The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1868-05-29
OPINION OF
S Z N ATOR BUCKAhE W,
UPON THE IMPEACHMENT
OF a N D II EW JOHNSON,
FREsTDEgT OF THE U. s.
TIE STANTON ARTICLE.

| 'NA'o itoNii hiSN III NOllolOtlullOUs IL
charged that that order was unlawful,
issued with intent to violate the Tenur,
of-Oflice act of March ., 1867, and con
trary to the Constitution of the United
States, and that by issuing it, the Pres
ident did commit and was guilty of {
high misdemeanor in office.
Was the order for the removal of Mr.
Stanton authorized by the Constitution
and laws Of the United States, or was il
in violation of either or both +? The ar
gumcnt upon this question has beer
prolonged and exhaustive; but to aiust
conclusion ii will only be necessary tc
examine few points and place then
in their proper relations to each Other
and TO the general question involved.
AS Constitutional question, the Ex.
ccutivc power to remove from Office
may be placed upon those two provi5.
ions of the Constitution of the United
States which declare that the Executive
power of the Government shall be YES.
ted in the President, and that he shall
take care that the laws be faithfully OK.
ecuted. The power to remove being
executive in ts.nature, and its exercise,
upon fit occasions, being necessary to
the due execution of the laws, it is in.
sisted that ii is vested in the President
by these provisions of the Constitution:
And such was the decision of Congress
a flor Fl, II JnboIn l., f-Cp
II TINS construction of the Constitu.
tion he true construction, there can be
no doubt that the President had due au-
thority TO issue the order for the rcmo-
val of Mr.. Stanton.
But the power Of the President to re.
move Secretary of War from office, is
clearly declared by the second section OF
the Act of 7th August, 1889, organizing
the War Department. That section
reads rs follows:-
"There shall be in said Department
an inferior officer to be appointed by the
said principal officer, to be employed
therein as he shall deem proper, to be
called the Chief Clerk in the Depart.
ment of War and who, WhenereI' III,
said principW oWccr SHAT be reDloreo
from C6icc By tie PrcSident Of the Uni
ted states, or in any case Of vacancy
shall during such vacancy have the
charge and custody of all records, books
ana papers appcrtaining to the said De
partmcnt.'
Whether this section simply admits
that the President has power to remov,
by virtue of the c.Constitution, or confer,
the power upon him, is not material tC
our present purpose. In either case
it is a legislative declaration that he
can remove the Secretary, the "princi.
pal officer" in the Department of War.
Again, it is in evidence and undenied
that Secretaries of War have always
been appointed and commissioned to
hold their office "during the pleasure
Of the President of the United States
for thetime being,n and Mr.. Stanton's
ccmmis5ion-the only one ever issued
to him-is in that form.
1t only remains TO inquire whether
recent legislation has changed the ten
ure Of office Of tue Secretary of War so
as to impair or destroy the Presidents
power Of removal The first section of
the Tenure-of-O Office act of 2nd March,
1867, is as folows
"That any person holding any civil
Office to which he has been appointed
by and with the advice and consent OF
the Senate, and every person who shall
hereafter be appointed toany such Office
and shall become duly qualified to act
therein, is and shall be entitled to hold
such office until II successor shall have
been in like manner appointed and du-
ly qualified, except as herein otherwise
provided: Provided that the Secretaries
of State, Of the Treasury, of War, of
the Navy and Of the Interior, the Post
Master General and the Attorney Cen
cral, shall hold their offices respectively
for and during the term of the Presi-
dent by whom they may have been APP
pointed and for one month thereafter,
subject to removal by and with the adj
vice and consent Of the Senate"
The proviso Of this section puts the
Heads Of Departments into class by
themselves, but cannot have practical
effect upon four of the Secretaries who
were appointed to Office by Mr.. Lincoln
namely, the Secretary Of State, the Sec
rctary Of War, the Secretary of the
Treasury and the Secretary of the Ma
Wy. They were appointed by Mr.. Lin
coin in his first term and were commits
stoned by him, in the usual form which
then obtained, to hold their Offices "du-
ring the pleasure OF the President OF
the United States for the time beingj'
Theirs was, then, n tenure at will they
were to hold AT the pleasure Of the Pres
ident who appointed them, or of his
successor whoever that successors might
be.
The Secretary Of the Interior, the
Post Master General and the Attorney
General had been appointed by Mr..
Johnson and had received commissions
in the same form. So stood the case as
TO the Heads Of Departments when the
Tcnure-ofOilicc Act was passed.
The proviso, therefore, in declur-
ing that Heads Of Department should
hold during the term Of he President
by whom they may have | cen appoint
ed and for one month thereafter, could
not have the practical effect of expand
ing or changing the tenure upon which
the Lincoln Secretaries held their Off
ccs. For the term Of the President who
appointed them, and during which they
We're appointed, expired March 4, 1861
and they We're never reappointcd aftcl
its expiration. Besides, Mr.. Johnson:
term began in April 1863, and when the
law was passed, March 2, 1867, ther,
was no term running of a President by
whom they had been appointed. There
can be no pretence OF an appointment
of them by Mr., Johnson, or by Mr.
Lincoln in his second term, from thu
fact that they held over after March 4
1868. No new commissions We're issueC
to them, and in fact no new appoint
ments were possible without the advlc,
and consent Of the Senate, which wa