The news & observer., 1901-03-27

Confederate soldier came back and began
to build UP the waste places Grant had
meant every word he said. But there
was no peace"
He now told of the impeachment OF
President Andrew Johnson and explained
how and why it failed.
"You know the result. Thank Goa
there were found enough righteous men
in that Sodom to redeem it.
Then he told how when in North Car
olina the Amendment was passed last
August the cry went up, Let us nave
peace" Governor Aycock said, Let US
have peace
Hardly had the words fallen from
his lips before a measure was inaugural
ted in the House so cruel as to shock our
people,"
He thought there was a striking paral-
lei between this trial and that OF Andrew
Johnson and he declared that 1t was
''the prayer of nine-tenths of the white
people of North Carolina that its result
might be the same"
The Andrew Johnson impeachment, he
declared, was now acknowledged to be
political and he was certain that this was
like unto it; that it was for the purpose
of keeping the court from declaring the
Amendment unconstitutional
This old man (pointing to Furches)
has never said one word about the
amendment There is no necessity for
proceeding special session of the Leg
islature can at any time be called"
But even if the court had any such idea
it was not justifable to do one wrong
that good may come of it.
'I don't appear for these Respondents
alone l appear for justice. l appear for
the law which these men have not vio-
lated. ! appear for them because these
judges have the people behind them. III
the people don't want these judges they
will turn them out What the people have
given the people may take away
Having made up my mind that this
prosecution is unjust do the duty or the
hour and fling defiance to the future.
He said he proposed to maintain three
propositions in his argument: That these
Judges have done their duty under the
laws of the land; that if they have erre.
in their decisions they were not influenced
by improper motives; that the Senate
must be convinced of these things beyond
a reasonable doubt
Here he argued that as an individual a
Judge could not plead ignorance OF the
law in defense of his conduct; but as a
Judge in his official action he can plead
this as a defense. This was the rule and
he had never heard anyone other than
the manager of the impeachment contend
otherwise.
He read the judges oath 81 will
discharge the duties of my office to the
best of my ability''-not that he will be
perfectly wise and continue so to the end
of his term.
'Iinstead of doing his duty to the best
of his ability, your construction is that he
will do it better than his ability.
where will you find an infallible tri-
bunal? with a tone of sarcasm.) Per-
haps you'll find it in the House"
He had never seen such love for the
Constitution displayed by any people as
was shown by the managers and their
counsel
why, sir, their love for it exceeds that
of Jonathan for David. 1t even passes
the love of women
He explained his idea of the Constitu-
tion and how the three departments of
government were divided off-"a system
of checks and balances"
The Senate, he argued, had no right to
review the courts decision. What are
you here doing?" he asked.
''You are assuming to yourselves the
position of an appellate court. You not
only pass on the decisions of the courS
but you blight the lives of these judges
and put on their names a stigma from
which they will never recover"
If there was any man present with ju-
dicial ambition. he called on him to let
the scene before him be warning.
What will your doctrine do. 1t strikes
down honor and sets up dshonor; it
strikes Own wisdom and sets up folly; it
strikes down honest judges and sets up
fools and knaves. When you get through
you may get somebody to vote for you,
| don't know how But when you do
the man who votes for you will know you
are wrong. l defy the managers to
produce one single writer that sustains
them in their position"
At this poidt the hour for adjournment
arrived and the court took a recess un-
til 10 o'clock this morning, when Mr.
Osborne will resume his argument