Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-03-26

A. ~
tenure-of=ofiice question so as t
: please Grant and preserve som
show of the power which the Sen
ate has assumed touching the re
moval of Office holders, has been I
Il puzzle that has given the Radicals
more trouble than any question
that. has come up since the election
Of Grant. There were some Rad
cal Senators who favored a repea
of the law, and others who thought
it ought to be- modified, while
quite a number insisted that the law
should stand as originally enacted
While this contrariety of opinion
manifested itself among Senator's,
Grant resolutely insisted that the
law should be repealed, and obsti-
| nately refused to make removals
except for reasons that would be
justified by the law. While this
skirmishing was going on, the thous-
ands Of ambassadors who had
iocked to Washington like vultures
in search of prey, were clamorous
for places as a reward for their
services in behalf. of the party.
When the fact became clear to the
spoilsmen and demagogues of the
Radical party that their leaders in
the Senate were so evenly divided
upon this tenure~of office question,
that the few Demo cratsin that body
held the balance ofpower, and that
if the question came to a vote they
would determine the result by
voting for the unconditional repeal
Of the law, the necessity Of com
promise became apparent, and it
is stated that Radical Senators went
to Grant on Tuesday night, and
said to him that if a vote were
taken in the Senate on the House
bill Internationally repeating the
law, it would unquestionably pass
by the vote of the Democratic
Senators, who would thus have all
the credit of fulfilling the Presi-
dents main desire, and at the same
time place the bulk of Radical Sen
ators in an unpleasant position.
These Radical Senators proposed
that the Senate should recede from
its position somewhat and that the
President should do the same.
Grant, after much thought, agreed
to the compromise thus proposed
and consented to take it in the shape
of the bill that passed the Senate
Wednesday, The compromise to
which it is said Grant acceded,
rather than take what he demanded
at the hands Of the Democratic
Senators, was reported Wednesday
from the Judiciary Committee by
Mr.. Trumbull as follows:
Strike out ali after the enacting clause,
and insert that the first and second Sec
tons Of an act, entitled "An act regu-
lating the tenure Of certain civil Offices
passed March =, 1867, be and the same
are hereby repealed in lieu of said re-
pealed sections the following are hereby
enacted That every person holding any
civil office to which he had been or may
hereafter be appointed, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, and
who shall be entitled to hold such office
during the term for which he should
have been appointed, unless sooner re-
moved by and with the consent of the
Senate, or by the appointment, with the
like advice and consent, of successor
in his place, except as herein otherwise
provided.
Sec 2 That during any recess of the
Senate the President is hereby empow-
cred, in his discretion, to suspend any
civil officer appointed by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, except
judges of the United States courts, until
the end of the next session of the Sen.
ate, and to designate some suitable per-
son, subject to be removed in his discre~
ton, by resignation or otherwise, to
perform the duties of such suspended
officer in the meantime; and such person
so designated shall take the oaths and
give the bonds required by law to be
taken and given by the suspended officer,
and shall, during the time he performs
his duties, be entitled to the salary and
emoluments Of such officer, no part
of which shall belong to the person
suspended; and it shall be the duty of
the President, within thirty days after
the commencement Of the Senate, except
for any Office which in his opinion ought
not to be filled, to nominate persons to
fill all vacancies in office which existed
at the meeting of the Senate, whether
temporarily filed or not; also in place
of all officers suspended and If the
Senate during such session shall refuse
to advise and consent 10 an appointment
in the place OF any suspended officer
and shall also refuse by vote to assent to
his suspension, then, and not otherwise,
such officer, at the end of the session,
shall he entitled to resume possession OF
the office from which he was suspended,
and afterward to discharge its duties
| and receive its emoluments as though no
suspension had taken place.
Mr.. Morton, of Indiana, de-
| nounced this compromise as "pre
serving the shadow rather than the
substance of the tenure Of office
| act, and that at was merely bad
photograph of dead body" This
chad photograph of dead body"
was agreed to by the following
vote:
Yeas-Messrs Abbott, Anthony, Bore
man, Brownlow, Buckingham, Carpenter,
Cattell, Chandler, Conkling, Cragin,
Drake, Edmunds, Ferry, Gilbert, Ham,
lin, Harlan, Harris, Howard, Kellogg,
Morrill,, Osborn, Patterson, Pratt, Ram
sey, Rice, Sawyer, SchuTz, Scott
Spencer, Stewart, Sumner, Upton, Trum-
bull, Wiley, Williams, Wilson and
| Yates-37
| Nays-Messrs. Bayarl, Casserly, Da'
| Wis, Fessenden, Fowler, Grimes, McCree'
~, Mcdonald, Norton, Ross, Sprague
Stockton, Thurman, Nickers and Warn.
er-lj.
The sections of the civil tenure