The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1876-01-06
Shall Gov. Ames be Empea ched
and Removed?


dy, of impeachment, rid themselves O.
Adelbert Ames, as the Chief Magistrate
: of the State, in consequence of his gros:
: abuse of power-his omission of the
things he ought to have done, and com
mission Of the things he ought not to
have done-we are met by the inquiry,
Has he committed any of the offences
! which are clearly defined as Improbable
, by the Constitution, and must his offences
be indictable to be Improbable
We answer the first inquiry in the Ian.
guage Of Manager Butler, in the trial of
President johnson:
The House of Representatives shall
solely impeach; the Senate only shall
try, and in case of conviction, the
| judgment shall alone be removal from
ohce, and disqualification for office, or
! both. These mandatory provisions became
necessary, to adapt well known procedure
OF the mother country to the institutions of
| the then infant republic. But a si,qZe Incl
dent only Of the business a0as left 10 const1uc-
ton, and that concerns the offences end inca-
Pactttes e0htch are the ground ac0rk Of inpeach-
'nent. This was wisely done, because human
foresight is inadequate, and human intellect
fails in the task of anticipating and proyi- |
clng for, by positive enactment, all the inf |
mite gradations of human wrong and sin. |
Oy which the liberties of people and the
safety OF nation may be endangered from
the imbecility, corruption and unhallowed
ambition OF its rulers
In other words, the causes for the an
pllcation Of the remedy Of Impeachment
and removal were purposeIy not defined,
but were left to the discretion of the
Legislature, whose members are respon-
slbIe to their consciences and the people,
for the wise and patriotic use of the
power with which they are invested.
In reply to the second inquiry, we will ,
again rely for our guidance upon the au- G
thority cited by Manager Butler, in the
case above mentioned Addressing the H.
Senate, he said q pray leave to Law T
before you brief of all the precedents
and authorities on this subject, Cof o
remedy by impeachment for which I s.
am indebted to the exhaustive and
learned labors of the Hon. William "
Lawrence, of Ohio, member of the .Ju- -
dietary Committee of the House. etc in r.
amen Il olly concur, and echich Iadopt." So
rom the 'brief' thus "adopted" and
concurred in" by Manager Butler we -
Ill proceed to quote
IN England, impeachment NAV. to oo,oo
AUeht' be regarded as a mode Of triaI dn III
: hcu, inter dAd to punish crime. thonnh 81
"a Gb,,.Feiy so, since judgment on an i'm g..
inc hihgs bench. here i1aDedcb,neut 10 fit
Wy "eStyRe3 to TemoUe unft persons IRON, Of !
q anu Ile party convicted is subject 70 Pl
0per courts. III 'ilo w
1t is ABSURD to say that impeacbmant :. be,
nc mode OF procedure for The 3,t1jeb1,ont no,
CRIME, when the Constitution drrJare" itS Po'
JeCC 10 De ren90CaI from and diygu1Ijfc(,tio., q
All neXe It' ,iiu tha' lh9 party convicted Ma
int,1o'5t V"tIeSS be liable and subject to
ilcllneht' trial, Judgment and pnnisbo
'oI' according to law" for his Grimes,
ne trainers of our Constitution. looLin y
u tne impeachment trials of England and
Ine writ, writers on parliamentary and com tho
u iaW' ana to the. constitutions and mo.
ges OF our own States, saw thot no "iu t mos
4 = ariidlnent or of any State Legislature on
UNDERTOOK TO define an imDeechahle ~
ne 1hey saw that the whole system ~ the
neS as defined in acts of Parliament hon
hIZen at common law, acaS prescrjbed =:
= "'i %, a@oPse@ 10 INC ordinary courts p inIr
e. r. Il crown, CHI. 20, p, $50; 6 HowaI1 q On
Trials, 3l3, note ) 0"e4l " W
hey saw chat The HIGH court 90 ;u., agai
II t0ok jurisdiction of cases where no a re-
cCaoIe CRIME had been cOmmittad =;
y Instances, and there were then ~ son
( SeI are two parallel modes of reach ties
some but not all, offenders. one nv 80
'hment, the other by Indictment iii vagu
=, .h conn
lth these landmarks to oni1a tbor,
rs GaoPtea a Constitution uqRey 2nbicb on LII
e1oa"oe ana RofeGSdnce and IN, some amin
'ment although not ,naGe c rayect OF I'M clari
n Eel on 10 recognized by the common retur
They adopted impeacbno,,tt ~ Tue On that
3,G0 Icy ngh from office 1rhoSe aascon6ct "of
oecu'y official position. ''''''S mem an will C
r v'''I - supported by the elementary
rs oolh English and American -,
tmentary and common LAW ~ I' on
-" anu American usage in eases or in
,'i Sr oy inc opinions of the fran,ers Sor
constitution; by contem noran n
rncton, all uncontradicted b Poraneons said,
authority case or iurist for 'y n, "u. eno,, ,
Of century after more ore Cn0y
ion OF the Constitution. "''er the Gov.
,ddson ,,ho.o yourse
d in I777, declared rho, we're read at that Ii
ja,Gs 1Se$ q '2leh The ordinary courts his POI
licers MAY abuse h tbsis rates ty ofe
powers to The extensive detrim trim pGie tered
r. ," not n.y., and at the same time in - H.
trij,pdG ~ @t,s|fy cog4'@able before the Or Ply
- " impeachment. And ms
IkeS no great reasoDipc, ~ By fear
mat the principles here asserted I'm
e rule laid down for the employ Leqisla