Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-07-10
THE F1Tz JlHN PORTER BILL

1t the veto message IS as l0AoWs'
TO the House Of Representatives:
After careful consideration of the bill
entitled aFor the relief OF Fitz john
Porter,n herewith return It with my OBJ
iections. to the House OF Congress- in
which It originated. Its enactiDg clause
Is in the terms folfowings sThat
the President be, and ne
is hereby authorized to nominate,
and by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate. to appoint Fitz John Por-
ter, late Major General of United States
Volunteers, and Brevet Brigadier-Gen-
eral and Colonel in the army, to the posi-
ton OF Colonel in the army OF the Usited
States, of the same grade held by him
at the time of his dismissal from the
army by sentence of court-martisl pro-
mulgated on January 9th, 1868, etc.,
ETC." It is apparent that should this bill
become law it will create u new Office
which can be filed by the appointment OF
the particular individual whom it speci-
fes, and can not be filled otherwise. Or
it may be said, with perhaps greater pre-
q new Office on condition that the partic-
ular person designated shall b. chosen TO
ill it, Such an act, as 1t seems to me, is
either unnecessary aud Ineffective, or 1t
involves an encroachment.b by the legfsia-
tive branch of the Government ON the au-
thority of the Executive. As Congress has
no power under the Constitution to NOM
mate and appoint an officer, and can not
lawfully impose. on the President the
duty of nominating and appointing to
office any particular Individual of its own
selection this bill, If it'can fairly be con-
strued as requiring the President to
make the nomination, and by and with
the advice and consent OF the Senate,
the appointment which it authorizes, is
in manifest violation of the Constitution.
If such be not its just Interpretation it
must be regarded as a mere enactment of
advice and counsel, which lack, in the
very nature Of things, the force of positive
law. and can serve no useful purpose on
the statute books. There are other causes
that deter me from giving this bin the
sanction of my approval. The Judgment
of the court-martial, by which more than
twenty years since, General Fitz John
Porter was tried and convicted, was pro-
nounced by tribunal composed of nine
general officers of distinguished charac-
ter and ability. It's investigation of the
charges of which it found accused guilty,
were thorough and conscientious,
and its findings and sentence were
in due course OF law approved BY
Abraham Lincoln, then President of the
United States. Its legal competency, its
Jurisdiction of accused and of the SUBJ
iectS of the accusation, the substantial
regularity of all its proceedings, are mat
tiers which have never been brought in
question. Its judgment, therefore, is
final and conclusive in it's character. The
Supreme Court of the United States has
recently declared that court martial
such as this was els the organism pro-
vided by law, and clothed with
the duty of administering justice in this
class of cases. It's judgments, when APP
proved, rest on the same basis and are
surrounded by the same considerations
which give conclusiveness to the judg-
ments of other tribunals, including as
well the lowest as the highest" It fol-
lows accordingly that when lawfully
constituted court-martial has duly dc-
clared its findings and its sentence, and
the same have been duly approved,
neither the President nor Congress has any
power to set Them aside. The existence
of such power Is not openly asserted
nor, perhaps, is it necessarily implied In
the provisions of the bill which Ii before
me, but when its enacting clauses are
read in the light of the recitais of its pre-
ambles, it will be seen that it seeks ia Ct
feet the practical annulment Of the fnd-
ings and sentence of competent court.
martial. A conclusion at variance with
these findings has been reached after i'm
vestigation by board of three officers
OF the army. This board was not created
in pursuance of any statutory
authority. and was powerless to compel
the attendance of witnesses or to pro-
nounce a judgment which could be law
fully enforced. The officers who COM
posed it in their report to the Secretary
of War, dated March 10, 1879, state that
In their opinion .Justice requires
such action as may be necessary to annul
of the court-martial in the case OF
Major-General Fitz John Porter,
and to restore him to the posi-
tons of which their sentence deprived
him, such restoration to take effect from
date of his dismissal from the service
The provisions of the bill now under
consideration are avowedly based ON the
that the findings of the court
martial have been discovered to be erro-
neous, but it will be borne in mind, that
the Investigation which is claimed to
nave RESUMED In this discovery WAC
made many years after the event to
which these findings related, and
under circumstances that made It Inn
possible to reproduce the evidence on
which they were based. It seems to me
that the proposed legislation would es-
tablish dangerous precedent, calculated
to imperil in no small measure the bind
Ing force and effect of the judgments of
various tribunals established under our
and laws. I have already,
In the exercise of the pardoning
power with which the President is
vested, RENTED the continuing penalty
that made it impossible for Fitz John
Porter to hold an office of trust or profit /
under the Government of the United
States. But am unwilling to give my
to any legislation which shall |
annul and set at nanght the |
solemn and de iberate conclusions Of the |
tribunal by which he was convicted, and |
If the President by whom its findings |
we're examined and approved.
kSigned] CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
Executive Mansion, July 2,lSS4.
FrightfulIy MangIsd.
LEXINGTON. KY. July4