The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-04-29


movement that surprises us or in any way causes
anxiety, so far as the success of General Grant
is concerned, we SEQ the necessity for wisdom
and caution on the part of the administration
One of the Inconvenience of our form of gov
eminent is the absence of fexibility. The
people express their will every four years.
That over the Executive is rs powerful as
monarchy. In fact, considering the patronage
welded by the Executive, the practical ire
sponsibility of the Chief Magistrate, except to
Senate which may refuse to confirm appoint
ments, and the growing power of the govern
ment, in business as well as political affairs,
there is rigidity and power in the Presiden-
tial office which ore not surpassed by any of
the monarchies of the Old World. The process
in cases of fragrant wrong and violation of law
it is powerless. The attempt to impeach Mr.
johnson demonstrated one thing-that there
could be no removal Of President for political
reasons. In Mr. Johnson's case many reasons
of political nature existed. The party in
power was largely in power, and the President
had made war upon it. Had he been the
Prime Minister of government like the Eng
lsh he would have been driven out Of power
by vote of want of confidence. Such a vote,
however, implied no dishonor. The process
Of impeachment on the contrary. suppressed
crime and carried with it not merely removal
from Office but removal under circumstances
that made it penalty like imprisonment or
exile.
As we have said no Senate will ever treat
impeachment as a political punishment; SO
when President drifts away from his party
or from public opinion, he remains in power
until the end of his term. Whenever we have
seen an antagonism between President and
Congress we have had scandals and weak ad-
ninistration and corruption and lowering of
the public virtue. We saw this in the time Of
Buchanan, and conspicuously under johnson.
Public opinion acts periodically, and then is
silent, and has no more power over the Pres-
dent than the public opinion Of Russia over
the Car. There is no way Of reaching the
administration, and consequently we have a
clumsy government, and are easily misunder-
stood. We saw the English Ministry sign the
Johnson-Stanley treaty at a time when every
body felt that it would never be ratified when
the President who made it had no influence or
power; and we remember the surprise Of the |
Old World at the decisive vote which rejected |
the former convention. 1t is misfortune, we
think, there should be these times of dissen-
sion and responsibility General Grant
expressed his own contempt and dislike for
them when he said that he would never have
a policy to enforce that was in opposition to
the manifestly expressed will Of the people.
We remember the pleasure this assurance gave
us, for we were trembling under our Johnson
experiments with the policy and the constitu-
ton. But, really there was little genuine
reform in this averment when we came to
MS to what constitutes the will of the people, |
No doubt Mr.. Johnson thought that every
proclamation and veto which he hurled at
Congress was in answer to the will of the
people. We know how badly he was deceived;
but the deception under which he abored may
fall upon any eager, narrow minded Jealous
Chief Magistrate There are no tyTants so
implacable as those who prosecute the heretics
for the glory of God and the welfare Of the
Church, and we have had no President who
offended the solemn sense of the people as
wantonly Us Andrew Johnson when he defended
the constitution of the United States, an
instrument which he worshipped with
maidenly devotion, and whose integrity he
believed to be in peril.
General Grants famous declaration was a
step towards what might be called flexible
4
no policy not agreeable to the people he
meant to make his government as responsible
to Congress as Mr.. Gladstone and his govern
ment are responsible to the House of Com
mons. He meant this or nothing at ALL and
he is not q man given to idle speech. More
than all, he showed what he meant in the ST.
Domingo business. Whatever may be said for
or against that measure it was certainly, as
handled by the President, an unpopular scheme.
IF Mr. Gladstone had presented it to the House
of Commons under circumstances similar to
those under which the President presented it TO
Congress, Parliament would have driven him
out Of the Ministry This the President saw,
and he frankly Withdrew the measure from
Congress as an administrative project. Mr..
Lincoln did the same when in the early part
Of the war il was seen that Congress had no
confidence in the War Office. He yielded to
the will of the people, and appointed Seer
tary Of War who possessed the country's conf-l
dence. Lincoln, as well rs Grant, recognized
therefore the want of facility and feNbility of
the government, and in SO doing endeared
himself like Grant, to the people. Johnson,
on the other hand, chung to the prerogatives OF
his ofice-to every right and immunity guar
anteed by the constitution, and his admnistra-
ton went to pieces, while he himself narrowly
escaped punishment and expulsion from Office.
While we see no way to practically engraft
the wise aud salutary custom Of the English
L.. hi1,l,lr, nd