Year: 1869

damaging revolt against the ruling ring of the
Senate, the Jacobin club. There was a caucus
yesterday-a very remarkable caucus-of the
republicans of the Senate on The repeal of the
Tenure of Office law, and from the reports at
hand of the sayings and doings Of this caucus
the first steps have been taken in the great
movement of dethroning King Caucus with the
Jacobin club The advocates of repeal Of
the obnoxious law, as measure Of simple JUS
tice toward General Grant, pushed the doubt
ing radicals to the corner of asking suspension
Of the repeal till the 4th Of March. They
want Grant to show his hand before they give
him this vote of confidence. Twenty-Five
members, it appears, were in favor Of the post
ponement-a majority Of the caucus, bat not q
majority Of the republicans Of the Senate
The minority Of the caucus, it next appears,
broadly intimated that they would not be bound
by this decision; and if this be true we may
say that the power Of the Jacobins is broken
and that new political revolution is begun in
the disintegration of the party in power over
the spoils.


The established party law is that every indi-
vidual entering party caucus as member
must be bound by its decisions. Some OF the
most outrageous judgments have thus been
fastened by minority upon the majority Of
the responsible members of the party involved
in the judgment; and we have long wished to
see this system of caucus dictation broken up.
If the conservative republicans Of the Senate
have resolved upon bolt it is good; IT. with
the democrats, they have majority Of the
body, better still; but at all events let them
push this repeal of the Tenure of Office law
before the Senate, in open session, as matter
of confidence in General Grant, and they will
get the victory, as Butler gained it in the
House, by bringing every man to the record.


The battle, of coufse, Is for the spoils.
With new President comes new division.
Under jackson and Van Buren only few
scattering oface-holding wings here and there
escaped the guillotine, and when the wings
came into power with General Harrison they
lost no time in paying of the enemy in his
own coin. Francis Granger, Harrison's Post
master General, within single month had
chopped off the heads of several hundred
democratic postmasters, and he said that if
Harrison had lived month longer the list of
the beheaded in the mail service would have
been swelled to the extent of few hundreds
more But Harrison had died, and Tyler
coming in threw all this whig fat in the fire
by Tylerizing the administration. And so with
every rotation or change in the White House
there has been rotation, great or small, in
the distribution Of the spoils, down to Andy
Johnson.


Here we get new law on the subject, and
the Senate comes in for the lions share. From
Washington to Jackson and from Jackson to
Johnson the Presidents appointments were
subject to confirmation or rejection by the
Senate, but his removals were decisive. He
could discharge every member Of his Cabinet,
oil our ministers abroad and every other execu-
tive subordinate, from the New York Collector
to the obscurest crossroads postmaster, and
there was no power in the Senate to put any
of these men back again. But Johnson in his
conflict with Congress found that here was a
power in his hands which he might turn to
some purpose, and as the quarrel went on he
proceeded to act accordingly in making ''dead
ducks of offending radical ofice-holders. But
he had counted without his host. The radicals
had him as no party in Congress ever had an
obnoxious opposition President before and
as no party will probably ever have
President again. They had him
by that two-thirds vote in each house
which squelches the Executive veto and so
among other laws binding him hand or foot
they bound him hand and foot with the Tenure
Of O1ice law. Under this law the President
can remove no subordinate without the con-
Senate q subordinate may be suspended, but
within twenty days after the meeting Of the
Senate the reasons for such suspension must
be sent in, and If not voted satisfactory by the


Senate the suspended officer is reinstatcd.


Thus Stanton was restored TO the War Office,


and then, for attempting his pcremptory re-


moval, poor Johnson was impeached and tried


for ''high crimes and misdemeanors' and


came within single vote Of being himself
removed.


That was enough for Johnson. Since that


narrow escape he has given this impeachment


trap wide margin, and the Office holders,
good, bad or Indifferent, so far as Johnson


has been concerned, have been doing as they
pleased. If he has attempted to call them to
account they have snapped their fingers in his
face and pointed to the Senate. Now the
simple question Is whether this Office law,
radical measure ofrevenge and defence against
johnson, shall be held in ter7orem over Grant


The House, by an Overwhelming majority,
has said, let this law be repealed; but the
Jacobins Of the Senate seek to evade the ques-
ton and to put il Off till the 4th of March as
measure for whipping in the new President,
for they distrust him. In this situation Of
things the Only course for the republicans Of