THE END OF IMPEACHMENT
The impeachment project has resulted as every thoughtful man must have
supposed it would, and it is to be regretted that the resolution of censure was not also
omitted. As the people last autumn, at the polls, so unequivocally expressed themselves
upon the policy and conduct of the President, we can see no good reason for fighting the
battle over again. The President has yielded, and has kept silence until the journey to
Raleigh. He vetoed the Military bill, of course; but having satisfied his convictions in
the manner he has not evaded but has executed the law in its own spirit. It can not be
denied that he has lost the confidence and respect of the American people, and is
therefore powerless. But now that their opinion if formed and their judgment rendered it
is superfluous to repeat it solemnly in Congress.That Mr. Johnson is a man of very obtuse mind, and that he has been
floundering in a desperate muddle from the beginning of the reconstruction movement, is
very evident. That he must bear the heavy responsibility of the slaughter at New Orleans,
which by a word he could have avoided, seemed to us, until this decision of the Committee,
indisputable. It is not that he has not deserved censure, but because he has received it
in the most impressive manner, that the intended action of the Judiciary Committee is
untimely
Congress has wholly conquered in the political struggle with the Executive,
and it is ungenerous to spurn the conquered.
The history of this impeachment project
should show every representative the necessity of the utmost care in beginning so grave a
movement. It must now be considered settle that Mr. Ashley charged what he hoped to be
able to find the evidence to prove rather than what he knew. He has weakened instead of
strengthened his cause. If after so prolonged and searching investigation by a committee
not unwilling to impeach, it is decided that no further action should be taken, it is also
decided that the President was accused upon wholly insufficient grounds. And this decision
is of very great importance; for it implies that the Presidents official conduct at
the time of the New Orleans riot was less reprehensible than the country supposed.
From his letter to the Washington meeting
General Butler seems to think that the impeachment should have been kept as a rod in
pickle to encourage the President in well-doing. The General looks for the removal of
Sheridan as a logical sequence of the failure to impeach. He need have no fear. If the
President undertakes seriously to withstand the will of the people, lawfully expressed, he
will be brought to account without delay.
Articles Related to Military Reconstruction:
News Items
January 19, 1867, page 35
Impeachment
January 26, 1867, page 50
Congress and
Impeachment
February 16, 1867, page 98
The Probability of
Impeachment
February 23, 1867, page 114
The Louisiana Bill
March 2, 1867, page 130
Reconstruction
March 9, 1867, page 146
The Thirty-Ninth
Congress
March 9, 1867, page 146
The Veto of the Reconstruction Bill
March 16, 1867, page 162
The Fortieth Congress
March 30, 1867, page 195
The Fortieth Congress
April 6, 1867, page 211
Sprats and Vetoes
April 6, 1867, page 210
Adjournment of Congress
April 13, 1867, page 226
Prometheus Bound
March 2, 1867, page 137
The Result
March 30, 1867, page 194
The Southern Commanders
April 6, 1867, page 218
The Debate upon Impeachment
March 23, 1867, page 178
We Accept the Situation (cartoon)
April 13, 1867, page 240
The Big Thing (cartoon)
April 20, 1867, page 256
The End of Impeachment
June 22, 1867, page 386
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