CONGRESS AND IMPEACHMENT
Until the report of the Judiciary Committee is presented to the House the
air will be thick with rumors of every kind from Washington. We are very glad, therefore,
that Mr. Wilson, the chairman of the Committee, has stated that nobody but the members of
the Committee know any thing about the progress of the investigation, and that all the
reports in regard to it are wholly groundless. The Judiciary Committee is usually considered a very radical body,
and it is probably the general impression that it will report in favor of impeachment. But
it will be remembered that this much-abused Congress has not been swift to take extreme
action of any kind. Notwithstanding great national excitement, and the natural
exasperation of the Legislature with an Executive who first betrayed and then denounced
it; notwithstanding also its enormous majority, which enables it to dispense with the
Presidential approval, the action of the Thirty-ninth Congress has been singularly
temperate.
During the last session there was much
hot and foolish declamation, but the decisions were deliberately and wisely made. Mr.
Thaddeus Stevens was called the leader of the House. He unbridled his tongue and urged
summary measures; but of all his serious plans, during a session of seven months, Congress
adopted but one the appointment of a Reconstruction Committee. Rivaling the wise
patience of Mr. Lincoln, it endured the sneers of all its enemies and the adjurations of
some of its friends. It knew that, at an epoch like this, time is the truest friend, for
time only can reveal the circumstances upon which wise legislation can be based. Upon the
one hand, Mr. Wendell Phillips charged it with hypocrisy and swindling; upon the other,
Mr. Raymond prayed it to leave its damnable faces and begin. But Congress waited and
investigated and deliberated, and time, which it trusted, has vindicated its wisdom. Had
it decreed confiscation and territorial governments and universal suffrage at its last
session it would have outrun public sympathy. But by proposing only the mild Amendment it
gave the country full opportunity to learn the controlling facts of the situation, and won
public opinion to its present advanced position.
We confide, therefore, in the wise report
of the Judiciary Committee and the subsequent action of Congress. Should the Committee
decide not only that the evidence authorizes impeachment but that circumstances render it
desirable, we have no doubt that the testimony and arguments will be so fully and fairly
stated as to command public approval; and we presume that upon the presentation of such a
report the House will defer action until it can ascertain the feeling of the country.
There is probably little difference of
opinion among loyal men as to the usurpation by the Executive of the functions of the
Legislature. But as it is not generally believed to have had originally a bad intention,
and as it has been wholly defeated in its perilous tendency, it is questionable whether
upon that ground alone impeachment would be expedient. There is equally little doubt of
the illegal dispensation of the prerogative of the Senate by the Executive action in
official appointments. But that is with ample precedent, and is a disputed point upon
which impeachment is plainly inexpedient. More ominous was the Presidential conduct at the
time of the New Orleans massacre. If it shall clearly appear that under any pretense
whatever the President of the United States connived at the slaughter of citizens
peaceably assembled for discussion, the public indignation will be profound, but it will
not necessarily regard impeachment as the wisest policy. And if the Committee shall show
by ample evidence that the pacification of the country is impeded or paralyzed by the
unconstitutional passivity of the President in executing laws of the most vital necessity,
and that the attitude of the Judiciary leaves no reasonable doubt that for the whole term
of the next Congress the present situation must continue, the question for the country
will be simply whether it is more expedient to worry through than to set the precedent of
impeachment.
The peril of the precedent is probably
the strongest popular argument against impeachment for any cause less than that of an open
and palpable attempt to subvert the Government by force. The argument is, that all other
attempts are mainly inferential, and therefore doubtful; and that if an impeachment be
carried for any such cause, an extreme Constitutional remedy becomes at once an ordinary
party measure. Such an argument is very powerful. It demands very careful reflection. But
on the other hand, it must not be forgotten that every grave political measure creates a
precedent; and that although a precedent is always in danger of being abused, yet that in
this country there is less peril than elsewhere, because we may always count upon the
increasing intelligence and good sense of the people not to abuse it.
The session is so nearly at an end that
it may be doubted whether the present Congress is likely to take final action upon the
subject. But as the next Congress is composed of many, if not most, of the sitting
members, it may be assumed that no very serious change of opinion is likely to occur.
General Butler, of course, will dispute Mr. Stevenss laurels; but the General will
learn the lesson which has been very forcibly taught Mr. Stevens, that Congress follows no
other leader than the conviction and intelligence of the country. In view of every
contingency, however, if the impeachment should finally be carried, and it were thought
best to suspend the President from his functions during the trial, there is no man whose
temporary occupation of the Executive office would inspire great confidence in the country
than Senator Fessenden.
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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