor, was readily passed.
This vote of our Senators on the fnii
peachment, sworn, as they were, TO do1IS
impartial justice, is one, of the ligiti-d
mate consequences of the new code Of
morals which Senator Morton boasts of
having Leen taught by the war; ie
developed itself in other instances, most :
worthy of note in logic as web - moFs
ais. He says in his speech OF auarYfs
4, 1868, that President Johnson's proez
lamation, under which the seeded +,
States were reorganizcd, was more rad:
ical than that prepared by Mr.. Lincoln;
more, indeed, than the project of VIM 4
ter Davis; and If it had been submitted
to Congress before it was carried into. .
effect, all would have been WELL. But
the Constitution requires that the IInit1
ed States shall guarantee to each State
a republican form of government and ID
Mr.. Morton says "it was not until
year aud half after the passage of the
constitutional amendment through the
House that Congress came to the con-:
clusion that we could execute the guar =
antee without raising up a new class of
loyal voters in the States.' Now,
wtIer~;- IA tha constitutions of
these ten States-reorganfzed upon !
model more, intensely Republican or
Radical than President Lincoln's Of.
even Winter Davis project-whereiHo
did they depart from republican formf1 4
That which the Constitution author.
ICES and enjoIns US to guarantee is the
form. 1t gives no authority 10 touch
the internal administration of the govIit1
elnment of any of the Stntes on tho
contrary, it reserves that power to thsfa,
several States. This pretense of right :,
to interfere with the local governments
of the States is a miserable sophismy a
resting on false assumption! IL 10 ne
not true, as IS assumed, that any oneI 4.
of these STATES, when interfered with. =
by Congress, had not republican form
of government, or that any one of khen9 &
to- adopt any other form .s-Gl
The forms were various, but all repub- 10
licap, like the constitutions of the origiH
nal States at the time they adopted this
guarantee; and Congress, when they
under pretense of executing 4
this guarantee, destroyed the actual re-
publican form, and imposed on che.
States, in it's stead, military ldespot-
ism, Il were idle to assert the con-.
trary the events are recent; they oc4
CURED in the presence of us ali,i and FAC
stand for the information of present and :,
future ages, recorded in our annals
It is strange to hear it pretended BY. 80
intell-gon men in the presence OF sea
reasoning public, that the ri
placing of ten States under absolute nj
military rule is legitimate, carrying :,
out of the constitutional provision which.
requires the United States to guarantee III
10 each State republican form of "
government. The appeal to the guar.
autee was simply false pretense the /,
object unmistakably was, not TO secure IL
TO those STATES republican forms Of govSo
ernmept, but government in form and" ki
fact which would secure their seyentE, NJ
votes to continue the Republican party:
IN power. To excuse the arbitrary
measures rakv--Ao effect this object ~
facts are perverted, language WreAIed .T7
from its true meaning, and the rights,
which the Constitution was framed TO- :
secure are secuted and despised. -,
Mr.. Morton admits thai the Critten-.
den resolutions amounted to q pledge ~
that, having put down the rebellions. .
we would not disturb the domestic in
stitutions ofthe 3 ates, but restore them;
to their constitutional rights in the
Union but he says, in discussion Mr.. -
Liucoln's cmacipation proclamst tiona di
that if we stood by the pledge we could Il
not restore tbe Union eve must either
stand by the Union and let the pledge,
90, or sand by the pledge and letfthe %
Union go." ri'l
Admit this to be true, though ! thea d
thought. and still think it a mistake ~,
and that as a war measure it did not
but weakened Us. It divid- i
ed the North, united the South, and. n
alienated hundreds Of thousands in the, )
border States. Yet it was no breach, r