THE MAIN QUESTION
Is the will of the President
the law of the land? That is the question which the people of this country are now
summoned to answer. He calls his will the Constitution, and his persistence obedience to
the Constitution. But by what authority does the President insist that his view of the
Constitution shall prevail, after Congress has declared against his view in the manner
which the Constitution prescribes? When Congress has passed a law or approved a policy to
which the President objects that, in his judgment, it is not constitutional, Congress must
reconsider its determination, and can not make it lawful except by a majority of
two-thirds. But when that is done the President has but two constitutional
alternativesone is resignation, and the other is a faithful execution of the law.These are the most elementary
truths of our political system, and the intention of the Constitution is evident. It is to
avoid a conflict of authority. It is to confine the President to a purely executive
function when his objections have failed to defeat the law. An honorable man of profound
convictions, who, as President, had vainly opposed what he deemed fatally unconstitutional
and perilous to the country, might resign, and by his resignation impress upon the
country, as nothing else could, the gravity of the emergency. But no honorable man, who,
as President, had objected in vain, and who did not resign, would attempt, either directly
or indirectly, to thwart the will of the people in Congress constitutionally expressed. To
do that would be to attempt a revolution, and that is precisely what the President is now
attempting. He has not, indeed, as yet technically violated the law, but he is hedging and
temporizing so that the law may be violated; and he is responsible, with the Democratic
party supporting him, for the paralysis which has fallen upon the subject of
reconstruction. Let us see how.
Congress has passed a law providing for
registry and election in the late rebel States. The President vetoed the law. He declared
that he though it wholly unconstitutional and destructive of civil liberty. Congress
passed the law over his veto. Instead of resigning or faithfully executing the law in its
spirit and for its declared purpose, the President began to prevaricate, to perplex, and
to denounce. He repeats in public and in private his conviction that Congress is virtually
treasonable to the Constitution, and appeals, as he says, to the people against Congress;
that is to say, he appeals to the people against their representatives. Such a course
plunges the whole country into confusion. The President arrays himself against a law
constitutionally enacted; issues proclamations and makes removals of officers intended to
defy and delay the will of the country as expressed by Congress, upon the ground that
Congress does not represent the people, and that he, elected two years before Congress,
does represent them. This brings him into an attitude of hostility to Congress, which the
Constitution does not contemplate, and which no honorable officer would assume. So long as
that hostility lasts it is impossible to foresee its issue. It will depend very much upon
the personal character of the President whether it will not end in violence. Meanwhile it
is impossible for the country to become tranquil. Industry and trade are both disturbed.
The States in question are universally agitated. Immigration ceases. Capital refuses to
invest. The spirit of rebellious hate to the Government and the Union is kept awake. A
true loyalty is discredited and depressed, and the social disturbance of the war is
indefinitely prolonged.
This is precisely the situation into
which the President has thrown the country. Instead of resigning he has chosen to remain
and to evade the execution of the law, hoping that a reaction might arise which would
justify him in his opposition to the law. In other words, he erects his will as law, and
defies Congress and the Constitution. Now what one President does any President may do. If
upon a difference between the Executive and Congress the Executive may defeat the
operation of a law, the whole government is substantially concentrated in him. Do the
people of this country mean to approve such a view? On the contrary, if the present
situation is fairly understood by them, there is no conceivable doubt that they would
express themselves as they have during the war and in the last years election.
It is to this point that we would draw
public attention. The State elections, locally important as they may be, are, of
necessity, in the present situation of the country, mainly significant in their national
relations. This may be a matter of regret, but it is nevertheless a fact, and we must deal
with it. If the party which does not agree with the President that Congress is "a
body hanging upon the verge of the Government" should be defeated even upon the local
State issues, the President would not fail to regard it as a popular decision in his
favor, and he would wage his war with Congress more fiercely than ever. The one point,
then, which should be plainly kept in view by the country, and constantly and earnestly
presented by orators and journals is, that in the coming elections we are all voting for
or against the settlement of reconstruction by Congress. Wherever the Union party is
defeated, the defeat will be interpreted to mean support of the President against
Congress. Wherever it is victorious, the people will be understood to decide that the
Presidents will is not the law of the land.
Articles Related to Overt
Obstruction of Congress:
Congress
February 2, 1867, page 67
February 16, 1867, page 99
March 16, 1867, page 163
How Long?
June 29, 1867, page 402
Reconstruction and Obstruction
July 6, 1867, page 418
The Summer Session
July 6, 1867, page 418
The Fortieth Congress
July 17, 1867, page 467
Thanks to the District Commanders
July 27, 1867, page 467
Impeachment Postponed
July 27, 1867, page 467
A Desperate Man
August 13, 1867, page 546
The Secretary of War
August 24, 1867, page 530
Samson Agonistes at Washington (cartoon)
August 24, 1867, page 544
The Stanton Imbroglio (illustrated satire)
August 24, 1867, page 542
Secretary Grant
August 31, 1867, page 546
Southern Reconstruction
August 31, 1867, page 547
The Political Situation
September 7, 1867, page 562
General Thomas
September 7, 1867, page 563
Southern Reconstruction
September 7, 1867, page 563
The General and the President
September 14, 1867, page 578
General Sickles Also
September 14, 1867, page 579
Southern Reconstruction
September 21, 1867, page 595
The Presidents Intentions
September 28, 1867, page 610
Impeachment
October 5, 1867, page 626
The Main Question
October 5, 1867, pages 626-627
Suspension during Impeachment
October 19, 1867, page 658
"Disregarding" The Law
November 2, 1867, page 691
Impeachment
December 14, 1867, page 786
General Grants Testimony
December 14, 1867, page 786
The Presidents Message
December 14, 1867, page 787
General Grants Letter
January 1, 1868, page 2
Secretary Stantons Restoration
January 25, 1868, page 51
Reconstruction Measures
January 25, 1868, page 51
The President, Mr. Stanton and General Grant
February 1, 1868, page 66
Romeo (Seward) to Mercutio (Johnson) (cartoon)
February 1, 1868, page 76
The War Office
February 1, 1868, page 77
Secretarys Room in the War Department (illus)
February 1, 1868, page 77
The New Reconstruction Bill
February 8, 1868, page 83
|