Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1880-08-10

1
tol-tied his horse to rail fence, enter
ed and was duly sworn; then rode to
the Executive mansion and took possess
sion. He inaugurated himself simply
| by taking the oath of office. There is
no other legal inauguration in our sys-
TEN. The people or politicians may in
stitute parodies in honor of the event,
and public officials may add to the pa
| geant, assembling troops and banners,
but all that comes properly after the in
auguration-not beforehand it is not u
part of it. Our system does not provide
that one President should inaugnrate an
other. There might be danger in that,
and it was studiously left out Of the
charter; but you are placed in an eXcep-
tionally important position, in connec-
ton with coming events. The capitol is
in my jurisdiction also, but | am Il SUI
| bordinate and not on the spot, and If !
were, you also would be my superior in
authority, for there is the station of the
General-in-C Chief. On the principle that
a regularly elected Presidents term of
Office expires with the Bird of March, OF
which have not the slightest doubt,
and which the laws bearing on the sub
| ject uniformly recognize and in consid-
Grafton Of the possibility that the lawful
ly elected President may not appear un-
til March 5, great deal Of responsible
| ty may necessarily fall upon you. You
hold over. You have power and pres
tige to support you. The Secretary of
War, too. probably holds over, but if no
President appears, he may not be able to
exercise the functions in the name of a
President, for his proper acts are those Of
known superior, q lawful President.
| The Secretary of War Is the mouth-piece
of the President. You are not. If nei-
ther candidate has constitutional ma
jority of the Electoral College, or the
| Senate and House on the occasion of the
count, do not unite in declaridg some
person legally elected by the people,
there is lawful machine already pro-
vided to meet the contingency and de-
eide the question peacefully. 1t has not
been recently used, no occasion present.
ing itself; but our fore-fathers provided
it. 1t has been exercised and has been
| recognized and submitted TO as lawful
on every hand. That machinery would
probably elect Mr.. Tilden President aud
Mr.. Wheeler Vice President. That
would be right enough, for the law pro-
vides that in failure TO elect duly by
| the people, the House shall Immediately
elect the President and the Senate the
Vice President. Some tribunal must de-
eide whether the people have elected n
President. / presume, of course, that 1t
is In the joint affirmative action Of the
| Senate and House, or why are they pres
1 t,, .,ttt, "A 10
that IL is fair and justp If u failure to
agree arises between the two bodies,
there can be no lawful affirmative dccis-
ion that the people have elected Presl-
dent and the House must then proceed
TO act, not the Senate. The Senate elects
| the Vice President. Doubtless In case
Of failure by the House TO elcC Presl-
| dent by the ith Of March, the President
Of the Senate, If there be one, would he
| the legitimate person 10 exercise the
Presidential authority for the time being
or until the appearance Of Il lawful Pres-
| ident, or for the time laid down In the
Constitution. Such courses would he
peaceful and, have firm belief, law
| iul. huve no doubt Gov. Hayes would
make an excellent President. | have
met him and known him for brief pc
riod. lie served under my command,
| but M the matter stands, ] cannot sec
any likelihood of his being duly dcclar-
cd elected by the people, unless the Sen
| ate and House come TO be In accord ~ TO
| that fact. and the House would, ofcoursc
| not otherwise elect him. What the pc0-
| pie want Is u peaceful determination of
| this matter, as fair n determination 0s
possible, and n lawful one, No other
| determination could stand the test. The
country, If not plunged into revolution,
| would become poorer every day. Iris-
oners would languish, and our bonds
would come home 10 find n dispiriled
market. was not IN favor of the MILL
| tary In South Carolina recently, and If
Gen. Rugcr had tclcgraphcd to me or
nskcd for advice, | would have advised
| him not under any circumstances to nl-
| low himself or his troops TO determine
who were the lawful members of n state
Legislature. could not have given him
better advice than TO refer him TO the
| special message of the President, In the
| case of Louisiana sometime before But
| I'm South Carolina hc had had the qucs-
| tion settled by decision of the supreme
| Court of the State, the highest tribunal
| which had acted on the question, ~ that
| his line of duty seemed even 10 be clear
| or than the action IN the Louisiana case.
| If the Federal Court had inlcrlcrcd and
ovcr-rilcd the decision of the state court
| there might have been double 2cftnln-
| ~, but the Federal Court iutcrlcrcd to
| compllcatc, not 10 decide or ovcrrule.
Anyhow, Il is no business OF the army TO
enter upon such questions, and even If
| II might be 30, In any event, the ClVll
authority II supreme, ~ the Constltu-
tlon declared Il 10 be-. The South Caro-
| lima cnac wns one IN which the army bad
n plain duty. Had Gen. Rugcr asked
me for advice, and II had given II, ]
should, of couasc, have notified You of
my action Immediately, 30 u could haye
| been promptly overnilcd, if L should
| have been deemed advisable by you or
other superior I'm authority Gen. llu-
| gcr did not ask for my advice, and ! IN
| lerred from thnt and other facts that he
did not desire II, or that be- being IN di-
rect communication with my military
| puperiors at the seat Of government, who
were nearer 90 him IN time and distance
| than | was, hc deemed II tnncCcs-
snry. AZ General Rugcr hnd the
ultimate rcsponeibility Of the
action. and had really the great danger
10 confront In The final action IN the
matter, did not venture to embnrrasa
him by suggestions. lie was depart
mcnt commander, and the lawful head
of the military administration within
the imils of the department, but besides
knew that he had been called TO wash
ington for consultation before taking
command, and was probably aware of
the views of the administration p TO
civil affairs IN his command. ! knew
| lllnI hn ,.nn La hirnnI communication