Year: 1867

| should impeach him and attempt to sus-
pend him during the trial he would re-
sist. He would endeavor to justify such
a course, probably, upon the ground that
tho ConstitutIon-which is so precions
to him and to the Democratic allies and
apologirts of the rebellion--provides for
the removal of the President only on
conviction. But If congress, upon as
sembling. should pass law providing
for the suspension froA their functions
of all impeachment of the Government,
from the moment of impeachment until
the end of the trial, what then ? The
President would, of course, veto the bill;
Congress would PASS it over the veto,
and it would become the law of the land.
Would Andrew johnson then undertake
armed resistance to the law - 2l


Undoubtedly he would if he thought
he should be supported, and very pos.
sibly he would be remembered that the
President is not only an ignorant, obsti'
nate and passionate man, buff com
mon report may be trusted-he is an in :
temperate man. 1t has been publicly
stated that he intended to relieve Cen
eral Grant and make General Frank
Blair Secretary of War. Now the hab-
its of General Blair are notorious. Jer-
emiah Black is the Presidents confden-
tial adviser, and Jeremiah Black is a
patriot of the school of Fernando Wood
and Robert Toombs. 1t is idle to say
that such men will not dare to do this or
that. They will dare to do any thing.
They would undoubtedly prefer the form
and letter of law, but they could very
readily devise any pretext.l There can
be no more stupendous folly, with our
recent experience, than to insist that it is
mere partisan trick to say that vio-
lence is very possible and probable upon
the part of the President.


lie is besotted with the notion that it
is his bushes to defend what he calls
the Constitution in other words, certain
theories of his own--against Congress-
Now as mat er of fact, under the Const,
tuition there is no power whatever to op-
pose the action of Congress, when the
veto has been outvoted. To the extent
of the veto the President has constitu
al check upon Congress. Beyond that,
he is as powerlcss as the man in the
moon. When, in opposition to his veto
and by the Constitutional provision, the
will of Congress has become law, the
sole constitutional duty of the President
is to take care that it be faithfully exc
cuted in such manner as Congress may
have appointed. The President may
think that it is law destructive of the
Government, of civil liberty, and of the
rights of human nature. But under the
Constitution, when he has vetoed it in
vain, he must see to its faithful execu.
tion or resign. If he will do neither
if he remains merely an iucumbrance
and paralysis upon the law-Congress
may, at its pleasure, eonstitutionally pro-
ceed to impeach him for high misde-
meanor.


The truth is, that, under the Consti.
tuition, Congress, when it has two
thirds majority against the President, is
the really superior and supreme branch
of the Government; and the only final
check OF its action is not the will of the
President but Of the people. One very
great advantage of tho present political
situation is, that it dispels some of the
vague traditional untruths about our
Government One of the most common
theories has been that it was governs
ment of three CO. ordinate branches. Co.
ordinate means not subordinate and the
theory, therefore, was, that ours was a
government of three cqnally supreme de-
partments. Such fallacy might be en-
tertained until it was tested Then, of
course, it was sure to be discovered that
three supremacies in the same system was
mere fiction. When an actual contest
arises between all of them, or any one of
them and the other two, it must either
be compromised settles nothing,
and leaves the essential question still
opener one must wholly yield-which
establishes its infertority--or each must
persist to the last-in which case force
would determine the superiority of one
or the other.


The history of the present conflict be-
tween the President and Congress that
when Congress has not majority of
two-thirds against the President he is
master Of the situation. But when Con-
gress has that majority the President is
utterly powerless. If Congress should
pass law over his veto, aud the Presi.
dent should refuse to see it faithfully ex-
scuted upon the ground that the Supreme
Court had declared it unconstitutional,
Congress must either yield to the Su>
preme Court, which would. make that
Court the government of the country, or
it must impeach the President despite
the Court. If then, the Chief Justice
refused to sit upon the impeachment,
there must be compromise or forci5le
solution. Or suppose Congress and the
President united, and the Court oppos-1.
ed to them. Congress passes a law and,
the President sees that 1t is executed,
while the Supreme Court declares it to
be unconstitutional. What can the CO.
ordinate supremacy of the Court do +?
Does the Constitution require the Pres
ident to ask the Court before he sees to
the execution of law, or does it require
him to refuse to execute it because the
Court declares it unconstitutional May
every Law be held invalid until the Court
lov.ttx,aka. .&2 C...I tboo~x o.,hard,