The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1884-07-12
FITZ JOHN PORTER'S CASE.
What the President Had to Offer in Veto
ing the Bill.

On the I'd of July the president re-
turned the Fitz John Porter bill to congress
with his objections. He takes the same
view as the attorney general regarding the
uncon stitutionality Of the bill, and says:
"There are other causes which deter me
from giving this bill the sanction Of my ap-
proval. The judgment of the court mar
tial by which, more than twenty years ago,
Gen. Fitz John Porter was tried and con-
victed, was pronounced by tribunal COM
posed of nine general officers of distin-
guished character and ability. Its investi-
cation Of the charges Of which it found the
accused guilty was thorough and conscien-
tious, and its findings and sentence in due
course Of law approved by Abraham Lin
coin, then president Of the United States.
Its legal competency; its Jurisdiction Of the
accused and Of the subjects of the accusa-
ton; the substantial regularity in all its
proceedings, are matters which have never
been brought in question. It's judgment,
therefore, is final and conclusive In its char
acter. The supreme court of the United
States has recently declared that court
martial such as this was, sis the organism
provided by justice in this class of cases.
Its judgments, when approved, rest on tho
same basis and are surrounded by the con-
siderations which give conclusiveness TO the
judgments of other tribunals, including as
well the lowest as the highest 1t follows
accordingly that when lawfully constituted
court martial has duly declared its findings
and its sentence and been duly approved,
neither the president nor congress has the
power to set them aside. The existence Of
such power is not openly asserted nor per-
haps 1t IS not necessarily implied in the pro-
visions Of the bill which is before me. But
when its enacting clauses are read in the
light of recital of its preamble, it
will be seen that it seeks in effect a
practical anpulment Of the findings and
sentence OF competent court-nartial.
A conclusion at variance with these findings
has been reached after an investigation by
board consisting of three officers of the
army. This board was not created in pur-
suance of any statutory authority and was
powerless to compel the attendance of wit
nesses or to pronounce Judgment which
could be lawfully enforced. The officers
who composed it, in their report to the sec
Rotary of war, dated March ii, 1873. state
that in their opinion Justice requires
such action as may be necessary to annul
and set acide the findings and sentence of
the court in the case of Major Gen
eral John Fitz Porter and TO estore him to
the position of which their sentence deprived
him, such restoration to take effect from the
date OF his dismissal from office. The pro-
visions of the bill now under consideration
are avowedly based on the assumption that
the findings of the cOurt-martial have been
discovered to be erroneous, but it will be
borne in mind that 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
that made it impossible to
reproduce the evidence on which they were
based. 1t seems to me that the proposed
legislation would establish dangerous pre-
cedent, calculated to imperl in no small
measure the binding force and effect Of the
judgments of various tribunals established
under our constitution and laws. | have
already, in the exercise of the pardoning
power, with which the president is vested,
remitted the penalty that made it impossible
tor Fitz John Porter to hold an Office of
rust or profit under the government Of the
United States. But am unwilling to give
my sanction to any legislation which shall
snnul and set at naught the SOL
smn and deliberate conclusions of the
tribunal by which he WAS convicted, and of
he president by whom its findings were ex-
,mined and approved.
TSigned1 CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
Executive Mansion, July 2, 1884.