Omaha daily bee., 1912-08-04

district court In MlSsourl' rech "IotS VI b
and published In the newspapers In 1875
a decision which he had rendered.
lawyer named Lawless, who had been
counsel. for the defeated party, reviewed
the decision in print. Jrdge Peck there
upon had Lawiess hailed before him for
contempt and passed sentence upon him
imprisoning him for twenty-four hours,
and suspending him from practice
for eighteen months. Lawless petitioned
the house Of representatives during three
sessions In vain for redress, but at last,
in 1929 his plea was taken up by the
party leaders, and Peck was impeached.
James Buchanan was principa. manager
for the house. An attempt was made to
make political capital out Of the trial, but
despite the popular favor with which the
action had been received, the senate in
January, 1881, by vote of q for an1uittal
and 81 for conviction, sustained Judge
Peck. President Jackson, it was said,
finally came to the conclusion that Peck
ought to be acquitted, because he feared
that q conviction would make Buchanan
too popular. The one result Of the case
was the passage of an act in 1881 limit
Ing the power Of courts TO punish for
contempt
Trial of President johnson.
OF all impeachment trials in American
history, that Of President Andrew john
son is the most famous, both because Of
the questions involved and because of
the personality and official position Of
the accused. 1t followed as the culnlna-
ton Of q two and half year struggle
between congress and the chief exec
utive over reconstruction measures and
policies. The crisis was precipitated by
the action Of congress in passing the
tenure Of office act over the presidents
veto, and by its subsequent course in up
war, in his refusal to resign his port
folio at Johnson's demand.
On February q, 1868, the house of rep
resentatives, by q vote Of 126 to Al, de-
| cided to impeach the president. The man.
ayers selected by the house, most Of them
! radical anti-Johnson men, included Benz
jamin F. Butler, Thaddeus Stevens,
George s. Boutwell, and John A Logan.
The formal impeachment, consisting OF
eleven separate articles, was laid before
the senate on March 5. OF the charges,
those embodied in the second and third
articles, dealing with Stanton's removal
and the appointment Of his successor,
| and the eleventh, which charged the
president with publicly holding that the
Thirty-ninth congress was an unlawful
body, were considered most important.
His trial opened on March 90 Johnson
being represented by coterie Of able
| lawyers, among whom were 3. r. Cur
tis, later on associate justice Of the SUI
preme court; William M. Evarts and
| Henry Stanberry. Chief Justice Chase
presided and did his best to prevent the
unfair action OF the senate in regard to
the admission Of evidence. which was dis
closed as the trial proceeded. The proof
was all in by April q, and, after long
| and able summing up, the vote was taken
on May is.
There were fifty-four senators and it
was necessary to get thirty-six to con-
vict The first vote was on the elev-
enth count, on which the vote stood thir-
tyfivs for conviction and nineteen for
acquittal; thus falling one vote short
Of the required two-thirds. This resulted
from the fact that seven regular repub-
licans voted with the twelve democrats,
and four so-called johnson or administra-
ton republicans, to acauit The same
| result having been obtained on the Sec
ond and third counts, the radical OPP
position threw up their hands and the
senate adjourned sine die without vot-
Ing on the charges.
Grants War Secretary.
| The impeachment Of General William W.
Belknap, secretary Of war In the cabinet
Of President Grant. constitutes the only
| Impeachment Of cabinet officer in Am
erican history. General Belknap had an
honorable record as soldier during the
civil war, and entered the cabinet early
in Grants first term as head OF the War
department. One Of his duties in that
position was the appointment of an Of
ficer known as the Post Trader. The
position was lucrative one, and the
profits depended to large extent on the
| secretary Of war. The charge against
Belknap was that he had entered into
corrupt bargain with his appoIntee by
means of which he was to receive part
Of his large profits, payable in quarterly
instaiments. Proof was submitted to show
that Belknap's share Of the profits
amounted in all to about $4,000.
Evidence Of Belknap's corruption was
presented to the house in report from
| the committee Of expenditures, which
| recommended impeachment. This was on
| March 2, 1875. The house at once unani-
| nnously voted to impeach the secretary.
Belknap, however, had previously re-
ceived an intimaton of what the report
| was to contain, and on the morning Of
the same day he handed in his resignl-
tion to President Grant, with the request
that it be Immediately accepted Grant,
who had the reputation of Standing by
his friends" at once acceded to his Sec
retary's request. George F. Hoar of
Massachusetts,. then a member of the
house, was the principal manager for
the house, and the impeachment pro-
| ceedings were launched, despite Belk-
| maps resignation. The vote on the i'm
parchment was taken on August /.
Thirty-seven senators voted guilty" and
twenty-five mot guilty" AS the neces-
sary two-thirds vote was not obtained,
despite the evident guilt of the accused,
he cannot be said to have been convicted.
| But twenty-three Of the senators who
voted mot guilty" accompanied their
votes with an explanation that they Lad
voted as they did, because of their DC.
lief that by resigning he had put himself
outside the jurisdiction of the senatorial
court of impeachment.
There was lapse of almost three dec
| ades between the impeachment of Secre-