"I submit to Congress whether this measure is not, in its whole character, scope, and object, without precedent and without authority, in palpable conflict with the plainest provisions of the Constitution, and utterly destructive to those great principles of liberty and humanity for which our ancestors on both sides of the Atlantic have shed so much blood and expended so much treasure.
* * * * *
"The power thus given to the commanding officer over all the people of each district is that of an absolute monarch. His mere will is to take the place of all law. The law of the States is now the only rule applicable to the subjects placed under his control, and that is completely displaced by the clause which declares all interference of State authority to be null and void. He alone is permitted to determine what are rights of person or property, and he may protect them in such way as in his discretion may seem proper. It places at his free disposal all the lands and goods in his district, and he may distribute them without let or hinderance to whom he pleases. Being bound by no State law, and there being no other law to regulate the subject, he may make a criminal code of his own; and he can make it as bloody as any recorded in history, or he can reserve the privilege of acting upon the impulse of his private passions in each case that arises. He is bound by no rules of evidence; there is indeed no provision by which he is authorized or required to take any evidence at all. Every thing is a crime which he chooses to call so, and all persons are condemned whom he pronounces to be guilty. He is not bound to keep any record or make any report of his proceedings. He may arrest his victims wherever he finds them, without warrant, accusation, or proof of probable cause. If he gives them a trial before he inflicts the punishment, he gives it of his grace and mercy, not because he is commanded so to do.
* * * * *
"Cruel or unusual punishment is not to be inflicted, but who is to decide what is cruel and what is unusual? * * * Each officer may define cruelty according to his own temper, and if it is not usual, he will make it usual. Corporal punishment, imprisonment, the gag, the ball and chain, and the almost insupportable forms of torture invented for military punishment lie within the range of choice. The sentence of a commission is not to be executed without being approved by the commander, if it affects life or liberty, and a sentence of death must be approved by the President. This applies to cases in which there has been a trial and sentence. I take it to be clear, under this bill, that the military commander may condemn to death without even the form of a trial by a military commission, so that the life of the condemned may depend upon the will of two men instead of one.
"It is plain that the authority here given to the military officer amounts to absolute despotism.
* * * * *
"I come now to a question which is, if possible, still more important. Have we the power to establish and carry into execution a measure like this? I answer certainly not, if we derive our authority from the Constitution, and if we are bound by the limitations which it imposes. This proposition is perfectly clear; that no branch of the Federal Government, executive, legislative, or judicial, can have any just powers except those which it derives through and exercises under the organic law of the Union. Outside of the Constitution we have no legal authority more than private citizens, and within it we have only so much as that instrument gives us. This broad principle limits all our function and applies to all subjects. It protects not only the citizens of States which are within the Union, but it shields every human being who comes or is brought under our jurisdiction. "We have no right to do in one place more than in another that which the Constitution says we shall not do at all. If, therefore, the Southern States were in truth out of the Union, we could not treat their people in a way which the fundamental law forbids. * * *
"If an insurrection should take place in one of our States against the authority of the State government, and end in the overthrowing of those who planned it, would they take away the rights of all the people of the counties where it was favored by a part or a majority of the population? Could they for such a reason be wholly outlawed and deprived of their representation in the Legislature? I have always contended that the Government of the United States was sovereign within its constitutional sphere; that it executed its laws like the States themselves, by applying its coercive power directly to individuals; and that it could put down insurrection with the same effect as a State and no other. The opposite doctrine is the worst heresy of those who advocated secession, and can not be agreed to without admitting that heresy to be right.
* * * * *
"This is a bill passed by Congress in time of peace. There is not in any one of the States brought under its operation either war or insurrection. The laws of the States and of the Federal Government are all in undisturbed and harmonious operation. The courts, State and Federal, are open and in the full exercise of their proper authority. Over every State comprised in these five military districts life, liberty, and property are secured by State laws and Federal laws, and the national Constitution is every-where enforced and every-were obeyed.
* * * * *
"Actual war, foreign invasion, domestic insurrection—none
of these appear, and none of these in fact exist. It is not
even recited that any sort of war or insurrection is
threatened."
"Upon this question of constitutional law and the power of Congress,"
the President gave quotations from "a recent decision of the Supreme
Court ex parte Milligan." Having commented upon this opinion, the
President proceeded with his objections:
"I need not say to the Representatives of the American people that their Constitution forbids the exercise of judicial power in any way but one; that is, by the ordained and established courts. It is equally well known that, in all criminal cases, a trial by jury is made indispensable by the express words of that instrument. I will not enlarge on the inestimable value of the right thus secured to every freeman, or speak of the danger to public liberty, in all parts of the country, which must ensue from a denial of it anywhere, or upon any pretense. * * *
"The United States are bound to guaranty to each State a republican form of government Can it be pretended that this obligation is not palpably broken if we carry out a measure like this, which wipes away every vestige of republican government in ten States, and put the life, property, liberty and honor of all the people in each of them under the domination of a single person clothed with unlimited authority.
* * * * *
"The purpose and object of the bill—the general intent which pervades it from beginning to end—is to change the entire structure and character of the State governments, and to compel them by force to the adoption of organic laws and regulations which they are unwilling to accept if left to themselves. The negroes have not asked for the privilege of voting; the vast majority of them have no idea what it means. This bill not only thrusts it into their hands, but compels them, as well as the whites, to use it in a particular way. If they do not form a Constitution with prescribed articles in it, and afterward elect a Legislature which will act upon certain measures in a prescribed way, neither blacks nor whites can be relieved from the slavery which the bill imposes upon them. Without pausing here to consider the policy or impolicy of Africanizing the Southern part of our territory, I would simply ask the attention of Congress to that manifest, well-known, and universally-acknowledged rule of constitutional law which declares that the Federal Government has no jurisdiction, authority, or power to regulate such subjects for any State. To force the right of suffrage out of the hands of the white people and into the hands of the negroes is an arbitrary violation of this principle.
"This bill imposes martial law at once, and its operations will begin so soon as the General and his troops can be put in place. The dread alternative between its harsh rule and compliance with the terms of this measure is not suspended, nor are the people afforded any time for free deliberation. The bill says to them, Take martial law first, then deliberate.
* * * * *
"The bill also denies the legality of the governments of ten of the States which participated in the ratification of the amendment to the Federal Constitution abolishing slavery forever within the jurisdiction of the United States, and practically excludes them from the Union. * * *
"That the measure proposed by this bill does violate the Constitution in the particulars mentioned, and in many other ways which I forbear to enumerate is too clear to admit of the least doubt.
* * * * *
"I am thoroughly convinced that any settlement, or compromise, or plan of action which is inconsistent with the principles of the Constitution, will not only be unavailing, but mischievous; that it will but multiply the present evils instead of removing them. The Constitution, in its whole integrity and vigor, throughout the length and breadth of the land, is the best of all compromises. Besides, our duty does not, in my judgment, leave us a choice between that and any other. I believe that it contains the remedy that is so much needed, and that if the coördinate branches of the Government would unite upon its provisions, they would be found broad enough and strong enough to sustain, in time of peace, the nation which they bore safely through the ordeal of a protracted civil war. Among the most sacred guarantees of that instrument are those which declare that 'each State shall have at least one Representative,' and that 'no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.' Each house is made the 'judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members,' and may, 'with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.'"
* * * * *
"And is it not far better that the work of restoration should be accomplished by simple compliance with the plain requirements of the Constitution, than by a recourse to measures which, in effect, destroy the States, and threaten the subversion of the General Government? All that is necessary to settle this simple but important question, without further agitation or delay, is a willingness, on the part of all, to sustain the Constitution, and carry its provisions into practical operation. If to-morrow either branch of Congress would declare that, upon the presentation of their credentials, members constitutionally elected, and loyal to the General Government, would be admitted to seats in Congress, while all others would be excluded, and their places remain vacant until the selection by the people of loyal and qualified persons; and if, at the same time, assurance were given that this policy would be continued until all the States were represented in Congress, it would send a thrill of joy throughout the entire land, as indicating the inauguration of a system which must speedily bring tranquillity to the public mind.
"While we are legislating upon subjects which are of great importance to the whole people, and which must affect all parts of the country, not only during the life of the present generation, but for ages to come, we should remember that all men are entitled at least to a hearing in the councils which decide upon the destiny of themselves and their children. At present ten States are denied representation, and when the Fortieth Congress assembles, on the fourth day of the present month, sixteen States will be without a voice in the House of Representatives. This grave fact, with the important questions before us, should induce us to pause in a course of legislation, which, looking solely to the attainment of political ends, fails to consider the rights it transgresses, the law which it violates, or the institutions which it imperils.
"ANDREW JOHNSON."
After the reading of the message, the question came up, "Shall the bill pass, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding?"
Mr. Eldridge declared that it would be the duty of the minority, if it were within their physical power, to defeat the bill. "But we are conscious," said he, "that no effort of ours can prevent its passage, and the consequent accomplishment of a dissolution of the Union, and the overthrow and abandonment of our constitution of government. We can only, in the name of the Constitution, in the name of the republic, in the name of all we hold dear on earth, earnestly, solemnly protest against this action of this Congress."
Mr. Le Blond said that "the passage of this bill would be the death-knell of republican liberty upon this continent." He declared his willingness, if a sufficient number on his side of the House would stand by him, to resist to the utmost extremity of physical exhaustion the passage of this bill, which would "strike a death-blow to this Government."
Mr. Stevens would not be discourteous to those who were opposed to this bill: "I am aware," said he, "of the melancholy feelings with which they are approaching this funeral of the nation." He was unwilling, however, to lose the opportunity to pass the bill at once, and send it to the Senate, that the House might proceed to other matters.
The vote was taken, and the House passed the bill over the President's veto—yeas, 135; nays, 48. The announcement of this result was followed by great applause on the floor and in the galleries.
The immense numbers that had assembled in the galleries of the House to witness these proceedings went immediately to the other end of the Capitol to see the reception which the Veto Message would receive in the Senate. The consideration of the subject, however, was deferred until the evening session.
The Veto Message having been read in the Senate by the Secretary, the pending question at once became whether the bill should pass notwithstanding the objections of the President?
Mr. Johnson advocated the passage of the bill over the veto. "It contains," said he, speaking of the President's message, "some legal propositions which are unsound, and many errors of reasoning. I lament the course he has thought it his duty to pursue, because I see that it may result in continued turmoil and peril, not only to the South, but to the entire country. I see before me a distressed, a desolated country, and in the measure before you I think I see the means through which it may be rescued and restored erelong to prosperity and a healthful condition, and the free institutions of our country preserved."
In reply to a charge of inconsistency brought against him by Mr. Buckalew, Mr. Johnson said: "Consistency in a public man can never properly be esteemed a virtue when he becomes satisfied that it will operate to the prejudice of his country. The pride of opinion, which more or less belongs to us all, becomes, in my judgment, in a public man, a crime when it is indulged at the sacrifice or hazard of the public safety." He urged upon the people of the South their acceptance of the terms proposed by Congress. In view of the probability these overtures should be rejected, harsher measures would be resorted to.
Mr. Saulsbury expressed his admiration for the wisdom of the President in "vetoing the most iniquitous bill that ever was presented to the Federal Congress." "I hope," said he, "that there may be no man within the limits of these ten States who will participate in his own disgrace, degradation, and ruin: let them maintain their honor. If there be wrath in the vials of the Almighty, if there be arrows of vengeance in his quiver, such iniquity and injustice can not finally prove successful."
Mr. Hendricks disagreed with the Senator from Delaware that the people of the South, at once and without consideration, must turn their backs upon the proposition now made them in order to maintain their honor. He hoped they would bring to the consideration of the subject the coolest judgment and the highest patriotism. He was still opposed to the bill; he approved of the President's veto. His judgment against the measure had been "fortified and strengthened by that able document."
The discussion of the question was continued by Messrs. Buckalew, Dixon, and Davis, who spoke against the bill. The friends of the measure were content to let the subject go without a further word from them, save the solemn and final declaration of their votes.
The question being taken, the bill was passed over the veto by a vote of almost four-fifths. Thirty-eight Senators voted for the bill in its final passage, and but ten were found willing to stand by the President and his veto.
The bill whose progress through Congress has thus been traced became a law of the land in the following form:
"AN ACT to provide for the more efficient government of the
rebel States
"Whereas, no legal State governments or adequate protection for life or property now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas it is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said States until loyal and republican State governments can be legally established: therefore,
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That said rebel States shall be divided into military districts and made subject to the military authority of the United States, as hereinafter prescribed; and for that purpose Virginia shall constitute the first district, North Carolina and South Carolina the second district, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida the third district, Mississippi and Arkansas the fourth district, and Louisiana and Texas the fifth district.
"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the President to assign to the command of each of said districts an officer of the army not below the rank of brigadier general, and to detail a sufficient military force to enable such officer to perform his duties and enforce his authority within the district to which he is assigned.
"SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of each officer assigned, as aforesaid, to protect all persons in their rights of person and property, to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, and to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace and criminals; and to this end he may allow local civil tribunals to take jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or when in his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of offenders he shall have power to organize military commissions or tribunals for that purpose, and all interference, under color of State authority, with the exercise of military authority under this act shall be null and void.
"SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all persons put under military arrest by virtue of this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted, and no sentence of any military commission or tribunal hereby authorized, affecting the life or liberty of any person, shall be executed until it is approved by the officer in command of the district; and the laws and regulations for the government of the army shall not be affected by this act, except in so far as they conflict with its provisions: Provided, That no sentence of death under the provisions of this act shall be carried into effect without the approval of the President.
"SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That when the people of any one of said rebel States shall have formed a constitution of government in conformity with the Constitution of the United States in all respects, framed by a convention of delegates elected by the male citizens of said State twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition, who have been resident in said State for one year previous to the day of such election, except such as may be disfranchised for participation in the rebellion or for felony at common law, and when such constitution shall provide that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by all such persons as have the qualifications herein stated for electors of delegates, and when such Constitution shall be ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the question of ratification who are qualified as electors for delegates, and when such constitution shall have been submitted to Congress for examination and approval, and Congress shall have approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of its Legislature elected under said constitution, shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article fourteen, and when said article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States, said State shall be declared entitled to representation in Congress, and Senators and Representatives shall be admitted therefrom on their taking the oath prescribed by law, and then and thereafter the preceding sections of this act shall be inoperative in said State: Provided, That no person excluded from the privilege of holding office by said proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, shall be eligible to election as a member of the convention to frame a constitution for any of said rebel States, nor shall any such person vote for members of such convention.
"SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, until the people of said rebel States shall be by law admitted to representation in the Congress of the United States, any civil government which may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and in all respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States at any time to abolish, modify, control, or supersede the same; and in all elections to any office under such provisional governments all persons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled to vote under the provisions of the fifth section of this act; and no person shall be eligible to any office under such provisional governments who would be disqualified from holding office under the provisions of the third article of said Constitutional Amendment."
The friends of this measure were dissatisfied with it on the ground of its incompleteness in not containing provisions for carrying it into effect in accordance with the purpose of its framers. This record would be incomplete without a statement of what was done to perfect the measure in the succeeding Congress. The Fortieth Congress, meeting on the 4th of March, immediately upon the close of its predecessor, proceeded without delay to perfect and pass over the President's veto a bill supplementary to the act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States. By this act it was provided that the commanding general of each district should cause a registration to be made of the male citizens twenty-one years of age in his district, qualified to vote under the former act. In order to be registered as a voter under this act, a person is required to swear that he has not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the United States, nor for felony; that he has never been a member of any State Legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in any State and afterward engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that he has never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, and afterward engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof, and that he will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and encourage others to do so.
Persons thus qualified shall vote at elections held for the purpose of selecting delegates to the conventions for framing constitutions for the States.
A majority of voters so qualified shall determine whether constitutional conventions shall be held in the several States, and shall vote for delegates who shall be as numerous as the members of the most numerous branch of the Legislature of such State in the year 1860. This convention having framed a constitution, it shall be submitted to the people, and if ratified by a majority of the qualified voters, it shall be forthwith transmitted to Congress. If this constitution is satisfactory to Congress, and found to be in accordance with the provisions of the act of which this is supplementary, the State shall be declared entitled to representation. All elections are required to be by ballot, and all officers acting under the provisions of this act are required to take the test oath.
CHAPTER XXIII.
OTHER IMPORTANT ACTS.
Equalizing Bounties — The Army — The Department of
Education — Southern Homesteads — The Bankrupt Law — The
Tariff — Reduction of Taxes — Contracting the Currency —
Issue of Three Per Cents. — Nebraska and Colorado — Tenure
of Office.
The great national measures, whose progress through Congress has been given in detail, occupied the attention of that body continuously, from the first days of its existence to the closing hours of its last session. No day passed which was not rendered important by something said or done upon questions which concern not only the nation, but humanity, and which are of interest not only for the present, but for all time to come. While these great measures were passing through Congress, making it memorable, and absorbing the public attention, there was a constant undercurrent of patient, laborious legislation upon subjects of less interest to the public, but of real importance to the country.
One of the first duties devolving upon the Thirty-ninth Congress was the great work of disbanding the vast volunteer army which had suppressed the rebellion, saved the country, and earned the undying gratitude of the nation. The soldiers of the republic were to be paid for their distinguished services, their reasonable demands for equalization of bounty were to be met, and a suitable number retained in the service for the necessities of the nation on a "peace footing." Near the close of the first session, a bill to equalize soldiers' bounties, introduced by Mr. Schenck of Ohio, passed the House by a nearly unanimous vote, but was lost in the Senate. Subsequently, the Senate attached to the Civil Appropriation Bill a provision for paying additional bounty, differing materially from the bill which passed the House. This being in such shape that it could not be easily detached, became a law.
During the first session, Congress passed the "Act to increase and fix the military peace establishment of the United States." By this law the regular army consists of five regiments of artillery, ten regiments of cavalry, and forty-five regiments of infantry. It acknowledged the services and claims of the volunteer officers and men who served in the recent war by providing that a large proportion of the commissions in the new service should be conferred upon them. At the same time the standard of attainment and talent was not lowered, since the law provided for such an examination as must exclude the unqualified and relieve the army from some who unworthily held commissions.
The important fact that general intelligence is one of the greatest safeguards of the nation was fully recognized by the Thirty-ninth Congress. Of this they gave permanent proof in establishing a Bureau of Education. Early in the first session, Mr. Donnelly, of Minnesota, introduced a resolution instructing the joint Committee on Reconstruction to inquire into the expediency of establishing a National Bureau of Education "to enforce education, without regard to color." The necessity for such a measure was set forth in the preamble to arise from the fact that "republican institutions can find permanent safety only upon the basis of the universal intelligence of the people," and that "the great disasters which have afflicted the nation and desolated one-half its territory are traceable in a great degree to the absence of common schools and general education among the people of lately rebellious States." This resolution passed the House by a large majority.
This subject was subsequently referred to an able select committee, of which Mr. Garfield was chairman. On the 5th of June he reported a bill to establish a Department of Education. The measure was supported by Messrs. Donnelly, Garfield, Banks, and Boutwell, and opposed by Messrs. Pike, Rogers, and Randall. The bill passed the House on the 19th of June and went to the Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The bill went over, in the press of business, to the second session, and passed the Senate on the 28th of February, 1867.
A measure indirectly connected with the subject of reconstruction, destined to have an important influence upon the future of Southern society, was introduced by Mr. Julian on the 7th of February, 1866. This was a bill for the disposal of the public lands for homesteads to actual settlers, without distinction of color, in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida, providing that the quantity of land selected by any one person should be eighty acres, and not one hundred and sixty acres, as provided in the Homestead Bill of 1862. The necessity of this measure, as shown by Mr. Julian, arose from the abolition of slavery and the demands of free labor. It was designed to cut off land speculation in the Southern country. "Without some provision of this kind," said Mr. Julian, "rebel speculators now hovering over the whole of that region, and hunting up the best portion of it, and the holders of Agricultural College scrip can come down upon it at one fell swoop and cheat the actual settler, whether white or black, out of his rights, or even the possibility of a home in that region, driving the whole of them to some of our Western Territories or to starvation itself."
The bill was finally passed in the House on the 28th of February, 1867, with an amendment excluding from the benefit of the act persons who have borne arms against the United States, or given aid and comfort to its enemies.
A work of legislation of much importance, destined to have beneficent effect upon the business interests of the country, was the passage of the Bankrupt Law, which was finally enacted near the close of the Thirty-ninth Congress. The Bankrupt Bill passed the House of Representatives as early as May, 1866, but the Senate objecting to the entire principle of the bill, it was postponed till December. On the reässembling of Congress for the second session, the consideration of the Bankrupt Bill was resumed, and after much opposition in the Senate, it finally received the support of a decisive majority in that body of all shades of politics. The perfection and final passage of this measure were among the last acts of the Thirty-ninth Congress.
The Bankrupt Law of 1800 was enacted in the interest of creditors, and that of 1841 for the benefit of debtors. The law of 1867 was framed with a view to protect the interests of both parties. The passage of this important law is due mainly to the energy and perseverance of Thomas A. Jenckes, of Rhode Island.
The subject of the tariff occupied, first and last, a considerable share of the time and attention of the Thirty-ninth Congress. In the early part of the first session numerous petitions poured in upon Congress in favor of a protective tariff. In June and July the subject was discussed, and a Tariff Bill passed the House by a vote of ninety-four to fifty-three. The friends of protection said of this bill that though not perfect, it was "a decided improvement on the tariff in existence." The bill, on its introduction to the Senate was postponed till December.
There was soon after introduced into the House a revised Tariff Bill, entitled a bill "to protect the revenue." Gradually many of the features which the advocates of protection regarded as most important, were eliminated from the bill. This was passed in the Senate on the 24th of July, with amendments in which the House was unwilling to concur. A Committee of Conference was appointed, who made a report which was accepted by both Houses of Congress. The bill greatly modified and "enfeebled" as its original friends regarded it, finally passed on the day before the close of the first session.
The subject of diminishing taxation, as far as consistent with the obligations of the nation to its creditors, early enlisted and occupied the attention of the Thirty-ninth Congress. The principle upon which Congress acted was announced by the distinguished chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, Mr. Morrill, to be "The abolition or speedy reduction of all taxes which tend to check development, and the retention of all those which like the income tax fall chiefly on realized wealth."
In the midst of many conflicting interests, and in the face of remonstrances, protests, and prayers from every trade and profession, Congress proceeded to work out the difficult question. As a result of most patient and careful investigation, Congress found itself able to reduce to the extent of one hundred millions of dollars per annum, the taxation resting upon the shoulders of the American people.
On the subject of finance and the national currency great diversity of opinion existed among leading members of the Thirty-ninth Congress. Unanimity prevailed upon the opinion that the currency should sooner or later be subjected to suitable contraction, but there was diversity of sentiment as to the ways and means by which this result should be achieved without involving the country in commercial and financial disaster.
"I am for specie payments," remarked Mr. Stevens, on one occasion, "when we can arrive at them without crushing the community to death. I am for arriving at specie payments, and still allowing the business of the country to go on and thrive, and the people engaged in business to pay the taxes which you impose on them. I say that there is not a man in the community who would not as soon have one dollar in greenbacks as one dollar in gold. No one expects to be paid in gold until a general resumption by the banks of specie payment; nobody now knows any other currency than greenbacks, and, therefore, I am in favor of keeping that currency. In my judgment, we have not more circulation now than the expanded business of the country requires.
"This war has given an immense impulse to every thing. Whence this precipitation? We have barely got out of the war against the rebels before we have a war made upon the business community, upon the manufacturing interests, and upon all others."
"When this great Republican party was made up," said Mr. Wentworth, "we, who were originally Democrats, took up a cross, and it was a great cross. [Laughter.] We were told that if we went into that thing, we should have to lay down at the feet of the irresponsible paper-money men. Now, I want to know of the gentleman distinctly, whether, if he could, he would resume specie payments to-morrow?"
"If," replied Mr. Stevens, "I could have specie payment to-morrow, without deranging the business of the country, I would. If it would derange the business of the country to return to specie payment at once, I would postpone it a little. I voted for the Legal-tender Bill; and I am glad I did so, for the country would not have survived without it."
"Would you compromise on a year?" asked Mr. Wentworth.
"No, sir; nor on two years," replied Mr. Stevens. "England did not resume specie payment the year after the wars with France. The Bank of England issued paper money, but the Government had £14,000,000 in the stock of that bank to give it security, and the Government prevented it from resuming specie payment until it thought it best. Now, when that great war of twenty-five years was over, did England attempt, in 1814 and 1815, to return to specie payment? They had afloat but £20,000,000, or $100,000,000, and they began with their one-pound notes. In a few years they took their two-pound notes; afterward they took their five-pound notes. But they never resumed full specie payment until the latter part of the year 1822. Does my friend from Illinois expect me to be wiser than the great men of England?"
"Does my friend from Pennsylvania deny," asked Mr. Garfield, "that in 1819 the law for resuming specie payment was passed, to go into effect gradually at first, and completely in 1823, and that the full resumption of specie payment actually took place early in the Spring of 1821—only about a year and three-quarters from the passage of the law?"
"Yes," answered Mr. Stevens, "except in very large sums. The law authorized them to go on until the first of January, 1823."
"But they resumed in 1821, about a year and three-quarters earlier," said Mr. Garfield.
"About a year earlier," said Mr. Stevens. "But the law did not pass until four years after the war. Do gentlemen here expect, when England, with almost all the commerce of the world at her command, was unable to resume specie payments for eight years after the conclusion of her wars, and then did it by such gradual legislation that there should be no shock to the business of the country—do gentlemen expect that we are to put it into the power of one man to compel the resumption of specie payments in a single year?"
"I want to know," said Mr. Wentworth, "if the power, and the patronage, and the influence of the great Republican party, so called, is to be used to deprive us of our natural standard of value. Now, I wish, while we go together, to be perfectly honest. Nobody respects the talents of my friend from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens] more than I do. He knows more than all of us put together. [Laughter.] I want him to state to the House, fairly and candidly, whether, if we follow him, he will lead us to specie payment; or whether, if he could, he would."
"I will say to my friend," replied Mr. Stevens, "that in this case I do not act as a member of the Republican party."
"I have followed the gentlemen," said Mr. Wentworth, "because I supposed him to be a Republican leader."
"If I believed," said Mr. Stevens, "that we could resume specie payments in a month without crushing the interests of the country, without injuring the laborer, without breaking down the manufacturer, without oppressing the people, without decreasing the revenues of the Government; if I had the power, I would order every bank in the country, State and national, and the Government also, to resume specie payment."
"Suppose McCulloch could do that," said Mr. Wentworth, "and give all our boys their money at par."
"If he could do it, I would give him great credit," said Mr. Stevens.
"I believe he can," said Mr. Wentworth.
"My friend is large," said Mr. Stevens, "and has faith like two grains of mustard-seed."
Plans were devised, and ultimately carried through Congress, by which the great volume of paper currency should be gradually reduced at a certain fixed rate, so that the people might know how to calculate the future, and be enabled to provide against a commercial crash.
The first measure designed to accomplish this result was popularly called the Loan Bill, which was amendatory of an act "to provide ways and means to support the Government." When first considered, in March, 1866, it was defeated in the House. It was soon after brought up again in a modified form, and passed both the House and Senate by large majorities. The act provided that the Secretary of the Treasury might receive treasury notes, or "other obligations issued under any act of Congress," in exchange for bonds. The contraction of the currency was restricted and limited by the provision that not more than ten millions of dollars might be retired and canceled within six months from the passage of the act, and thereafter not more than four millions of dollars in any one month.
A financial problem of great importance presented itself for solution in the second session of the Thirty-ninth Congress. A large amount of compound-interest notes, weighed down with accrued interest, had ceased to float as currency, and lay in the vaults of the banks and the coffers of capitalists, awaiting redemption. The question arose as to how they should be redeemed, and the nation saved the payment of the immense amounts of interest which must accumulate in course of time. The House of Representatives proposed to pass an act authorizing and directing the Secretary of the Treasury to issue legal-tender notes, without interest, not exceeding $100,000,000, in place of the compound-interest bearing notes.
To this proposition the Senate would not accede, and passed a substitute which the House would not accept. A Committee of Conference reported a modification of the Senate's substitute, which finally became a law, providing that, for the purpose of redeeming and retiring compound-interest notes, the Secretary of the Treasury should issue temporary loan certificates, to the amount of $50,000,000, at a rate of interest not exceeding three per cent. per annum.
While the greater share of the attention of the Thirty-ninth Congress was occupied with efforts to reconstruct the eleven States which had forfeited their rights by rebellion, the Territories of Colorado and Nebraska applied for admission to the Union. Congress voted to admit both, but the President obstructed their entrance with his vetoes. Congress, on reconsideration, admitted Nebraska, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding. Colorado was not so fortunate, since her people had been so unwise as to prejudice their cause by restricting the enjoyment of political rights by ingrafting the word "white" into their fundamental law. By this mistake they forfeited the favor of the "Radicals," who refused to champion their cause against the President. Incidental to this, Congress ordained that political rights should not be restricted in the Territories on account of race or color.
The manifest evils of unrestricted Executive patronage—the bane of American politics—early enlisted the efforts of the Thirty-ninth Congress to provide a remedy. A bill to regulate appointments to and removals from office was introduced by Mr. Henderson into the Senate near the close of the first session, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, but never saw the light as an act of Congress.
The President's power of removal and appointment having been unsparingly used during the recess of Congress, the country became convinced that a remedy should be applied which would be effectual for time to come. On the first day of the second session, Mr. Williams brought before the Senate a bill to "regulate the tenure of offices," which was subsequently referred to the joint Committee on Retrenchment. On the 10th of December Mr. Edmunds, chairman of this committee, reported the bill to the Senate, with amendments. In bringing forward the measure, Mr. Edmunds asserted that they were acting in no spirit of hostility to any party or administration whatever, but for "the true republican interest of the country under all administrations, and under the domination of all parties in the growth before the nation in the future." After grave consideration and protracted discussion in both houses of Congress, the bill was passed near the close of the session. On the 2d of March the bill encountered the veto of the President, who saw in the measure serious interference with the ability of the Executive to keep his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. The bill was immediately passed over the veto without debate.
The act thus passed provides that officers appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate shall hold their offices until their successors are in like manner appointed and qualified. Members of the Cabinet hold their offices during the term of the President by whom they are appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by consent of the Senate.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS.
The President's treatment of the South — First Annual
Message — Mr. Sumner's Criticism — The President
triumphant — He damages his Cause — Humor of Mr. Stevens
— Vetoes overridden — The Question submitted to the People
— Their Verdict — Summary of Vetoes — Impeachment —
Charges by Mr. Ashley — Report of the Committee.
The Thirty-ninth Congress is remarkable for having run its entire career with the constant opposition of the Executive obstructing its progress. In all representative governments, a contest between the executive and the legislative branches of the government has sooner or later arisen, which has invariably ended in the defeat of the former. The hopelessness of the contest on the part of the executive, and the pertinacity with which it has been waged, have given it a mock-heroic character.
During the months which intervened between the death of Abraham Lincoln and the assembling of Congress, Andrew Johnson had ample time to preöccupy the field and intrench himself against what he termed a coördinate branch "hanging on the verge of the Government."
In June, 1865, delegates from the South were first admitted to private interviews with the President. On the 17th of June he issued his proclamation providing for the restoration of civil government in Georgia and Alabama, in which he excludes negroes from the category of loyal citizens entitled to vote. The President soon after proceeded to appoint provisional governors for the Southern States—a step which was viewed with joy by the late rebels, and sorrow by the Union men of the North. The character of these appointments may be seen in a sentiment uttered by Governor Perry soon after his elevation to office: "There is not now in the Southern States," said he, "any one who feels more bitterly the humiliation and degradation of going back into the Union than I do." Governor Perry saved himself from dismissal by assuring the people that the death of Mr. Lincoln was no loss to the South, while he had every hope that Mr. Johnson, an old slaveholding Democrat, would be an advantage.
In Alabama, under the provisional government established by Mr. Johnson, the convention prohibited negroes from testifying in the courts. Rebels throughout the South at once began to make their arrangements for taking part in the government. In November, Governor Perry made a public demand that when Congress met the Clerk of the House should place on the roll the names of Representatives from the rebel States.
When South Carolina hesitated to adopt the Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery, President Johnson assured the Governor that the clause giving Congress the power to enforce it by appropriate legislation really limited congressional control over the negro question. After this assurance, South Carolina accepted the Constitutional Amendment.
In August and September, 1865, Democratic conventions indorsed the President's policy, and Democratic papers began to praise him. Republicans were unwilling to believe that they had been deserted, and hoped that after the assembling of Congress all differences would disappear.
The message of the President, read at the opening of the Thirty-ninth Congress, placed him in direct opposition to the leaders of the Republican party, and at variance with his own policy. "A concession of the elective franchise," said he, "to the freedmen, by act of the President of the United States, must have been extended to all colored men, wherever found, and must have established a change of suffrage in the Northern, Middle, and Western States, not less than in the Southern and Southwestern."
Every one could see that the President possessed as much power to admit the black man to the right of suffrage in the rebel States as to appoint provisional governors over them.
While Congress was in session, and actually employed in legislating for the restoration of the rebel States, Mr. Johnson substantially declared that Congress had no control over the subject, by removing the provisional governor of Alabama, and handing the State Government over to the officers elected by the people.
The Senate having requested information from the President as to the condition of the rebel States, the President, on the 20th of December, sent in a message which Mr. Sumner characterized as an attempt to "whitewash" the unhappy condition of the rebel States. The message of the President was accompanied by reports from General Grant and General Schurz, in which Congress found evidence that the late rebels had little sense of national obligation, and were chiefly anxious to regain political power, and compensate themselves for the loss of slavery by keeping the negroes in abject servitude.
The passage of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, by a large majority in Congress, and its veto by the President, presents the next phase in the contest. To Republicans the most alarming feature in the Veto Message was the evidence it gave that the President was ready at once to give to traitors who had fought fiercely for four years to destroy the Union an equal voice with loyal men in determining the terms of its reconstruction.
In this instance the President prevailed. The bill failed to pass over the veto, from the fact that six Senators—Dixon, Doolittle, Morgan, Norton, Stewart, and Van Winkle—who had voted for the bill, now sided with the President. This was the first and last triumph of the President.
Two days after, on the 22d of February, the President greatly damaged his cause by denouncing a Senator and a Representative, and using the slang of the stump against the Secretary of the Senate in the midst of an uproarious Washington mob. The people were mortified that the Executive of the nation should have committed so serious an indiscretion.
The incident received notice in Congress in a humorous speech of Thaddeus Stevens, who declared that the alleged speech could never have been delivered; that it was "a part of the cunning contrivance of the copperhead party, who have been persecuting our President;" that it was "one of the grandest hoaxes ever perpetrated."
Congress, now aware that it must achieve its greatest works of legislation over the obstructing veto of the President, moved forward with caution and deliberation. Every measure was well weighed and carefully matured, since, in order to win its way to the favor of a triumphant majority in Congress and the country, it must be as free as possible from all objectionable features.
Impartial suffrage, as provided in the District of Columbia Suffrage Bill, being a subject upon which the people had not yet spoken, the Senate determined that it would be better not to risk the uncertainty of passing the measure over the inevitable veto until the people should have an opportunity of speaking at the ballot-box.
The President applied his veto to the Civil Rights Bill and the second Freedmen's Bureau Bill, but a majority of more than the requisite two-thirds placed these measures among the laws of the land. In the House of Representatives, Mr. Raymond was the only Republican member who voted to sustain the veto of the Civil Rights Bill. The temptation to be friends of the President, in order to aid him in the distribution of patronage, was very great with members of Congress, and the wonder is that so many were able to reject it all, and adhere to principles against which the Executive brought to bear all his power of opposition.
On the adjournment of Congress in July, at the close of the first session, the contest was still continued, though in another arena. Members of Congress went to their several districts, submitted their doings to their constituents, and took counsel of the people. The President also traversed the States from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. He made numerous speeches, and endeavored to popularize his policy.
The people gave their verdict at the ballot-box in favor of Congress. The reëlection of Congress was the rejection of the President. The ruin of the President's fortunes was shared by his followers. No gentleman ever entered the House of Representatives with more eclat than that with which Mr. Raymond took his seat as a member of the Thirty-ninth Congress, but his constituents did not see proper to elect him for a second term. Delano and Stillwell, of the West, were left at home. Cowan, in the Senate, elected six years before as a Republican, was superseded, and Doolittle was instructed by his Legislature to resign.
The message of the President at the opening of the second session displayed no disposition to yield to the people or to Congress. He declared to a State delegation that waited on him that he was too old to learn.
One of the first acts of Congress after reässembling was to accept the sanction of the people for impartial suffrage, and pass the District Suffrage Bill over the President's veto. The President deemed it due to his consistency to return bills, with his "objections thereto in writing," to the very last. Among the last doings of the Thirty-ninth Congress was the passage of the Tenure-of-office Bill and the Military Reconstruction Bill over vetoes. In humiliating contrast with the circumstances one year before, when the veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill prevailed, the veto of the Military Reconstruction Bill had but ten supporters in the Senate.
The following is a complete list of the bills vetoed by the President during the Thirty-ninth Congress, and of the bills which were passed over the veto, and those which became laws without the President's signature:
FIRST SESSION.—To enlarge the powers of the Freedmen's
Bureau; vetoed February 19, 1866.
To protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights, and furnish the means of their vindication; vetoed; and passed, April 9, 1866, over veto.
For the admission of the State of Colorado into the Union; vetoed May, 1866.
To enable the Montana and New York Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company to purchase a certain amount of the public lands not now in market; vetoed June, 1866.
To continue in force and to amend an act entitled "an act to establish a bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees, and for other purposes;" vetoed; passed, July 16, 1866, over veto.
For the admission of the State of Nebraska into the Union; not signed; failed through the adjournment of Congress.
* * * * *
SECOND SESSION.—To regulate the elective franchise in the
District of Columbia; vetoed; passed, January 8, 1867, over
veto.
To admit the State of Colorado into the Union; vetoed
January 18, 1867.
For the admission of the State of Nebraska into the Union;
vetoed; passed, February 9, 1867, over veto.
To provide for the more efficient government of the insurrectionary States; vetoed; passed, March 2, 1867, over veto.
To regulate the tenure of office; vetoed; passed, March 2, 1867, over veto.
* * * * *
Bills which became laws without the President's signature, the constitutional limit of ten days having expired without their return:
To repeal section 13 of "an act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862; became a law January 22, 1867.
To regulate the franchise in the Territories of the United
States; became a law January 31, 1867.
To regulate the duties of the Clerk of the House of
Representatives, in preparing for the organization of the
House, and for other purposes; became a law February 20,
1867.
To declare the sense of an act entitled "an act to restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims, and to provide for the payment of certain demands for quartermasters' stores and subsistence supplies furnished to the army of the United States;" became a law February 22; 1867.
* * * * *
RECAPITULATION.—Vetoes, 10; pocket vetoes, 1; laws passed over vetoes, 6; vetoes sustained, 4; became laws without signature, 4.
As President Johnson proceeded in his career of opposition to the legislative branch of the Government, the conviction fastened upon the minds of some that he was guilty of crimes rendering him liable to impeachment. On the 7th of January, 1867, Hon. James M. Ashley, of Ohio, brought before the House of Representatives articles of impeachment, as follows:
"I do impeach Andrew Johnson, Vice-President and acting President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors.
"I charge him with a usurpation of power and violation of law:
"In that he has corruptly used the appointing power;
"In that he has corruptly used the pardoning power;
"In that he has corruptly used the veto power;
"In that he has corruptly disposed of public property of the
United States;
"In that he has corruptly interfered in elections, and committed acts which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors; Therefore,
"Be it resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be, and they are hereby, authorized to inquire into the official conduct of Andrew Johnson, Vice-President of the United States, discharging the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States, and to report to this House whether, in their opinion, the said Andrew Johnson, while in said office, has been guilty of acts which are designed or calculated to overthrow, subvert, or corrupt the Government of the United States, or any department or office thereof; and whether the said Andrew Johnson has been guilty of any act, or has conspired with others to do acts, which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors, requiring the interposition of the constitutional power of this House; and that said committee have power to send for persons and papers, and to administer the customary oath to witnesses."
This resolution was adopted by a vote of one hundred and eight to thirty-eight.
[Illustration: Hon. James M. Ashley.]
Near the close of the session, the Committee on the Judiciary, having in charge the question of impeachment, made a report. The condition in which the subject was left by the Thirty-ninth Congress will be seen from the following extract:
"The duty imposed upon the committee by this action of the House was of the highest and gravest character. No committee, during the entire history of the Government, has ever been charged with a more important trust. The responsibility which it imposed was of oppressive weight and of most unpleasant nature. Gladly would the committee have escaped from the arduous labor imposed upon it by the resolution of the House; but once imposed, prompt, deliberate, and faithful action, with a view to correct results, became its duty, and to this end it has directed its efforts.
"Soon after the adoption of the resolution by the House, the Hon. James M. Ashley communicated to the committee, in support of his charges against the President of the United States, such facts as were in his possession, and the investigation was proceeded with, and has been continued almost without a day's interruption. A large number of witnesses have been examined, many documents collected, and every thing done which could be done to reach a conclusion of the case. But the investigation covers a broad field, embraces many novel, interesting, and important questions, and involves a multitude of facts, while most of the witnesses are distant from the capital, owing to which, the committee, in view of the magnitude of the interests involved in its action, has not been able to conclude its labors, and is not, therefore, prepared to submit a definite and final report. If the investigation had even approached completeness, the committee would not feel authorized to present the result to the House at this late period of the session, unless the charge had been so entirely negatived as to admit of no discussion, which, in the opinion of the committee, is not the case. Certainly, no affirmative report could be properly considered in the expiring hours of this Congress.
"The committee, not having fully investigated all the charges preferred against the President of the United States, it is deemed inexpedient to submit any conclusion beyond the statement that sufficient testimony has been brought to its notice to justify and demand a further prosecution of the investigation.
"The testimony which the committee has taken will pass into the custody of the Clerk of the House, and can go into the hands of such committee as may be charged with the duty of bringing this investigation to a close, so that the labor expended upon it may not have been in vain.
"The committee regrets its inability definitely to dispose of the important subject committed to its charge, and presents this report for its own justification, and for the additional purpose of notifying the succeeding Congress of the incompleteness of its labors, and that they should be completed."
With the acceptance of this report, the impeachment was at an end so far as the action of the Thirty-ninth Congress was concerned. The subject was handed over to the consideration of the Fortieth Congress.