The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-03-11

of the Governments. When the Constitution
lative duties the right to advise and consent to
appointments to Office and to sit as court of
it conferred upon thst budy
all the control and regulation OF executive
action supposed to be necessary for the safety
Of the people, and this express and spec ~
grant OF such extraordinary powers, not t9
Senatorial duty, and in itself departure
from the general plan Of our Government
should be held under familiar maxim OF
to exclude every other right OF
with Executive functions.
In the first Congress which ass ,mbled effee
many who aided in it's preparation. q iegis-
lative construction was given to that fnetru-
ment in which the independence Of the Exec.
was fully sustained. think 1t will be found
in the subsequent discu -sipns Of this ques
proposition pending to in some way ourtal
this power Of the President by Legislation,
which furnishes evidence that to limit such
ton.
passed under stress of partisanship and
political bitterness which eliminated fn the
Presidents impeachment. This law provided
the Senate. when shown by evidence satis-
conduct in ofiee, or crime. or when incapa-
bic or disqualified to perform their dutteey
and that Withi9 i twenty days Of {. the he next
81 such is suspension, With the the evidences snd
fp ss action s T. ssS
was Overwhelmingly and bitterly op-
posed politically to the Presidsnf:
that even then it was thought necessary By
Congress determined upon the suhjueation
itself a law for that purpose instead OF at
tempting to reach the object intended by an
Invocation of any pretended constitutional
The law which thus found its way to our
staiute book was plain in its terms, and its
in eneration T. wonlS iusffv tSa nscsent
Senate and command the obedience Of the
Executive, to its demands. It may, however.
the President has the privilege Of presenting
to the body which assumed to review his exc
cutive acts his reasons there or, instead Of
being excluded from explanation or judged
by papers found in the department.
Two years after the law of 1857 was passed,
and within less than five weeks after the in.
auguratiOn of a President in political accord
with both branches of Congress, the sections
Of the act regulating suspensions from ONCE
repealed, and in their place were snbstituted
provisions which, instead of limiting the
causes OF suspension to misconduct crime,
mitted such suspension by the President "fn
his discretion, and completely abandoned
the obising him 70 report to The
actions.
With these notifications, and with an
mony, and in the absence of partisan inceD.
tive to captious obstruction, the law as ft was
left by the amendment Of 1869 was much less
destructive of executive discretion. And yet
the great general and patriotic citizen who,
on the 4th day of March, 1861 assumed the
reer Ss fS
most hateful restraints of the law of 1857 were
on the 5th day of April, 1859. removed. mind.
every prerogative of his great trust, and ap-
prehenssve of the injury threatened the pub
statutes, even in their modified form. in his
first message to Congress advised their re.
peal, and set forth their Unconstitutional
to state whether or not this Recommendation
for a repeal of these laws has since been re-
fenr Il N mas tbe not ,ee HasoH Sc fsc
strated the fact that the necessities of the po.
itical situation but rarely developed their
And so it happens that after an existence
of nearly twenty years of almost innocuous
parentiy the repealed as weli as the nnre. re-
pealed. and put in the way of an Execuriva
who is willing, if permitted to attempt an
tiop. The eonstitutionaiity Of these laws is
by no means admitted. But why should the
provisions of the repealed law, which re-
report to the Senate of evidence and rear
sons" be now, in effect, applied to the pres
ent Executive instead Of ;us tns law aftsrwsrd
mits suspensions by the President 'in his dis
cretion," and carefully omirs the require
ment that "evidence and reasons for his
action in the case" shall be reported to the
The requests and demands which by the
score have for nearly three months been
presented to the different departments Of
the Government, what ever may be thei1
form, have but one complexion They as
sumo the right of the Senate to sit in judU
ment upon the exercise of my exclusive
discretion and Executive function, for which
I am solely responsible to the people from
whom have so lately received the sacred
trust of office. NJ oath to support and de.
fend tho Constitution, my duty to the people
who have chosen me to execute the powers
of their great office ana not to relfnquish
them, and my duty to the Chief Magistracy
which must preserve unimpaired to al its
dignity and vigor, compel me to refuse to
comply with these demands.
To the end that the service may be I'm.
proved the Senate is invited to the fullest
scrutiny of the persons submitted to them
for puolic office, in recognition of the CEN
stitutiOnal power of that body to advise and
consent to their appointment. will continue,
quest Of the confirming body. all the informar
ton possess touching the fitness of the
When hey ali
ard take the place of suspended offc.aas.
Upona refusal to confirm ! ehall not as
sume the right to ask the reasons for the
termination. ] can not think that anything
more is IT ,uired to secure worthy incum-
a
pendent discharge of our respective duties
within their we'll defined limits. Though the
propriety of suspensions might be better as
iect to review by the Senate, yet If the Con-
stitution and the laws have placed this re-
Government it should not be divided nor the
discretion which it involved relinquished
1t has been claimed that the present Exc
cutive, having pledged himself not to remove
| officials except for cause, the fact of their
suspension implies such misconduct on the
character and reputation, and therefore the
Senate should review the case for his vindi-
cation.
not. in my opinion, be removed during the
continuance of the term for which they were
appointed solely for the purpose of putting
in their place those in political affiliation
| tion was Immediately followed by descrip-
to o en- title H those in Ghom Il was exhibited t"
| consideration. II is not apparent how an ad.
ries with it the Consequences described. II
| in any degree the suggestion is worthy of con-
| sideration, it is to be hoped that there may
be defense against an unjust suspension in
| the justice of the Executive. 30
Every pledge which have made by which
have placed a limitation upon my exercise
| of Executive power has been faithfully re-
| deemed. OF course the pretense is not put
| forth that no mistakes have been committed;
but rot suspension has been made except il
| appeared to my satisfaction that the public
| welfare would be improved thereby. Many
| applications for suspension have been denied
| and the adherence to the rule laid down to
| govern my actions as to such suspensions
| have caused much irritation and inn
| patience on the part of those who have in-
| sisted upon more changes in the Offices.
| The pledges i have made were made to the
| people and to them am responsible for the
| manner in which they have been redeemed.
am not responsible to the Senate, and / am
unwilling TO submit my actions and official
| conduct to them for Judgment. There are no
grounds for an allegation that the fear of be-
f0yn0 n IN inf1nencoa
| me in declining to submit to the demands of
| the Senate. have not constantly refused to
| suspend officials, and thus incurred the dis
| pleasure of political friends and willfulIy
broken faith with the people for the sake Of
\ being false to them.
| Neither the discomfort of party friends nor
| the aliurements constantly offered of con-
| 1rmations of appointees, conditioned upon
the avowal that suspensions have boon made
| on party grounds alone, nor the threat pro-
posed in the resolutions now before the Sem
| ate that M al will he made I'M.