The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-07-26
COEUMBIA,-S. s. c.
Sunday Morning. July 26. 1874.

Sunday Morning. July 26, 1874.
Tho Abuse or tho Pardoning Powe.
and tho Remedy.
Our attention has been called to an
editorial article in the last number OF
the Greenville Enterprise and Noun
taineer upon the above named subject.
In quotation from the State Consti.
tuition, the writer shows the important
duty imposed upon the Executive, aa
follows:
"He shall have power to grant re-
Except In case Of impeaohment.) in
such manner, on such terms and under
such restrictions as he shall think pro.
per; and be shall have power to remit
fines and forfeitures, unless otherwise
directed by law. It shall be his duty
to report to the General Assembly, at
the next regular session thereafter, all
pardons granted by him. with q full
statement Of each case, and the rea-
Bons moving him thereunto."
The failure OF the Executive to re-.
port to the General Assembly, as thus
provided, is asserted upon the an.
thority OF Senator. and is character.
lied as clear case OF willful violation
OF the Constitution and violation Of
the oath Of Office taken upon assuming
charge of the reins of government.
For this abuse OF the pardoning power
and for the evils which have followed,
the Governor is held directly RESPONSE
&ilie. He tramples upon the Constitu-
tion. and that, too, in a vital particu-
lar; he strikes down one Of the barriers
placed by the people between him and
arbitrary power; he ignores the sane
tions OF the law and the earnest pro.
tests OF the Judges.
But this is not all. Culpable as the
Governor is, the General Assembly is
equally 30, which does not require the
report to be made. They become
equally responsible for all the evils re-
suiting from his wilful neglect OF duty.
1t is bad enough, says the writer. when
,the power Of the Executive is used to
overthrow that of the judiciary; but
when he is upheld by corrupt and
venal Legislature, then all hope for
good government seems to vanish, and
the baseness of our rulers becomesthe
index of the misery into which we are
to be plunged. The case being thus
made ont against both the Governor
and the Legislature. the duty of the
latter is next presented, to retrieve it.
self by correction Of the evil, which
has grown to such monstrous proper
tions by it's connivance or sufferance.
The remedy is to be found in the Con-
stitution, Section 81 OF Article II:
"Oaicers shall be removed for incapa-
city. misconduct or neglect of duty, in
such manner as may be provided by
law. when no mode of trial or removal
is provided in this Constitution. And
the mode of procedure is by impeaoh-
nent. The Governor, by his noto-
rious pardons and notorious neglect to
submit his action to the consideration
and review OF the General Assembly
stands clearly within the law, and mus,
be convicted whenever a case is madc.
The final suggestion is, that the Con.
servative members of the Legislature
should take those who proclaim re.
form 80 loudly, including the "thieves
who shout the word as loudly as any
one else" and by proceeding against
Moses, make them either do justice
or swallow their professions.
There is good deal that is plausi
BILE in this scheme of our friend of the
Enterprise and Mountaineer, and there
are many offences, besides his faoilitJ
in granting pardons and failing to duly
account for them, for which the pre-
sent Governor might be brought te
account. The Indictment of the grand
jury OF Orageburg against him, the
contempt shown writ of the Court
the employment OF military force tc
protect him against arrest, the ap
pointment by his attorneys of day
for trial aud its farcical proceedings,
including the Judges op pinion, throw