Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-10-17

tody as much as to the custody of Con-
gress committed great public interests? II
it had not been intended that he should ex-
ercise a sustaining influence upon Con-
gress and that he should have something to
say in regard to the Supreme Court ITSELF
the veto and the appointment of Supreme
Judges would not have been given him.
We invite the attention of those who have
been urging the objections above referred
to against Mr.. johnson to the following
leader of the Nashville Banner of January
25, 1868, which goes even further than Mr..
johnson did as to the duty of the Presi-
dent in throwing himself across the path
way of Congress"
CAN THE PRESIDENT RESIST CONGRESSIONAL
UsURPATIoN?
The speed with which Congress Is tray
eingthe road to a complete revolution ofthe
government, and the disregard which 1t
paws to the commonest laws of highway
travel suggests an inquiry into the extent
of the Presidents obligation to obey its
mandates and carry out demonstration
edicts.
The President, not less than Congress, Is
a coordinate branch of the government.
To his custody not less than to the Gus
tody of Congress are committed great
public interests. If it had not been in
tended that he should exercise a Restraining
infence upon Congress, and that he
should have something to say IN regard
to the Supreme Court itself, the
veto and the appointment of Supreme
Judges would not have been given him.
Congress is a body elected for two years
only, and one Congress may completely
annul the acts of its predecessors. The
President is elected for four years, and
such powers and patronage are placed at
his disposal as make him match for Con-
gress in physical, as wells as in legal
sense. He Is commander-in-chief of the
great body of citizens who may have elect
ell him to office or may have supported
his administration. There are a score OF
! advantages which belong to the Office OF
President, that point Enthusiastically to the
original design of making him Chief
Magistrate indeed, and that enable him ii
he be a man possessed of courage and
ability, to hold his own against very great
and general pressare.
| On the other hand, Congress is an
! ephemeral affair, composed of two bodies
elected annually, and subjected by the
constitution not alone to the restriction o
the Presidents veto, but also to the revis,
ion of the Supreme Court.
How far, therefore, is the President, I'M
der the Council of the law-ofices of tn,
1 government, bound to carry out congress,
sional enactments which he knows in hi
| own mind to be unconstitutional, anC
which his Attorney General has so con
strued? The question becomes doubl,
significant when the conviction of tn
President and the opinion of the Attone.
General are sustained by the legal voice 0
the country. May he not say to Congress
''this or these laws are unconstitutional
l know them to be SO, and am 50 advise,
by the Attorney General. You know then
to be so too, and have passed them owe
my veto in defiance of every principle 0
just legislation But you have no NOR
right to force me to administer unconstitu
tional laws than have to pass laws il
my own person. 1 regard your action a
ruinous to the country, as tending to sub
vert the constitution and overthrow tn
government, and in this view Of the CAS-
1 am borne out by the highest legal author
ity and by the expressed will of the peopl
/ as far as it has been made known. re
fuse to obey you. 1 will not carry out I'M
constitutional enactments. They are no
legal or binding on me. If unconstitu
tional they cannot be legal or binding Of
anybody. 1 appeal to the people an(
to history, and you can appeal to the Su
preme Court. If it sustains you, then tn
consequences of my action be upon m.
| own head.
Let US suppose that Congress orders
certain man to be executed, and declare
that the President shall not pardon him
This would be an open defiance to the Con
stituton, and gross outrage upon justice
In q case of the kind, the President woult
be compelled by every consideration o
humanity and equity to intervene hi
authority and refuse 10 permit the atrocl
Gus crime. Nobody, we suppose, doubt
this But Congress has proposed to murde
the Supreme Court, to butcher the Consti
tuition and has already ordered ten State
ont to execution, and yet We are told tina
the President has no power to stay tn,
bloody work, and must actually be part!
| o it.
While we would not augment the power
of the President beyond the limit possessed
and practiced by Washington, Jefferson
and jackson, or make any speciOus plea il
| favor of the present incumbent, we are
clearly of the opinion that he possesses
both the right and power to throw himsel
across the pathway of Congress and forbid
that it should precipitate the government
the constitution, the people, himself into 1
gulf of hopeless ruin. In doing this, he
Of course runs the risk of impeachment IL
the event that the measures which he sets
aside are declared to be constitutional. But
| if they are declared to be uncOnstitutiona
he runs no risk, for impeachment will moi
lie. We throw out these hints suggestlvely
1t is for legal erudition and constitutional
wisdom to decide whether they be founded
in the established equity of our system.