The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-05-01

I CCfIdInIV dllntIOH,
into the service of imputaon, of inculpaton and OF
proof all that this country Affords all that the power
to send for persons and papers Includes They ran
none OF the risks that attend ordinary proceedings of
bringing their witnesses into court TO stand the test
| OF examination and crossexamnation but they can
| put them under the construction OF an oath
| and explanation in advance, and see what they
| can prove and whom they can bring, and whom they
| can reject. They can take our witnesses from the
stand already under OATH and even those OF great
| and high character as the Lieutenant General Of
| your armies and out of court they try him with
| new examination to whether he shall help or
hurt them by being crosseXamined In court, using
every arm and every art stayed by no sense except
OF public duty nothing to remove their power or con-
troll its exercise, and yet here Is the evidence The
people of this country have been made to believe
all sorts Of official misconduct and folly. that all
sorts OF usurpation and oppression had been prac
tive and was to be explored and exposed by the pro
secution and certainly set down IN the records or
this court Of public Judgment. Here you have IT.
For violence and oppression and usurpatOn-a tele-
gram between the President and Governor Parsons,
published two years ago. For the desire to repress
the power of COngress-the testimony OF would be
office seeker that the President said certain points
were important, and he thought the patronage OF
| the government should be in support of those
principles. The would he office seeker went home,
aud was supposed to have said that the President
Now, weigh the testimony upon the scale in which
the nation weighs 1t, upon the scale that foreign ma
tons look at it. upon the scale that history
Will apply to 1t, upon the scale that pOsterity
will In retrospect regard 1t from. 1t depends
good deal upon how large a selection few
handful OF wheat marked by the rust and wevii and
show it to my neighbor, he would say, why, what
a wretched crop OF wheat you have made. But ii
said to him, these few kernels are what have taken
| from the bins OF my whole harvests he would
answer, what splendid crop OF wheat you have
had. Now, answer answer, answer, if there Is any
| thing wrong in this? Mr.. Manager WILSON, from the
Judiciary Committee, having examined this subject
all the year, made report, itself the wisest, the
clearest and also one of the most entertaining re-
ports on the subject Of impeachment in the past or
| in the present that have ever seen or can ever
| expect TO What is the reSutY That IL
is all political; all these thunder clouds are po
| cal, and it is only this little petty pattering of
rain conveying the nfraction of the constitution that
Is personal or criminal. And the grand inquest OF
the nation before the final reverberatOn OF the whole
arangue, on the 9th of December, 1867, votes O7
| 81 no impeachment. And now would like 10 know
| If the honorable Managers had limited their adj
dresses TO this court to matters which in purpose, IN
character, IN intent and in effect occurred after that
bill of impeachment was thrown out by the House.
how much would have been entertained OF this case
have not heard anything which had not occurred
before that. The speeches were made eighteen
months before, the telegram was sent a year
before, the Office seeker came Into play long
before. What is there thon9 The honorable Managers
too, do not seem TO have been Of one mind abont
these articles. The articles seem TO have been
originally discussed and then assorted afterwards. ]
| understood the honorable Manager (Mr Butler) 10
say that there not anything in the first articles
you need not trouble yourselves to think of the
eleventh. ana Mr. Manager stevens thinks If there
is nothing in the eleventh article Won had better not
bother yourselves by looking for anything in the
first ieD-0aueherl-for he says county court
lawyer could get rid Of them. Here is what Mr..
arly noticed tllat intend to oier an amendment.
wish gentlemen to examine and see that this charge
is nowhere contained in any OF the articles reported,
aud tnat unless it IL inserted there can be no trial.
and That II there be slreWd lawyers, know there
VIII oe and caving ia lges le did not state any
certainty Of that, land Without this article they do
not acqdit MN, they are greener than | was
in any case ever undertook before Court of Quar-
ter SESSIONS" (Laughter.) Wen, now u will not be
very vain In us TO think that perhaps we up to
tlat estimate on our eide OF the Quarter Sessions
lawyers WHO would he adequate to dispose OF these
II. Il
cannot get IN Wha6 is political, and nothing hut
political, you cannot get hold Of anything that
il criminal or personal. Now, having passed
nom the general estimate OF the ameness and feeble
ness Of the addresses and charges. begin with the
the subject matter OF winch | am disposed to con-
cede there is some proof and that Is as to the
speeches Now. think that 1t has been family proved
here that the speeches charged upon the President,
in substance anu in general, were made. My drst
1865, ana that they related to Congress which has
passed our Of existence, and that they We're the sub
House, ana which the House voted tnat 4 WOULD not
impeach. My next difficulty is not tliat they are
crimes against argument against rhetoric, against
taste and nerlans aGainst logc but that the consti
tuition Of the United States, neither in Itself by
any subsequent amendment has provided for the
government of the people Of this country in these
regards. Now, 1t is new thing in this country to
punish any man for making speech. There are a
therefore, cases would undoabtedly have arisen
in eighty years of our history where men were
punished for making speeches. Indeed believe If
us to the approval Of other nations 1t Is
that every man In this country not only has
a speech and a very good one, and that he does at
some time or other actually do so. The very lowest
adopted by the newspapers Is able and eloquent"
U.aughterl have seen applied IN the newspa-
pers to the efforts Of honorable managers;
have seen them spoken OF before they were deliv
cred as OF tremendous force, and saw once an ac-
cuae, anthem ica statement OF the force OF and
consisted
tIaughter.) Therefore must have arisen for a
question, If there was to he any punishment for
spcech-making But now for the first time we
begin with the President, aud him
we take him before no ordinary. court,
but we organize a court for the purpose. which
adourns the moment IL Is over with the trial. fur
nishing no prccedents and must remove him from
ONCE and order q new election Now THAT is a good
deal to turn upon speech. only think OF Ito he
able TO make speech which would require new
II the trial Is 70 take place let the proclamation issue
10 this speech making people Let him who Is With
ont sins among you cast the first stone. And see how
the nation on uptoe awaits TO sec VINO viii answer
that dainty challenge, who assume that fastidiOus
duty. We see, in addition, the necessary require
ment. II muat be who by long discipline has
learned 10 speak within bounds; one whose lips
would staInner at an imputation, whose cheek
would blush at a rcproach, whose ears would Jingle
ut an inycctiye, ami whose eyes would close at an
indecorum. II must be one who by strict CONT
ncncc OF speech and by control over the ongue-that
unruly Inenber-has gained with all his country men
the praise OF ruling his own spirit, which IL greater
than one who takes the chair. And now the chal-
lenge is answered, and II seems that the honorable
Manager TO whom this duty Is assigned IS
one who would be recognized at once in the
Judgment of all AZ the ''frst In war, FIRST
IN peace, first in boldness OF words, and first
In the hearts OF all his coun trymcn" who love the
wordy mtrepdty. (Unreprcsscd aughter) Wen
the champion being gained, We ASK for the
rules, and in AN nerocuOry inquiry which had the
honor To address 20 hun he said the rule was the
opinion OF The court which 10 try The case. Now
Lee ~ see whether we can get any guidance IA 10
what your opinions are as to this subject Of freedom
OF speech, for We Drought down to tiat. having
no law or precedents. Besides lind that the mat
ter charged against the President Is that he has been
unmndi1l of the harmony and courtesies which
should prevail between the legislative and the cX
ecutive. II 1t should prevail from the executive
toward the legislative. II should also prevail from the
legislative 10 the executive except am 10 he met
with what must regard az "a most novel view, pre-
scented by Mr.. Manager Williams in his argument the
other day that las the constitution OF the United
~tuIn DrnN NDnr In Inn