The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1886-03-13
A LITTLE HISTORY.
In. o. RcaYune.l

on the President is made in the
interest of popular government as
opposed TO the exercise of an ar
bitrary aud autoeratIc exercise Of
power on the part of the Exeeu.
tive. Every one at all familiar
with the constitution must under.
stand that it's intention through
out is to fix beyond the reach of
legislation, and beyond even the
demand of mere majority. the
separate existence and mutual in.
dependence of the three great CO.
ordinate branches of the General
Government. This plan was
adopted not for convenience, but
for safety. The fathers of the
constitution were advised by the
precedents of all history, and they
knew that if either of the three
branches were enabled to over
ride the other two the result would
be the overthrow of free institu
tons aud the return of despotIsm.
Hence it is that it was not left
to Congress to define the func.
tions of the Chief Magistracy.
The liberties of the people are
protected by constitutional provi.
sions guaranteeing the security Of
the Presidential prerogatives. An
attack upon those prerogatives is
something more than simple vio'
lation of organic law, involving
only individual criminalty and
temporary arrangement of govern.
mental machinery. 1t is nothing
less than revolution, and it is a
revolution not iu the interest of
freedom, but in the opposite di
rection.
Legislative usurpation is per.
haps the most insidious Of all the
dangers that menace the future OF
our republic. That evil tendency
was manifested at the very begin.
ning Of our national history. As
far back as 1895 the partisans of
the French Directory. the oppo.
nents of the funding scheme of
Alexander Hamilton, and the op.
ponents of the excise law, com
bined to destroy the character of
George Washington with a view
to his ultimate impeachment. In
addition to other troubles he was
forced into q serious conflict with
the House of Representatives be
cause of his refusal to comply with
resolution Of the House request.
ing the President to lay before ii
the Instructions, correspondence
and other documents relative to
the treaty with Great Britain ne.
gotiated by Mr.. Jay. His biog-
rapher, Irving, remarks Of his atti.
tnde at that critical moment
washington, believing that these
papers could not be constitution
ally demanded, resolved from the
first moment, and from the fullest
conviction of his mind, to resist
the principle which was evidently
intended to be established by the
call of the House; he only delib
Grated on the manner in which
this could be done with the least
bad consequences" In his an
swer to the House, Washington
affirmed that to admit the demand
would establish dangerous pre-
cedent, and declared that "as il
was essential that the boundaries
fixed by the constitution between
the different departments should
be observed, a just regard to the
constitution and to the duty o.
his office forbid a compliance Will
the request"
With the more overt and ag
gressive display of the same ten
dency in the case of President
johnson the American public il
sadly familiar. Mr.. Blaine, who
voted for the impeachment oi
President johnson, says, in the
last volume of his Twenty Years
of Congress-" that "the sober re
Election of later years has persua
ded many who favored 1t that il
was not justifable on the charges
made, and that its success would
have resulted in greater danger
to free institutions than Andrew
johnson in his utmost eDdcavol
was able to in6ct. No impartial
reader can examine the record oI
the pleadings and arguments o.
the managers who appeared Oh
behalf of the House without feel
ing that the President was i'm
peached for one series of misde
meauors and tried for another Sc
ries."
One of the managers for tbs
House IN that case is now IN thu
Senate, and bis name is John A
: Logan. OF course no one think
3 of impeachment while the friendl
I of the President are In the major
= 4.