Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1884-07-10
nrx ON roxrzn.


The President vstoss the NH for the Ne.
lief Of Cen. xortcr.
Tho president on Wednesday returned 70 thu
House the Fitz John Porter bill with his objsc-
ions
attorney General Brewster had submitted 70
the president in compliance with the latter's
request q long and carefully prepared opinion
uponthe bill for the restoration Of Fits John
Porter to the army, in which he expressed the
opinion that the bill Is clearly unconstitutional
The President took the same view OF the con
stltutionaifty OF the bill and said.
There are other causes that defer me from
giving tins bill the sanction Of my approval
The Judgment Of the court-martial, by which,
more than twenty years since. Cen Fitz Jehn
Porter was tried and convicted, was pronounced
by a tribunal composed of nine general officers
OF distinguished character and ability. Its In
vestigation of the charges of which IL found ac-
cused guilty was thorough and conscientious,
and its findings and sentence in due course on
law approved by Abraham Lincoln, then presi-
dentof the United States. Its legal competency,
It's jurisdiction OF the accused and OF the subjects
all It's proceedings, are matters which have never
been brought IN question. Its judgement there
fore, is final and conclusive in its character.
The supreme court Of the United States has re-
--Ns NAhN ~ StAAN hAdl 1AiA ar
tins was us the organism provided by law and
Clothed with the duty OF administering justice
IN this class OF cases. Its judgments, when ap-
proved, rest en the same basis, and are sur
rounded by the same considerations which give
eonclusiveness to the judgments of other tribu-
nails, including as well tho lowest as the high
est IL follows, accordingly, that when a law
fully constituted court martial has duly de-
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 a power
is not openly asserted, nor, per-
haps, IS II necessarily implied in the provisions
OF the bin which is before me, but when it's
e~nacting clauses are read in the light of the re-
cltals ofits preambleit will be seen hat it seeks
IN effect the practical annulment of the find
mgs and sentence of a competent court mar
tial A conclusion at variance with these
findings has been reached after investigation
by a board consisting 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
pronounce judgment which could be lawfully
exercised The officers who composed il. in
their report TO the secretary of war, dated
March 10, 1879, state that in their opin-
ION "Justice requires y = y a c action
Is may BIO necessary 20 nnLul and set aside the
findings and sentence OF the court martial in
the case Of Maj. Gen Etz John Porter, and to
restore him TO the position of which their sem
tenoe deprived him, such restoration 10 take
effect from the date OF bis dismissal from the
service" The provisions Of the bill now un-
der consideration are ayowedly based on the
assumption that the findings OF the court mar
tial have been discovered TO be erroneous. But
1t viii be borne in mind that the investigation
which is claimed TO have resulted IN this dis
eovery was made many SSars after the
event TO which these findings related,
and under circumstances that made
~ tpnnng3fIln - .aaWn1.aa Tho nrsIaanA
on which they were based. II seems to
me that the proposed legislation would estab-
llsh a dangerous precedent, calculated 10 i'm
peril in no small measure the binding force
and effect Of judgments Of various tribunals
established under any constitution and laws.
l have already, in the exercise Of the par
doning 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 govern
mont of the United States, but | am unwilling
10 give my sanction to any legislation which
shall practically annul and set at naught the
solemn and deliberate conclusions OF the trib-
unal by which he was convicted, and of the presi-
dent by whom its findings were examined and
approved
ISigned,1 CHESTER A ARTHUR,
Executive Mansion, July 2, 1884.
When the veto was read In the house, Gen.
Slocum then rose and asked If il was IN order
10 call for a vote on the passage of the bill oyef
the presidents veto The speaker replied that
under the constitution he was required at once
to present the bill TO the house for a vote upon
it, unless the house chose
TO take some other action.
He then asked il the vote should be by yeas
and nays, when Mr.. Tucker and Gen, Keifer
arose simultaneously aud said that the consti-
tuition required that il should be by yeas and
nays. The clerk then called the roll and tho
vote proceeded with profound attention from
both sides. The bill received the constitutional
majority of two-thirds f6S to IS.
The Affirmative vote on the bill is exactly If
teen less than that on the bill when II originally
passed the house. The negative vote is just
the same, Fifteen Republicans voted with the
Democrats, and the Democrats voted solidly
for the bill The fifteen Republicans were:
Messrs Bsyne of Pennsylvania, Belford of
Colorado, Burleigh of New York, Jeffords of
Mississippi, Laird Of Nebraska, Long and Ly-
man Of Massachusetts,, Phelps OF New Jersey,
Poland Of Vermont, Ranney Of Massachusetts,,
Ray Of New York, Rockwell OF Massachusetts,,
and, A. Herr Smith Of Pennsylvania. Two
thirds majority was not obtained in the senate
aud therefore Gen. Porter viii have TO waits
lite longer