The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-04-05
THE Tenure-of-ofice Law.


Dispatca sin their respective interpreta"
t;ons" OF the new tenure-of-ofice law,
undertakes to show that the President 10
s,;,, hsndcuffed. We do not so read the
law. Butler, LOGAN, and Others declared
n thu gouse that the compromise bill was
oou;va,snt to An entire repeal Of the law.
81 we understand It ; and we will try to
nrove to the Enquirer that it is mistaken IN
;ts construction Of the new law. The first
sectiea is as follows:
"sscrroy l. Belt enacted. de-, Thateyery
person holding any civil office TO wnicn ne
has been, or hereafter may be, appoin.eo
nv and with the advice and consent OF the
senate. and who shall have become duly
onaI;6ed to act therein, shall be entitled to
hold snch office during the term for which
he shall have been appointed, unless sooner
removed by and with the advice and con-
sent Of the Senate, or by the appointment,
Nth the like advice and consent, OF s. sue
cessor in his place, encept as herein other
aoise provided"
Now. this section provides that every
Office holder shall hold his Office by GER
tain tenure, "ercept as herein otherwise
prou;ded." This exception nullifes the
first section, and throws the whole strength
Of the law into the second section; which
is as follows:
"Syc. Q. And be it further enacted, That
during any recess of the Senate the Presl-
dent hereby is empowered, 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. ,p7tu the end of the merit session OF the
Senate. and to designate some suitable per-
son, subject to be removed in his dlscre-
ton or by the designation of another. 10
perform the duties of such suspended
officer in the mean time, and such person
80 designated shall take the oa.hs anu gise
the bonds required by law to be taken
and given by the suspended ofhcer, anu
shall, during the time no performs MS ou-
ties, be entitled to the salary and emolu-
ments OF such officer, no part OF when
shall belong to the officer suspended; ana
It shall be the duty of the President, with
in thirty days after the commencement or
every session of the Senate, except for any
office which in his opinion ought not TO be
filled. to nominate persons to fill all vacan-
cies in Offices which exist prior to the meet
ing Of the Senate, whether temporarily
filled or not and SO in the place of oil ottl-
GERS suspended and # the Senate duran9
such session shall refuse to ddvise and con-
sent 10 an appointment in the place OF such
SUSPENDED officer. then, and not otherwise,
the President shall nominate another person
as soon as practicable to said session OF the
Senate for said office"
The trickery Of BUTLER is manifest IN
this section. 1t makes q suspension equiva-
lent to removal. The Enquirer says that
ain case the Senate refuses to confirm any
nomination up to adjournment, then, &C
"cording to the first section Of the bill,
"the original appointee, no matter how
"obnoxious to the President, shall be
"entitled to hold such office during the
"term for which he shall have been
"appointed'" On the contrary, the law
expressly provides that the person appointed
in place of the suspended officer shall hold
Office "until THE END of the next session
of the Senate" "; and elf the Senate during
"Such session shall refuse to advise and con-
"sent to an appointment in the place of such
suspended officer, then the President shall
not restore the suspended officer, butt
"nominate another person as soon as prac-
"ticable to said session of the Senate for
"said Office" Here it is first provided
that the new appointee shall continue in
Office until the end Of the next session
of the Senate, and then it is provi-
ded that the nominations Of persons
whether one or dozenl to fill the Office
permanently shall be made "to said ses-
sion." The law tells the President exactly
what to do in case his nominee is not con-
frmed. He is not to restore the old officer.
That is what the Senate bill provided, and
is what was struck out of it by way of COM
promise with the House. He is to "nomi-
nate another person." But suppose the
Senate reject his nominee on the last day
of the session. Then the first part Of the
second section comes to his relief. "During
any recess Of the Senate the President
"hereby is empowered, at his discretion,
"to suspend any civil officer appointed
"by and with the advice and con.
I" sent of the Senate, until the end Of
IS the nert session Of the Senate" And
30 on ad infnitum. The Enquirer says that
if the Presidents nominee be rejected il
is his duty under the law to restore the old
officer; but the law itself says that if hiE
nominee be rejected he shall nominate an
other person. And if it be his expires!
duty thus to act in the presence Of that au'
gust body the United States Senate-thus
to fill the Office when his would-be master:
have their eyes upon hint certainly
would be unreasonable to require him tc
restore the old officer in recess, when the
law in plain terms gives him the power tc
suspend any civil officer during recess and
not simply "any civil officer" but any
" appointed by and with the advice and
consent OF the Senate" We hold that we
have established these three propositions
FsrSt.-That during recess of the
Senate the President may suspend "any
civil officer" etc., and fill his place.
Sscond.-That the new appointee holds
as long as the Senate is in session unless
his successor be confirmed. :
ThId.-That, as the new appointee holds
his Office under the law as long as the