Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-07-03
FITZ JOHN PORTER,
Asrnu. YIELDS 10 JOHN A. LOGAN
Denies Justice to = Long suffering Man
the House spurns the Executive Veto
-IIeIr smlth Noten Llke . Man.

me ltNI W Nht y message
vetoing tho FitH John Porter bill is gs
follows:
10 ne RouSc of Representatives!
After careful consideration or the bill,
entitled an act for the relief of FItz John
Porter,"I herewith return it with my
objections to the House of Congress IN
which 1t originated. Its cuacting clause is
in the terms following "That the presi.
dent be aud he is hereby authorized to
nomiuate, aud by and with tho advice
aud consent of the Senate, to appoint
Fltz John Porter late major general
United States volunteers and brevct
brigadicr general and colonel In tho army,
to the position of colonel in the army OF
the United States of the same grade hold
by him at tho time Of his dismissal from
the army by sentence Of court martial
promulgated January ~, 1861 etc., eto,
IL is apparent that should this bill be
come law 1t will create new office,
which cap be filed by the appointment of
the particular individual whom 1t specifies
and cannot be filed otherwise; or 1t may
be said, with perhaps greater precision of
ststcmout, that it will create a new office
on condition that the particular person
designated shall be chosen to fill It. such
an act, as 1t seems to me, is either uu.
necessary and ineffective, or it involves
an eucruachmcnt 10y the legislative branch
OF the government ON the authority of the
executive. As the Congress has no power
under the constitution, to nominate aud
appoint an officer aud cannot lawfully i'm
pose ON the President the duty Of nUminai-
ing and appointing tO Utlico any particular
individual of its own selection, this bill, II
1t can fairly bo construed as requiring the
president to make the nomination aud by
aud with the advice and consent Of the
Senate the appointment which it authoyi.
zos, is ia manifest violation of the con
stitution. II such be not its just iuterprctl
ton 1t must be regarded as mere enact
meut of advice aud counsel, which lack IN
the very nature Of things the force of post
tive law aud can serve NJ useful purpose
on the statute books.
The Verdict otISGa,
There are other causes which deter no
from giving this bill the sanction Of my
approval. The judgment OF the court
martial by which, more than twenty years
since, General Fits John Porter was tried
and convicted, was pronounced by .
! tribunal composed OF nine general officers
OF distinguished character and ability.
| Its investigation of the charges, of which
| 1t found the accused guilty, was thorough
and conscientious and its finding and
sentence were IN due course of law approved
| by Abraham Lincoln, then president OF
! the lulted States. It's legal competency,
its jurisdiction Of the accused aud of the
! subjects Of the accusation, the substantial
regularity Of the proceedings, are matters
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 court martial,
such as this was, is the organism pro.
vidgd by law aud clothed with the duty OF
administering justice in this class Of cases.
It's judgments, when approved, rest on the
same basis and are surrounded by the same
considerations which give COnCluslveuess
| to the judgments Of other tribunals, in
Guiding as we'll the lowest as the highest
The Bin Unconstitutional.
| IL follows accordingly that when a law
! fully constituted court martial has duly
declared its findings and It's sentence, aud
the same have been duly approved, neither
| the president nor the Congress has any
power to set them aside. The existence Of
such power is not openly asserted, nor
perhaps is IL necessarily implied in the
provisions of the bill which is before me ,
| but when ITS enacting clauses are read in
it will be seen that it seeks in effect the
! practical annullment of the findings and
sentence of a competent court.martial.
\ conclusion at variance with these find
| lLgs has been reached after investigation
by board consisting Of three officers of
| the army. This board was not created in
| pursuance OL any statutory authority and
was pOwer.e5s TO compel the attendance
| of witnesses or 70 pronounce a judgment
which could not be lawfully enforced.
| The officers who composed it, in their re.
port TO the secretary OF war, dated March
10, 1879, state that, in their opinion,
" Justice requires such action
rs may be necessary to aunul aud set aside
the findings and sentence of the court
martial in the case of Major General Fit2
John Porter aud to restore him 10 the po
sitiOn Of which their sentence deprived
him, such restoration TO take effect from
the date Of his dismissal from the ser.
| vice.
The provisions of the bill now under
consideration are avOwedly based ON tht
assumption that the findings of the court
martial have been discovered to be errone
Gus. But IL will be borne in mind that the
investigation which is claimed to have
resulted in this discovery was made man,
|
lugs related and under circumstances tha
made It impossible to reproduce tho cvi
dence on which they were based.
| y Dangerous Precedent.
1t seems to me that the proposed legis
lation would establish dangerous prcce
dent, calculated to imperil in no small
. measure the binding force and effect Of tn,
, judgments of various tribunals established
under our constitution and laws.
| have already, in the exercise of thu
pardOning power with which the presiden
. is vested, RENTED the continuing penat,
/ that made 1t impossible for FitH JohI
, Porter to hold an office of trust OF prof
, under the government of the Unitet
States. But am willing to give my sane
D tlOa TO any legislation which shall praoti
. caIly annul and set at nOught the solemn
0 and deliberate conclusions of the tribuua
Y by which he was convicted and of tn
r president by whom its findings were OK
0 amined and approved.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
Executive Mansion, July ., 1881.
ThE HOUSE PASSES THE BILL.