The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-04-09

IN instance on the I'd Of March 1857. Andrew
Johnson had slgnod an Army Appropriation
bill under protest, feeling, as he said, con-
strained to return the bill with his signature.
but accompanying 1t with his protest. Was
! there no coercion there? Why, the Record Is
Congress, that had occurred which would
never fade from the minds Of the American
people. He referred to the effort which was
made and which came SO nigh resulting In
the successful Impeachment or the Chief Elk:
ecuLive OF the country. The Executive hau
been lmpeached OF high crimes and mlsde.
meanorS, and OF usurpation, OF violation Of
law.
First, I'm that he has corruptly used the
appointing power" Had tho sentIcrehn
from Ohio intended to impeach him for
that7 The gentleman knew that he had
not.
second, I'm that lie has corruptly used the
psrIoning power" lI"d the gentleman in-
tcndcd 10 lInpeach him for that? Everybody
knew that he had not.
Third, "In TINT he has c%orruptly used the
veto power" This wrs where the sting cuIne
IN. 1t was the exercise OF that prerogative, 1t
WIS the employment Of TINT veto power for
pcnChincut.
FourlhIy, "In TINT he has corruptly dlspos.
I'd OF pubic property" That was y mere
formal count In the impeuclllnenh
fSrthly, "1n that he hns corruptly interior
ed with The election"
Those were the two counts in this indIct-
mcnt on witch 1t WAS proposed to impeach
the Executive: Dne was tho exercise OF the
veto power, nnh the other his inter-
terrence not In elections, but " prevent the
interference Of armed power In elections.
Those cnunts hnd been voted upon more than
once. and the gentleman from Ohio was on
the Record every time Us voting In their f-
vor. And he had been supported In his nc
tlon, and had hnd standing by him voting
side by side with him to lmpeach the Presi.
dent Tor the exercise Of the veto power, ono
then comparatively obscure, and who but for
IL combination OF accidents, wonld have re-
manned to this day and until his dying duS
In that obscurlty Tor which nature and his
Creator seemed to have designed him: side
by side with the gentleman from Ohio had
stood and voted Mr.. Iinycs OF the same State
applause on the Democratic, side and In the
ity has the gentleman from Ohio come to
threaten the House with q probable and pos
, sible action Of The Executive? What prOvls.
ion OF the Federal Constitution undertook to
: clothc anybody, either the President himself
, or one Of his Privy Council, even including
his Premier, the Secretary OF the State, to sit
OH the fiuor OF The House last Saturday and
} by his presence and approval seem to intim.
, idntc. overawe and brow bent The American
Congress-? lDcrisive laughter on the Rcpub'
: lican sidc.l
Who liud commissioned the gentleman
rom Ohio TO tell the House that 1t had better
be cureful because the issue was made and
the President would not be cocrccd into n
message OF approval7 Did the gentleman
from oulOO Ut any OtlcT gentleman puLbuCu IL
low tint on the sell respect. the integrity
the courage uilu the manhood OF the House,
without regard 10 party. as TO believe That
such n threat so flauhtcu was to intlinidntC
! the law making branch OF the government
and shape it's action or measures OF legisln-
: tion? He proceeded TO quote from Garfielu's
speech TO the effect that no petition had been
presented TO Congress for the proposed re.
} peal. Did the gentleman really mean that
declaration? Did he not know that the Con-
. gre>s Just expired bore upon LIS files petitions
after petitions ON contested election cases.
protesting against the presence Of the militia.
demanding the repeal OF tEls law Did he
RI full " remember tina the State of Louisiana
u sovereign State, had sent her memorial, IN
which, In thunder tone. she anuthcinizcd the
present law?
but the gentleman went further, and, II pos.
sible, did worse. 1t Is generally true that
the grave silenced the tongue ol detructiOii,
f but the gentleman from ohio, forgetting
himself il hls speech, forgot also " observe
tina rule. Continuing, he said:
Let one take the dark eleu pages OF his
counLry's history for tile pnst fourteen long
years, and read IT curefulIy, and tell Inc then
whether it lies In the mouth OF this leader OF
Il once grcut but now waning purity to read
lectures to anybody. either OH the scoreso1
revolutionary Legislation or cxtruneOus In.
PRODUCTION uf legislation ON appropriation
bills. Better, fur. In the face vi the record
which they have made, better " listen pa.
ticnlly to The confirmed lnebriate us he deals
on the virtues OF temperance, or better let The
queen Of the deni.m0nde elaborate the b al.
Ties Of female virtue, Or LIT tho devil pra. Z u
the scheme Of universal reurIupIion, lliaIi fOi
+ honlilieh Oh good morals and lectufes Oh rev
oIutionary legislation TO be delivered from
such u source IAppInuse on the Democrat
IL side.
having read the act of George the III. he
continued:
'troIm that day till now, I do declare that
Is not Within The power vi amy innl, TO find all
ucLiOii OF the SuXOn race that has not ever
held III utter contempt the effort OF him OF
them who sought " control the irerluln OI
the ballot by the employ fIcnt UT military
power. lApplu,se on the Democratic side.
T The very army OF this country protest
agninst such 1t prostitution OF II. / see be-
fore the tile Gcncral-in-Chicl Of the American
Amy General sherman wuS occupying Cur
flcid D scat,j and l do not believe that 1 over
state the Iuct, when | say from him down t.
the Iow vest Subultrrn, IL Is difficult ~ find Il
commissioning officer who ll"s not rcpugnnnce
Tor the service which. under the prostitution
vi the ,rlny, he has been called upon 10 per.
form. 1t Is this question that Is before Us
We urc declaring that the ballot shall he free
Weure denying thnt 1t Is either constitution.
al, Legal, just, lair Or decent u subject lhe
sovereign to The surveillance uf the servant
We are Wiling 10 discuss the question und
for my pnrt. l shall oppose any limitation Il
/ bc put on the discussion. II VIC culnut stand
OH an issue ~ broad, MO- constitutional, ~
, catholic 30 free and 50 fair M this, then tell
me, IN Heaven : name, what earthly battle
mcnts arc strong enough to get behind.
Tor the fret time In eighteen years, Demo
crucy is back tn power III bolli bruicics 81
i Congress. We propose to celebrate her re.
tuin to power ~ wipiiig nom the statute
books thosc degrading resolutions on fret
men. and by breaking away the shacklcr
which partisan legislation nus Imposed. We
do not intend to stop until W. have stricken
tho last vrStigs OF your wal measures from
the statute book, LIKE those which were born
Of the PASSIONS OF evil strife, ind which look.
pi n lppN m thn ,llyrilyflrnt Of fllu Iihnrfipe ~
the citizen, until We have m untrtmmcled
election and unsuperviscd ballot, and an nb
solutc free right for the citizen to deposit hi,
ballot us the condition and precedent which
We OTTER to you for the pussagc Of this bill.
II the gentlemen from ONO Garfield J.. tc
be excused, for certainly he cannot be JUST,
: ned, for paiading before this House the uro,t.
mcHfum in hrTO,t1W OF q veto that IL cut and
dried, to be put upon Il bill which fIas not yet
passed. aud If he Is to be- purdoned for warn.
. ing the House that the Executive branc o
the government will never yield Its assent ic
this measure In Its present form. / ask
whether 1 may not be warranted and Justl
{ fed IN employing equal candor and In ussur
Ing that g%cnt.cnlun and his associates tina,
the dominant power In this Congress, the
ruling element in this body, is also equally
determined that until It's Just demands, sumo
toned by ull laws, human and divine, pro
tcctcd and hedgcd around by precedents with
out number, demanded by the people Of this
land, without regard to section, clumorcd for.
not by the South nIonc, but in Philadelphia
! as well us New Orleans, IN San Francisco und
Boston, as well as Charleston anu Savannah,
are not complied with, this side Of the cham
Der, which has demonstrated Its power, never
means to yield or surrender until this Con,
gross shall have iii, Il by virtue OF its liInitn,
; ton: wild applause on the Democratic
siue.l
There Is no tribunal before which we arc
not willing to carry this case OF contest, md
we urc ready to allow Him who rules the DIES.
tinirs of man to Judge between US and give
victory to the right. / do not mean TO iml
tate tile gentleman from Ohio tGartlcld.) ]
disclaim any authority To State what Others
may do, but | do mean to say that 1t ~ my
deliberate conviction thot there Is not TO be
found Il single MAI on this side OF the House
who Will ever consent to abandon one jOt OF
title of the faith that Is In him. lie could moi
surrender II If I've would, and he will not, ]
beg the other side to believe, DC coerced by
threats or intinliduted BY the other In party,
We arc planted OH these convictions and
there we, Will stand. He who dullies Is ta
bastard, and he who denies Is damned
: Loud applause.
When Black burn concluded his speech, he
him upon 1t. After remarks by Mr.. Gibson,
OF Louisiana, upon legal constitutional qucs.
tons, the House took n recess until this even
ing.
Democratic Prestige.
The debate In the House today fully pro.
s.rrrd the prestige communicated to 1t by
the opening speech OF Garfield. Knott WAS
eplgiamutic, sparkling with Shakspcrcnn
gems. but aroused no enthusiasm on his own
Oriil feeling on tho other side of the House.
1Iunk rather ustOnislicd both sides by the We
hclncncc with which he stood BY his party
colors. liobcson, In his maiden speech,