Year: 1867

To THE SENATE or THE UNITED SrArB:-


have carefully examined the bill to regulate the
tenure of certain civil officers The material portion
Of the bill contained in the rs section and is Of the
effect following namsy-that every person holding any
civil once 70 which he has been appointed BY and with
the advice and consent Of the Senate every person
VINO shall hereafter be appointed 70 any such Office and
shall become duly qualified to act therein s and shall
b. entitled 70 hold such ONCE until SUCCESSOR aha
have been appointed by the President with the advice
and consent Of the Senate and duly qualified and that
the Secretaries Of State Of the Treasury, Of War; Of
the Navy and Of the Interior the Postmaster General
and the Attorney General shall hold their Of
nces, respectively, for and during The term Of
the Presdeus by whom they may have been appointed,
and for one month thereafter subject removal by and
with the advice and consent Of the Senate These pro-
vsG are qualified by reservation in the fourth
tion. 'thas nothing contained In the bill shall be
strued TO extend the Of hy Office the duration of
which rs Ii. .uitsd by law


In effect the bill provides that the President shall not
remove from their places any the civil officers whose
terms OF service cVe not limited by law without the
advice and Of the Senate OF the United States
The bill In this respect conflicts, In my judgment, with
the constitution Of the United Statos The question,
Congress is we'll aware, is by no means new one
That the power OF removal is vested in
the President of the United States principle which
has been not distinctly declared by judicial
authority and judicial commentators han il has been
uniformly practced upon by the legislative and
cutive departments OF the government The question
arose in the House of Represen early as tho
10th Of june, 1882 the bill for establishing
cutive department denominated sthe Department Of
Foreign Affairs" The FIRST clause of the BILL after re-
captuaing the functions Of the officer and defining his
abilities, had these words-.To be removable from Of
Ace by the President of the United States II was
moved TO strike out these words, and the motion
Sustained with great ability and vgor II insisted
thaa the President could not consutionsliy exercise
the power Of removal exclusively OF the Senate; that
the Fedsralist interpreted the constitution when
guing for its adoption by the several States;
ina. Ina, ,ne oons!huuon naa nowhere si" given tne
by strong implication, bat, on the contrary, had
distinctly provided for removal from Office by mpeach-
ment only. A construction which denied the power Of
removal by the President further maintained by
arguments drawn from the danger Of the abuse Of the
power from the supposed tendency OF exposure of
public officers capricious removal to impair ci.
cheney Of the civil service from the alleged injustice and
hardship OF dspacins ncumhents dependent upon their
official stations without sufficient consideration from
supposent want of responsibility the part OF the
President and froi imagined defect of guarantees
against which President might incline 10 abuse the
power On the other hand, exclusive power OF re.
mova by the President was defended as q true
exposition OF the test OF the Constitution. II
maintained that there are certain causes for which
persons ought To be removed from office without being
guilty OF treason bribery maeasance and that tho
nature Of things demands that it should be So Sup.
pose Ut said) man becomes insane by the visitation
Of God and likely to ruin our affairs are the bands Of
the government TO be confined from warding or the
evil Suppose person 10 ofcs not possessing the tai
cnts e judged to have at tho time Of The appoint
acquires vicious habits and ncurabIe incidence total
neglect Of the duties Of his office which shalt work
mischief TO the public welfare, is there no
way 10 arrest tho threatened dangerY Suppose
he become odious and unpopular by reason Of the
hitting any positive offence against the law-must he
preserve hs Office despite OF the popular wS suppose
him grpng for his own aggrandisement and the eeva-
tion his connections By every means short OF Tho trea
defined by the constitution, hurryng your Affairs 10
the precpce Of destruction, endangerng domestic
tranquility, plunderng you OF the means OF defence,
alternating the affections oil your allies and promoting the
spirit Of discord-must the tardy, tedious desuiory
road by way of mpt achment be travelled 10 overfake
the who basely comm ng himself within the Litter
OF tho law Is employed in drawing of the vital principle
OF the governmenty The nature OF things the great OBJ
jects of society," the express objects OF the constitution
ITSELF require that this thing should be otherwise To
unite the Senate with the President In the exercise
in The most serious diflcuty. Suppose discovery OF
any OF those events should lake place when the Senat,
Is MOI in session. how is the remedy to be appledS The
evil could be avoided in other than by the Senate
sitting always In regard TO the danger Of the power
being abused IT. exercised by man. II was said that
the great with respect the Senate who
assembled from paris OF the continent with diff
fercnt impressions and opinions that such body "


more likely TO misuse the pow err OF removal than the
man whom the united voice OF America calls TO the
Presidential chair. As the nature OF the govern
ment requires the power. Of removal, it was





way by the hand capable OF exerting itself
with effect, and the power must be conferred
on President by the constitution as,the executive
officer Of the government, Mr. Madison, whose adverse
Oh pion in tho fdeis; had been relied upon by those
who denied the exclusive power now participated in the
opinions, and he summed up the whole case as fol.
lows -


The constitution arns that the executive power vested
in the President Are there exceptions to this propositon
Yes there The constitution that in appointing to
unless the inferior officers, when the law shall
% a sS ws n e Sn %
invested all execyc power In the President venture 10
h executive authority The question resolves Itself Into
The he e DSSsE
seeing controlling those who execute the laws IL the
sppsas sss ~
w0n M na Ue 1 a 70 me sa
should we be authorized in defence OF that clause IN
in' n ss % uns wS he Trs
AZ asn II 3 ss S We % hos not be
70 DO this think q may be disputed whether we have
oee, the power being much q e.esuye nature
s Sne s e. aRe Sa Ss si $ Gge
Jon these words rhe executive power shall Be vested


The question thus ably and exbaustively argued
decided by the House OF Representatives by vote Of %
70 20 IN favor o. sns pr @ s, .ne ezecuse
tive in the senate by the casting vote Of the Vice
President Tho question has often been raised In subse
auent times high excitement and the practice OF the
government has nevertheless conformed In all 70
The decision early made. The question revived
during the administration Of President jack
son who made, Is well recollected. very
large number OF removals, which made occa-
sion OF close and rigorous scrutiny and remonstrance
The subject long and earnestly debated In the Sem
ate and the early construction Of the constitution
nevertheless freely accepted ss binding and conclusive
upon Congress- The question came again before the
Supreme Court Of the United States in January $780,
er parte Hennen II declared by the court that
occasion that the power Of removal from
Office was q subject much disputed. and upon
which a great diversity OF opinion was en-
tertained In the early history Of the government.
This related however, to the power Of the President 70
remove officers appointed with the concurrence Of the
senate and the great question was whether the removal
was 10 be by the President alone with the
renee of the Senate both constituting the appointing
power No one denied the power Of the President and
Senate Jointly where the tenure Of the Office
was not nxed by the constitution which full recog-
nilon OF the principle that the power Of removal was
incident the power OF appointment; but Il was very
early adopted AZ practical construction Of the const


tuition that this power vested In the President alone


and such would appear to have been the Legislative con


sfrctop Of the for In the organization o
ehs thvee great Derartments OF State, War and