The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1884-07-10
THE FITz JOHN PORTER BILL
Peturned by the President to the House of
Representatives with His Veto-The
Message in Full.

WASHINGTON, d. G., July =
The President yesterday returned to the
House without his approval the bill for
the relief of Fltz John Porter. The text
of the veto message is as follows:
To the House of Representatives:
After careful consideration OF the bill
entitled "For the relief Of Fitz John
Porter" herewith return it with my OBJ
iections, to the House of Congress in
which it originated. Its enactlng clause
is in the terms following: "That
the President be, and he
Is hereby authorized to nominate,
and by and with the advice and consent
Of the Senate, TO appoint Fitz John Por-
ter, late a Major General Of United States
Volunteers, and Brevet Brgader-Gen-
eral and Colonel In the army, to the posi-
tion of Colonel in the army of the United
States, of the same grade held by him
at the time of his dismissal from the
army by sentence Of court-martial pro.
mnlgated on January 27th, 1868, ETC.,
etc. 1t is apparent that should this bill
become law 1t will create a new office
which can be filled by the appointment OF
the particular individual whom it speci-
fles, and can not be filed otherwise. Or
it may be said, with perhaps greater pre-
cision of statement, that it will create
a new Office on condition that the partic-
ular person designated shall be chosen to
fill 1t. Such an act, as it seems to me, is
either unnecessary and ineffective, or it
involves an encroachment by the leglsla-
tive branch of the Government on the au-
thorty of the Executive. AS Congress has
-,
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 IL authorizes, Is
in manifest violation of the Constitution.
II such be not its just Interpretation IL
must be regarded as q 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 bill 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 nino
general officers OF distinguished charac-
ter and ability. Its investigation of the
charges OF which 1t 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, It's
jurisdiction of accused and Of the sub
jects of the accusation, the substantial
regularity of all its proceedings, are mat
ters which have never been brought in
question. Its Judgment, therefore, is
final and conclusive in its character. The
Supreme Court of the United States has
recently declared that a court martial
such as this was "Is the organism pro-
vlded by law, and clothed with
the duty Of administering justice in this
class of cases. Its Judgments, when ap-
proved, rest on the same basis and are
surrounded by the same considerations
which give conclusiyeness to the jndg-
ments of other tribunals, including as
well the lowest as the highest" 1t fol-
lows accordingly that when a lawfully
constituted court-martial has duly de-
clared its findings and its sentence, and
the same have been duly approves,
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 is before
me, but when its enactng clauses are
read in the light OF the recitas Of Its pre-
ambles, it will be seen that it seeks in ef.
feet the practical annulment of the find
ings and sentence of competent court
martial. A conclusion at variance with
these findings has been reached after in
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
tile 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 "Justlce requires :
such action as may be necessary to annul
and set aside the findings and sentence
of the court-martial in the case of
Major-GeDeral Fitz John Porter,
and to restore him to the posi-
tions 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
assumption thatthe findings of the court
} martial have been discovered to be erro-
ntOhSt Oub ~ VIII DG DOAnS - iiihhi AhiS
the Investigation which is claimed to
, have resulted in this discovery was
, made many years after the event to
, which these findings related, and
under circumstances that made 1t im-
possible TO reproduce lhe evidence on
which they wefe based. 1t seems to me
that the proposed legislation would es.
tablish dangerous precedent, calculated
to imperll in no small measure the bind
. ing force and effect of the judgments of
. various tribunals established under our
Constitution and laws. l have already,
r in the exercise of the pardoning
! power with which the President is
/. vested, RENTED the continuing penalty
that made 1t impossible for Fitz John
Porter to hold an office of trust or profit
under the Government Of the United
States Rut am unwilling to give my