Evening star., 1919-04-13
MR.W|LSON TO FACE
A HOSTILE CONGRESS
Continued from First Page.)

military control until they should
comply with the provisions of these
laws.
The laws were passed over the We.
hement protest of the President and
over his veto. He attacked Congress.
claiming that it had no right to act
when one-fourth Of the entire number
of the states was not represented in
either Senate or House. This added to
the bitterness. Finally Congress pass
ed the so-called tenure of office act,
which took from the President the
right to discharge any federal officer
appointed by the President and cou-
hrmed by the Senate, unless the SEN
ate approved Of the removal. johnson
was determined to get rid of Stanton,
the Secretary of War. who was op-
posed to his reconstruction policy. He
deposed Stanton and appointed Gen.
Grant in his place. But the Senate re-
| fused to approve the removal of STAN
ton. and Grant withdrew from the Of
| flee of Secretary of War, which was
was furious and again deposed STAN
ton and appointed Lorenzo Thomas.
Andrew johnson 1mpeached.
This action with regard to Stanton
was the last straw. johnson was de-
nounced as a violator Of the law, and
the republicans began impeachment
proceedings against him. The i'm
peachment trial before the Senate, the
only case where a President of the
United States has been a defendant
in such case. resulted in acquittal:
The vote was 35 for impeachment and
19 against, one less than the neces-
sary two-thirds vote required to oust
the President.
President Wilson has let it be known
that whatever reconstruction was re-
hi frry fol- 1vryiv
war with Germany. he would look
after himself and has frowned upon
the proposed appointment of congress
sional committees to frame recon-
struction programs. However, Con-
gress failed to put through six of the
big annual supply bills, including
those for the Army and Navy. making
it essential that the President call
Congress in special session before the
close of the fiscal year. June 80. There
were democrats In both bodies who
were as insistent there should be a
session of the new Congress before
next December as were the repub-
licans. Congress-. therefore, will take
a hand in the work of reconstruction
also.
Grant Had Republican Congress.
When Andrew Johnson left the
| White House Ulysses s. Grant entered
Z,
| the hero of the war. a republican, and
he had a republican Congress with
| him, overwhelmingly strong in both
| branches The work of reconstruct
ing the southern states went on along
the lines approved by Congress. Gov
| ernments were established in the
| various states and maintained by the
| use Of the federal military forces
| alone. Six years went by. Recon-
| struction scandals grew. Also there
was a financial panic The democrats
began to gain strength. promising
reforms They gained control of the,
House in the last two years of Grants
second term. They gained additional
( seats in the Senate, one of them being
occupied by Andrew Johnson. who
bitterly attacked Grant and defended
his own policy of reconstruction.
Rutherford B. Hayes. republican,
| came into the White House after a
battle at the polls and the electoral
] congress which threatened to disrupt