The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1886-03-30

whether the President has C1mmilttd d
himself against making changes in Office,
and shows that CLEVELAND has followed
directly in the footsteps of JEFFERSON
He recites from BLAINE as follows:
] received day or two ago the Sec
ond volume OF hook en,i'led Invent,
Yesrs of Congress-" written by Mr..
James g. Blaine. former member Gf
the Senate, q former Secretary of Safe.
q f,rmer member Of the House OF Rep
resert,tives, iormer Speaker OF the
House of Representatives, gentleman
who came within fraction over thou.
sand v't's of hring in pos ton to he
the happy recipient of the warfare on the
executive power which is now proposed
to be consummated by the resolutions
"n your desk OF course that war would
have come all the same; OF course il
there had heen a thousand v,t difier-
eEt in N Yrrk il never would have
affected the titude of great majMi'y
on this H,or Ot course if the result
had heen the rther way instead OF the
way it was, our friends con: ti:uting a
ma nrlty here would have made the same
VA fire upon JAMES G. Blaine, their
Ey-cu i've, elect d by tnm. as they are
engaged in now with Mr Cleveland, who
was elected by somebody else. Mr..
B sine, speaking his mlni on tEs. as be
hss hal The haiti If doing on all top
les speaking OF the act OF 1867, s'vs: ::
The hill was not passed, howeve-, With
ou' cons derable misgiving on The part
of MANY members OF both Houses whn
vote f,r it. II was an extreme propo-
s tion-s new departure f-"m the long
established usage Of the Federal G "
ernmelt AMI to- tat reason, if Tor n"
other, personally degtading 10 the in
cum he, t o. tie Presidential Off y. 1t
oouli only have grown ont t abao'ml! |!
exat inert created bv the il.sansions
hetwoen tue two great departments OF
,e g Ivprnment. The bs erness engen-
dered resemh hled that which always dla-
family quarrel. The meas
ure vas reso, ted TO as one Of self.defense
against the al legged a9gressi ms and the
10 aimed power Of the execu i've de-
partmert. Bat tie history Of its opera
ii IN and OF s subsequent modification,
which pracic,l v amourt.d ii to its repeal
i. one to which the Republican paltf
cannot recur with any sense Of pride or
As matter fact q R.
publican Congress, largely composed o.
the same members wh, had enacted tie
law, init ect y confessed two wears later
trat t could not h, maintained. Re
gardei only in the light of expe liency
at the time, could readily he demon
stra ed as was aft,rward admitted bv
candid men among t,oss who supported
~ t, he a bunder-a blunder all the
more censurahe because the act was not
needed to uphold the reconstruction
poles Of Congress, in aid OF which it
was devised.
While | have this hook in nv hand ]
vii AXE the lihe,ts of reading Whist the
lis inguished an'hor SAYS on the sub
ject OF the att Of 1869, which wa, passed
pretty nearly nv the same men who pass
e ! tn Of 1867. and Of which be speaks
as follows:
Wnen ie hill reached the Senate there
was disp ,,iton on the part # some
leading members of that body to ess it
as promptly as it had been passed. by the
House Mr.. Morton urged that it b
put on its passage without referring l..
hit the Senate was not prepared for such
hast, aud, on motion IF Mr.. TrumbuIl.
the bill was sent to the judiciary CON-
mltee. That commit ea reported il with
out delay 10 the Sena'e, With an ameDd-
ment 10 the form of subsiitl'e. The
House bill sss a simple repeal In the:
frwest possible worrir. 'fbv Ju iie,e-t
tee now proposed th instead OF
au absolute repeal, the tnure-of-oiHce
act .'he, and the same is hereby, sus-
pended until the x; session OF Con-
gress."
This gas lam. AMI ihpotent conclu-
sion. aud did not commsn the support
Or even the respect nf the Senate. Mr.
Thurman, a member of the com piitee
hat reported it, made ha tie TO anpnunc.
thrt he had not approved it. He t'es ed
the prpposit on for suspension as prac
'ical confession that the tenure.o..off1 )
act sis to he enfprc d when 1t will have
no practical eHe,t aud i, not to ha en-
fo,c,d when l. will have practical eff ct /"
The chief defenders of the proposition
to suspend the act we're Mr. Trumhnll
Mr.. Eamunds and Mr.. S"hu'z. Mr. Ell
munds, pressed by Mr.. Grimes to fur
,h good reason for suspending h.
act, replied that 20 wing to the peculiar
tnat have attende the
last admins ration 1t is desirable tina
there should be an immedilta and gen.
eral removal of the office holders of the
country as rule. and ss an agency TO-
th&t removal, subject = our approval
when We meet again in confirmation o.
their successors, tlese bad men being
put out, we are willing t. ust this ex-
ecutive with tiat discr, ton"
Mr. B aine proceeds:
Coming from a Senator of the United
s ates, this declar,t on was regarded as
ext aordinary. The "nad men" to whom
Mr.. Elmunds ferred we're the. ap
poi 'es of President johnson. AMI ev
ery one OF them had been confirmed by
the S ,nsts OF the Un ted Stst,s when the
r .pu hicans had more tan tso-tbirds
OF the bodv. II these appoil tees were
"bad men," why, it was perlinently and
asked by the sggrieved. did n t
Mr. Elmunds submit proof of the fact
to his R publican associates and procure
their reject on2 He knew, the accusei
men declared, as much about their char
acters when their names we're htfbre he
Senate ss he knew now when be sought
behind the Lrotect on OF his privilege
t. brand them with ihfamy. To permi,
them to be confirmed in the silence and
conf ience OF an executive session, aud
then in open Senate, when their places
were want d for others, 10 describe them
as "had men," seemed to them pro-
cedure not to be explained on the broad
principles of statesmanship, or even Oh
the common law Of fair dealing.
=
the amendment OF the judiciary Com
mitlee providing for Suspension If the
Law until Congress should meet sgain-a
Il Nc