Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-05
YONE PERSON LEFT
Of Those Active in the Trial
of Andrew johnson.
He rs GEO. s. BOUTWELL,
DISTINGUISHED LEGAL TALENT
CONTESTED THE CASE.
Ashley and the Fifteenth Amendment,
Which He Drafted-An Old
Timer Talks.
HE rs GEO. s. BOUTWELL,

Which He Drafted-An Old
Timer Talks.
More than a third of century has pass
ed into history since the famous trial and
acquittal of President Andrew Johnson on
the charge Of high crimes and misde-
meanors" 1t was the first and only at
tempt ever made to impeach a President
of the United States.
OF the men who were active participants
in that famous hearing George s. Boutwell,
Of Massachusetts alone survives His COM
peers in the management of the trial on the
part of the Observation-Disclosures Stevens,
Ben Butler. Gen. John A. Logan. JOHN
A. Bingham, ]. F. Wilson and T. Williams,
all members of the House of Representa-
tfves-have long since been gathered to
their fathers
Butler and Bingham were among the
ablest lawyers in the country. Pitted
against these managers, assisting the At
torney General of the United States, Henry
Stanberry. were jeremiah s. Black, William
NJ. Evarts, BENJAMIN r. Curtis and Thomas
A. r. Nelson. Such an array of legal wis
dom will probably never again be brought
together at trial.
The generation of this day seldoms hears
mentioned the names of any of these men.
Yet they were leaders in public life in the
critical period of reconstruction. The only
man in Congress today who serving
constituency at the time of the famous trial
is the veteran Galusha A. Grow of Penn
sylvania.
Gulf Had Gradually Widened.
The impeachment of President Johnson
was loudly demanded by Senator Wade
of Ohio. Stevens. James M. Ashley of Ohio,
Butler and other ultra-radicals when Con-
gress met in December. 1867. The gulf be-
tween johnson and Congress had gradually
widened after the reconstruction bill was
passed over his veto, although his friends
announced that, while he opposed the act
and resisted its passage, it was the law
OF the land and he would fairly execute it.
Edwin NJ Stanton was removed from the
War Department and Grant appointed in
his place. The Senate when it met over
ruled the deposition Of Stanton, and Grant
gracefully retired that the War Secretary
might resume his duties.
President Johnson. with an unfortunate
want of retfcence. denounced Congress and
finally again issued an order removing
stanton and appointing Adjutant General
Thomas as Secretary Of War. Charles
Sumner telegraphed Stanton to hold the
place. Many were of the opinion that a
scene of violence would be witnessed at
the War Department.
The Senate was not slow in declaring that
the President had exceeded hts authority,
and the House Of Representatives, by a
vote Of 126 to Al, passed a resolution that
he be 1mpeached for high crimes and mis-
demeanors.
Ashley Introduced Resolution.
James M. Ashley introduced the resolu-
ton. The House of Representatives agreed
to the articles Of impeachment March 8,
1868, and the Senate received them two
days later. Ashley was possessed of
fearless nature. He was a picturesque
character. 1t is with him that this article
proposes to deal.
He began his career as an abolition dem
ocrat, and his first vote, he used to say,
was cast In 1852 for John P. Hale and
George w. Julian. They were what was
called free democrats" Ashley voted for
Fremont, and was a member Of the COM
mittee that notified him Of his nomination.
national convention In Pittsburg. when the
party was born. He was in the first con-
vention that nominated Abraham Lincoln;
also in the second convention, and he voted
for Andrew johnson for Vice President
During the Impeachment trial, when
friends Of the President taunted Ashley
with having assisted Johnson to the vice
presidency, Ashley would explain:
Il voted for Johnson in that convention
because had known him in the south and
believed him to be a Union man. thorough-
~ saturated with Union sympathy. But"
ne would add with unmistakable emphasis,
Il have lived to find him scheming scoun-
drel, and I will never darken the White
House doors while he pollutes the building
with his presence"
Feeling That Existed at the Time.
That may give faint idea of the feeling
that existed as the result Of the proceed
ings against the President. Those who be-
lieved that Johnson should be impeached
were loud in their denunciation of him.
and the language employed often included
expletives that a person at all sensitive
might construe personal Johnson had
his defenders, who were at times equally
careless in the use Of swear words
A few evenings ago in a downtown hotel
two former members of Congress, one of
whom knew Ashley personally, were recall
Ing the days OF reconstruction and the men
who took an active part In attendant legis-
lation. The Impeachment trial was men
toned. as was Ashley's name, and the lat
ter's friend told Of the last visit made to
impeachment resolution in Congress, and of
listening to the story Of the Impeachment
trial as related by Ashley himself.
Il think 1t was In the spring Of 1896 that
I last saw Ashley said the speaker IT
met him on the avenue and accompanied
him over to the Capitol. He wore a broad
brimmed hat and had an overcoat thrown
loosely over his shoulders He told me- he
had not been In Washington for q dozen
years.
q" want to take peep in the House and
senate chambers, he said. Outside Of
Grow, don't know Of single person who
was there when served
Told on a Street Car Ride.
''That afternoon we took street car ride
over the city and talked over old times en-
route Ashley told Of the Impeachment trial
and Of the part he played In it.
There was nothing personal In intro
ductng the resolution as was thought at
the time he said On the contrary. John
son and had been warm friends up to the
time when he came to me and told me his
plans for administering affairs as President
OF the United States. Then 1t was knew
that he and the republican party had parted
company. thought he was recreant to his
trust, and should be condemned in the only
way that we had any power to touch him =
AT Johnsons Inauguration my disgust
became intense. I wanted to crawl under
my chair or go and hide my head in the
cloak room when he began his maudlin
speech. 1t was horrible. The more he said