Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-04-19

the positive provision, the gran
reservoir into which all powers {
e implication flow. No, sir; thi
amendment cannot in the yer,
nature Of things contemplate revo
2 lutionary action.
But it Is said that it is not in it
| proper place when ingrafted up0l
| an appropriation bill. Is there ;
5 gentleman in this chamber whC
Z will dare deny or take issue will
} ME upon the assertion-and / make
/ it measuring the full import of my
: words after careful examination
2 of the statutes that more than one
J third of the permanent legislation
affecting or relating to the army oi
this Government, as it stands upon
the statute-bOoks of your country
. to-day, has been put there as riders
upon army appropriation bills?
J L do not care to trench upon the
patience of this committee by an
elaborate review of the countless
Instances which that side of the
House have furnished us in the
shape of precedents for the action
that we take. Sir, if lectures upon
revolution are to be read to us, let
them come from some quarter and
from some member who is not him
self convicted on the record.
The gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Garfield) told us that this was an
effort, an unmanly effort, to starve
the Government to death. He con-
trasted it with what he termed the
bOlder and Drawer action of certain
members of Congress in 1861, when
they left their seats in these two
chambers and carried their issue to
the field of carnage. He tells us
that this is revolution, and he de-
nounces any effort we make to adopt
it.
But, sir, this is not all. The gen.
tleman from Ohio, in that effective
and able speech to which he treated
this House a few days ago, used the
following language, which 1 read
from the Record: +:
'In opening this debate, / chal-
lenge all corners to show a single
instance in our history where this
consent has been coerced."
What consent? The consent of
the Executive by extraneous matter
injected into appropriation bills.
"This is the great, the paramount
issue, which dwarfs all others into
insignifcance."
accept the gage of battle that
the gentleman throws down. / !
read from the records, and show |
him the instance he seeks. / find /
that, on the I'd day of March, 1867, !
a thing occurred in the House of |
which the gentleman should have /
been cOgniZant, for he was then, as |
now, an honored member on this |
floor. find the following message
was sent by the then President of |
the United States to the House of
Representatives:
"To THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT
ATIvEs: The act, entitled 'An act
making appropriations for the sup
port of the army p
All, by singular coincidence that
too was an army bill, just as this is.
"The act, entitled An act making
appropriations fer the support Of
the army for the year ending June
80, 1868, and for other purposes
provisions to which / must
call attention. Those provisions
are contained in the second section,
which, in certain cases, virtually
deprives the President of his consti-
tutional functions as Commander
in-Chief of the army, and in the
sixth section, which denies to ten
States of this Union the constitu4
tional right to protect themselves in
any emergency by means of their
own MALTA. These provisions are
out of place in an appropriation
act"
Did the gentleman from Ohio
borrow his recently-used protest
from this official protest of the Ex-
eeutive of the country?
ffThese provisions are out Of place
in an appropriation act. am COM
pelled to defeat these necessary ap-
if / withhold my sig ,
nature to the act. Pressed by these
considerations"
grant you, he does not say SEQ
creed"
pressed by these considerations, /
[ feel constrained to return the {
dill with my signature, but to {
accompany it with my protest {
against the sections which L have {
indicated. ANDREW JOHNSON.
March 2, 1867"
Is there no coercion there? Why,
;ir, the record is full. In an act
appropriations for the sum l
Try civil expenses of this Govern l
nent for the year ending June 80,
$50, it was provided that in the
courts of the United States there {
hould be no exclusion of any wit
less on account of color, or in any |
Dther civil action because he Is a {
>arty interested in the issue to be 6
ried. Is not that eXtraneous mat '
err? Yet upon this bill the record Y
hows that the gentleman from Ohio
s found voting in the list of yeas. {
But, sir, worse than all this, / t
ind that on a memorable occasion a
n the Thirty-ninth Congress, of
which the gentleman from Ohio
vas likewise member, that Qc- 7
urred which VIII d
NEVER FADE FROM THE MINDS
II the American people. reIer 10 A
he proceedings looking to the inn
,eachment of the Chief Executive u
Il this republic, which came so I
Ugh resulting In conviction. On
hat occasion / find that colleague
# the gentleman from Ohio, Mr.. Il
Ashley, moved to suspend the rules +,
O allow him to make a report from
he committee on what? Judiciary? !
70, sir. From the Committee on
in the nature of resO- /
ution impeachipg the President Of g
he American Government for high
rimes and misdemeanOrs. On the I
vote / find the gentle
nan from Ohio voted "yea." I
And | find further, sir, the counts \
lpon which the impeachment arti- c
les were predicated, and / beg to 6
all the attention of this committee t
O them. Mr.. Ashley. said: {
''I do impeach Andrew johnson,
Vice President and acting President
# the United States, of high crimes I
nd misdemeanors.
charge him with usurpation of !
,oWer and violation of law" !,
And now come the five counts in
he indictment, and / beg the care
ul attention of the committee, for 9