Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-05-19

A'SH AASAASO Q4A lol llCl OulGCQ States senator from Kansas, sec ond victim of the fatal Lane sue cession,' whose vote in the senate, prevented the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and is credited with saving the nation from disruption during reconstruc- tion days, but wrecked i,is own political and financial future and drove him from Kansas, died at Albuquerque, N. M., on May B. In this most dramatic incident of American political history the pres ident of the United States was de- fendant, prosecuted by the house of representatives, before the chief justice of the supreme court sitting as trial judge and a jury composed of the cabinet and senate. At the close of the trial seven Republican senators voted with the Democratic minority against impeachment, the seventh and deciding ballot being that of Senator Ross.
 For this simple act of sane jus tice, in the face of threats of po- litical annihilation, social ostracism, financial ruin and assassination, all but the latter became Ross por- tion.
 n,v of tor of the Graphic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he met ex-Governor Ross and held long interview with him relative to the Johnson im- peachment, which was a thorough review of the trial and the inci- dents leading thereto and following thereafter, and this interview was
 published in the Graphic at that
 time. As this interview is pertin-
 ent and will be interesting reading
 matter at this time, we reproduce it in full as follows:
 Especial correspondence to Graphic) Albuquerque, N. M., March 5,
 1902.-In an ancient adobe house Gone of the oldest in the territory, !,
 and on the outskirts of Albu- querque, near the banks of the Rio
 Grande river, lives one of the
 makers of American history. He
 was one of the chief actors in an
 event second only in importance and consequences to the civil war,
 which it immediately followed. It
 was by his vote that the constitu
 tion of the United States was pre-
 served and coordinate branch
 of the federal government main
 tained in its full integrity. The
 man is exSenator Edmond G.
 Ross and the event was the inn
 peachment trial in 1868 of Presi-
 dent Andrew Johnson.
 Both the occasion and the man
 have almost passed out of recollec-
 tion. Few members of the congress
 of either the house that im-
 peached the president or the senate
 that tried him, now be living: and
 about the same proportion of the
 people who witnessed that exciting
 event lave passed away. The im-
 peachment trial of Andrew Johnson
 is now almost recollection with
 only few inexpkcit pages devoted
 to it in our histories. Ex-Senator
 Ross is one of less than Q half
 dozen senators lnow living who
 voted on the impeachment. "The man who saved President Johnson"
 is now 75 years of age. He does
 not show his years, however. The
 ex-senator IS alert and active, his
 mind is vigorous, and he loves to
 recount the scenes and incidents
 of the famous trial.
 A few days ago I met him on
 the streets of the city. "Is this
 former Senator Ross?" I asked.
 'Yes," he replied in low voice and modest and retiring manner. "The man who saved President Johnson,' I added by way of furth- rr introduction.
 "yes,' he repeated, and after a moments hesitation, as he mentally recalled that exciting experience, "and the most maligned man in the United States" he added. An engagement was made and l few days afterward I visited him at his ranch As l rode up the oid man was out in the back yard saw l ing wood with a buck-saw. He in- l vited me into his room, the walls ic5 which are lined with shelves