Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-03-24
THE SCUFFLE FOR THE LOAEEs
AND FISHES.

AND FISHES.
The tenure of Office law has re-
turned to plague its inventors. The
whirligig of time has brought its
revenges. The Radicals of the
Senate thought to initiate the Spar
tan boy and conceal the misery
they suffer in the entrails. They
retired into caucus to agonize in
secret but the day is past for that
sort of thing. A Washington cor
respondent of the 22d, thus discloses
the scene:
Messengers, therefore, flew about the
street last night notifying Radical Sena-
tors to be on hand at the Senate cham
Der at 10 o'clock this morning to decide
what position the party should assume TO
save themselves and yet not strike down
the President At that hour nearly every
Radical Senator was on hand, the doors
were closed and no one allowed to be
present unless he was Senator. Mr..
Anthony presided, and those Senators
opposed to the repeal being satisfied that
/ with the Democrats absent they were
| able to carry the day, at once precipi-
tated a resolution offered by Mr.. Edo
| 1nunds, of Vermont, to this effect:
| "Resolved, That it is inexpedient to re-
| peal the civil tenure-Of-Ofice law"
| This was sustained by Mr.. Edmunds
and others, who have opposed the repeal
| in the Senate, and much of the discus.
| sion of last week was repeated in the
caucus Mr.. Thayer and others favored
the suspension for four years. The dee
bate at times grew furious The absence
Of spectators and reporters enabled SEN
ators to talk pretty plain. Just before
- o clock, when the Senate was to meet,
it was decided to take vote on Mr.. Ed
munds' resolution; whereupon Senators
Morton, Grimes, Sprague, Sherman and
one or two other repealers, got up and
left the caucus. There was no time to
lose, and rather than foment further
trouble, Mr.. Stewart, of Nevada, moved
that the caucus adjourn until = P NJ.
This was carried, and after a two
| hours session CT the Senate, the body
adjourned, and the Radical portion of
il resumed in caucus. Conkling took the
floor in a violent speech against the re-
peal of the law, and in the course Of the
discussion directed his remarks severely
against Mr.. Morton, whom he intimated
was controlled in his championship of
domineering President by anticipa-
tions of patronage and power. Mr..
Morton retaliated, full of wrath and in
denunciation of Mr.. Conkling, and said
that the law was infamous, the situation
of Mr.. StantOn's suppression under it and
also that on the impeachment trial lie
(Mr. MOrtOn) was opposed to it, and al
though he believed that Mr.. johnson
acted wrong he violated, nevertheless,
a bad law. The points for and against
the law were but repetitions of previous
arguments until P. M when Mr.. War.
ner, Of Alabama, proposed as a substi-
tute for all that had been said and done,
to repeal the first two sections of the law.
This was carried by q small majority,
and according to the rule Of the caucus
is bound to be carried out in open
session of the Senate, the disatfectiOn OF
Morton, Grimes and Sprague, ct al, to
the contrary notwithstanding. Accord
ingly tomorrow the Judiciary Commit
tee will report an amendment to repeal
the two sections referred to. This repeal
will leave the law somewhat according to
the old practice of the President and
Senate. lie can make removals during
a recess of the Senate, but must send the
names to the Senate; otherwise the ap-
pointment will fail at the expiration Of
the reassembled session The Senate
will probably repeal the first and second
sections tomorrow. 1t is not believed that
I the House will ever accept the substan0
! tfal repeater of the old law, but will in
sist that every line of the obnoxious stat
ute shall be wiped cut Many Republic
cans denounce the caucus decision as a
mean surrender, and declare that ii
would have been more manly to have re-
pealed all the law or stood by it