The views of Mr. Lincoln were well [ sitting in a box in Ford's theatre. The known; they were felt in the general con- nation stood appalled at the deed. No duct of the war. The Republicans adopted man was ever more sincerely mourned in as one of their maxims the words of their all sections and by all classes. The Southcandidate, “that it was dangerous to swap ern leaders thought that this rash act had horses while crossing a stream." The cam- lost to them a life which had never been paign was exciting, and was watched by harsh, and while firm, was ever generous. both armies with interest and anxiety. In The North had looked upon him as "Father this election, by virtue of an act of Con- Abraham," and all who viewed the result gress, the soldiers in the field were per- of the shooting from sectional or partisan mitted to vote, and a large majority of standpoints, thought his policy of "keep every branch of the service sustained the ing with the people," would have shielded Administration, though two years before every proper interest. No public man ever General McClellan had been the idol of felt less "pride of opinion" than Lincoln, the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln and and we do believe, had he lived, that he Johnson received 212 electoral votes, would have shaped events, as he did duragainst 21 for McClellan and Pendleton. ing the war, to the best interests of the victors, but without unnecessary agitation or harshness. All attempts of writers to evolve from his proclamation a reconstruction policy, applicable to peace, have been vain and impotent. He had none which would not have changed with changing circumstances. A "policy" in an executive office is too often but another name for executive egotism, and Lincoln was almost absolutely free from that weakness. Lincoln's Second Administration. In President Lincoln's second inaugural address, delivered on the 4th of March, 1865, he spoke the following words, since oft quoted as typical of the kindly disposition of the man believed by his party to be the greatest President since Washington: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphans-to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Lincoln could well afford to show that generosity which never comes more properly than from the hands of the victor. His policy was about to end in a great triumph. In less than five weeks later on General Lee had surrendered the main army of the South to General Grant at Appomattox, on terms at once magnanimous and so briefly stated that they won the admiration of both armies, for the rebels had been permitted to retain their horses and side arms, and to go at once to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observed their paroles and the laws in force where they resided. Lee's surrender was rapidly followed by that of all Southern troops. The On the morning of Mr. Lincoln's death, indeed within the same hour (and very properly so under the circumstances), the Vice President Andrew Johnson was inaugurated as President. The excitement was painfully high, and the new President, in speeches, interviews and proclamations if possible added to it. From evidence in the Bureau of Military Justice he thought the assassination of Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of Secretary Seward had been procured by Jefferson Davis, Clement C. Clay, Jacob Thompson, Geo. Ñ. Saunders, Beverly Tucker, Wm. C. Cleary, and "other rebels and traitors harbored in Canada." The evidence, however, fully drawn out in the trial of the co conspirators of J. Wilkes Booth, showed that the scheme was hair-brained, and from no responsible political source. proclamation, however, gave keenness to the search for the fugitive Davis, and he was soon captured while making his way through Georgia to the Florida coast with the intention of escaping from the country. Next came a grave political work-the He was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe, actual reconstruction of the States lately in and an indictment for treason was found⚫ rebellion. This work gave renewed fresh- against him, but he remained a close prisness to the leading political issues incident oner for nearly two years, until times wher to the war, and likewise gave rise to new political policies had been changed or issues. It was claimed at once that Lin-modified. Horace Greeley was one of his coln had a reconstruction policy of his bondsmen. By this time there was grave own, because of his anxiety for the prompt doubt whether he could be legally conadmission of Louisiana and Arkansas, but victed, "now that the charge of inciting it had certainly never taken definite shape, nor was there time to get such a policy in shape, between the surrender of Lee and his own assassination. On the night of the 15th of April, six days after the surrender, J. Wilkes Booth shot him while Wilkes Booth's crime had been tacitly abandoned. Mr. Webster (in his Bunker Hill oration) had only given clearer expression to the American doctrine, that, * From Greeley's Recollections of a Busy Life, page 413, after a revolt has levied a regular army, and fought therewith a pitched battle, its champions, even though utterly defeated, cannot be tried and convicted as traitors. This may be an extreme statement; but surely a rebellion which has for years maintained great armies, levied taxes and conscriptions, negotiated loans, fought scores of sanguinary battles with alternate successes and reverses, and exchanged tens of thousands of prisoners of war, can hardly fail to have achieved thereby the position and the rights of a lawful belligerent." This view, as then presented by Greeley, was accepted by President Johnson, who from intemperate denunciation had become the friend of his old friends in the South. Greeley's view was not generally accepted by the North, though most of the leading men of both parties hoped the responsibility of a trial would be avoided by the escape and flight of the prisoner. But he was confident by this time, and sought a carpet bag governments," some of the trial. He was never tried, and the best States, notably Georgia, has passed class reason for the fact is given in Judge Un- laws, which treat colored criminals differderwood's testimony before a Congressional ently from white, under what are now Committee (and the Judge was a Republi-known as the "conduct laws." Terms of can) "that no conviction was possible, except by packing a jury." in severity, according to the views of the Legislatures, and for a time they seriously interfered with the recognition of the States, the Republicans charging that the design was to restore slavery under new forms. In South Carolina Gen'l Sickles issued military orders, as late as January 17, 1866, against the enforcement of such laws. Andrew Johnson. To assure the rights, of the freedmen the 14th amendment of the Constitution was passed by Congress, June 18th, 1866. President Johnson opposed it, refused to sign, but said he would submit it to the several States. This was done, and it was accepted by the required three-fourths, January 28th, 1868. This had the effect to do away with many of the "black codes," and the States which desired readmission to the Union had to finally give them up. Since reconstruction, and the political ousting of what were called the sentence are served out, in any part of the State, under the control of public and private contractors, and " vagrants" are subjected to sentences which it is believed would be less extended under a system of confinement. Johnson's Policy. While President Johnson's policy did not materially check reconstruction, it encouraged Southern politicians to political effort, and with their well known tact they were not long in gaining the ascendancy in nearly every State. This ascendancy excited the fears and jealousies of the their object and platform "that all the reNorth, and the Republicans announced as sults of the war" should be secured before Southern reconstruction and representathis they were almost solidly united in tion in Congress should be completed. On Congress, but Horace Greeley trained an independent sentiment which favored comPresident Plete amnesty to the South. and to divide the Republican party Johnson sought to utilize this sentiment, On the 29th of April, 1865, President Johnson issued a proclamation removing all restrictions upon internal, domestic and coastwise and commercial intercourse in all Southern States east of the Mississippi; the blockade was removed May 22, and on May 29 a proclamation of amnesty was issued, with fourteen classes excepted therefrom, and the requirement of an "iron-clad oath" from those accepting its provisions. Proclamations rapidly followed in shaping the lately rebellious States to the conditions of peace and restoration to the Union. These States were required to hold conventions, repeal secession ordinances, accept the abolition of slavery, repudiate Southern war debts, pro vide for Congressional representation, and elect new State Officers and Legislatures. The several constitutional amendments were of course to be ratified by the vote of the people. These conditions were eventually all complied with, some of the States being more tardy than others. The irreconcila-through his policy, which now looked to bles charged upon the Military officers, tion introduced by Gov. Oliver P. Morton, the same ends. He had said to a delegathe Freedmen's Bureau, and the stern application of the reconstruction acts, these results, and many of them showed a political hostility which, after the election of the new Legislatures, took shape in what were in the North at the time denounced as 66 THE BLACK CODES." These were passed by all of the eleven States in the rebellion. The codes varied April 21, 1865: 'Never shake thy gory locks at me ; "Slavery is dead, and you must pardon me if I do not mourn over its dead body; you can bury it out of sight. In restoring the State, leave out that disturbing and dangerous element, and use only those parts of the machinery which will move in harmony. "But in calling a convention to restore the State, who shall restore and re-establish it? Shall the man who gave his influence and his means to destroy the Government? Is he to participate in the great work of reorganization? Shall he who brought this misery upon the State be permitted to control its destinies? If this be so, then all this precious blood of our brave soldiers and officers so freely poured out will have been wantonly spilled. All the glorious victories won by our noble armies will go for nought, and all the battlefields which have been sown with dead heroes during the rebellion will have been made memorable in vain." In a speech at Washington, Feb. 22nd, 1866, Johnson said: "The Government has stretched forth its strong arm, and with its physical power it has put down treason in the field. That is, the section of country that arrayed itself against the Government has been conquered by the force of the Government itself. Now, what had we said to those people? We said, 'No compromise; we can settle this question with the South in eight and forty hours.' "I have said it again and again, and I repeat it now, 'disband your armies, acknowledge the supremacy of the Constitution of the United States, give obedience to the law, and the whole question is settled.' "What has been done since? Their armies have been disbanded. They come now to meet us in a spirit of magnanimity and say, 'We were mistaken; we made the effort to carry out the doctrine of secession and dissolve this Union, and having traced this thing to its logical and physical results, we now acknowledge the flag of our country, and promise obedience to the Constitution and the supremacy of the law.' "I say, then, when you comply with the Constitution, when you yield to the law, when you acknowledge allegiance to the Government-I say let the door of the Union be opened, and the relation be restored to those that had erred and had strayed from the fold of our fathers." It is not partisanship to say that Johnson's views had undergone a change. He did not admit this in his speeches, but the fact was accepted in all sections, and the leaders of parties took position accordingly -nearly all of the Republicans against him, nearly all of the Democrats for him. So radical had this difference become that he vetoed nearly all of the political bills passed by the Republicans from 1866 until the end of his administration, but such was the Republican preponderance in both Houses of Congress that they passed them over his head by the necessary two-thirds vote. He vetoed the several Freedmen's Bureau Bills, the Civil Rights Bill, that for the admission of Nebraska and Colorado, the Bill to permit Colored Suffrage in the District of Columbia, one of the Reconstruction Bills, and finally made a direct issue with the powers of Congress by his veto of the Civil Tenure Bill, March 2, 1867, the substance of which is shown in the third section, as follows: SEC. 3. That the President shall have power to fill all vacancies which may happen during the recess of the Senate, by reason of death or resignation, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session thereafter. And if no appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall be made to such office so vacant or temporarily filled as aforesaid during such next session of the Senate, such office shall remain in abeyance without any salary, fees, or emoluments attached thereto, until the same shall be filled by appointment thereto, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and during such time all the powers and duties belonging to such office shall be exercised by such other officer as may by law exercise such powers and duties in case of a vacancy in such office. The bill originally passed the Senate by 22 to 10-all of the nays Democrats save Van Winkle and Willey. It passed the House by 112 to 41-all of the yeas Republicans; all of the nays Democrats save Hawkins, Latham and Whaley. The Senate passed it over the veto by 35 to 11 -a strict party vote; the House by 138 to 40-a strict party vote, except Latham (Rep.) who voted nay. The refusal of the President to enforce this act, and his attempted removal of Secretary Stanton from the Cabinet when against the wish of the Senate, led to the effort to impeach him. Stanton resisted the President, and General Grant took an active part in sustaining the War Secretary. He in fact publicly advised him to "stick," and his attitude showed that in the great political battle which must follow, they would surely have the support of the army and its great commander. Army, appointing him Secretary of War ad interim, directing the one to surrender and the other to receive, all the books, papers, and public property belonging to the War Department. As these orders fill an important place in the history of the impeachment, we give them here. The order to Mr. Stanton reads: "By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby removed from office as Secretary for the Department of War, and your functions as such will terminate upon the receipt of this communication. You will transfer to Brevet Major-General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other public property now in your custody and charge.' The order to General Thomas reads: "The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been this day removed from office as Secretary for the Department of War, you are hereby authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will immediately enter upon the discharge of the duties pertaining to that office. Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to you all the records, books, and other public property now in his custody and charge." These orders having been officially communicated to the Senate, that body, after an earnest debate, passed the following resolution: "Resolved, by the Senate of the United States, That under the Constitution and laws of the United States the President has no power to remove the Secretary of War and designate any other officer to perform the duties of that office." The President, upon the 24th, sent a message to the Senate, arguing at length that not only under the Constitution, but also under the laws as now existing, he had the right of removing Mr. Stanton and appointing another to fill his place. The point of his argumentis: That by a special proviso in the Tenure-of-Office Bill the various Secretaries of Departments "shall hold their offices respectively for and during the term of the President by whom they may have been appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the advice of the Senate." The President affirms that Mr. Stanton was appointed not by him, but by his predecessor, Mr. Lincoln, and held office only by the sufferance, not the appointment, of the present Executive; and that therefore his tenure is, by the express reading of the law excepted from the general provision, that every person duly appointed to office, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," etc., shall be "entitled to hold office until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided." The essential point of the President's argument, therefore, is that, as Mr. Stanton was not appointed by him, he had, under the Tenure-of-Office Bill, the right at any time to remove him; the same right which his own successor would have, no matter whether the incumbent had, by sufferance, not by appointment of the existing Executive, held the office for weeks or even years. "If," says, the President, "my successor would have the power to remove Mr. Stanton, after permitting him to remain a period of two weeks, because he was not appointed by him, I who have tolerated Mr. Stanton for more than two years, certainly have the same right to remove him, upon the same ground, namely that he was not appointed by me but by my predecessor." In the meantime General Thomas presented himself at the War Department and demanded to be placed in the position to which he had been assigned by the President. Mr. Stanton refused to surrender his post, and ordered General Thomas to proceed to the apartment which belonged to him as Adjutant-General. This order was not obeyed, and so the two claimants to the Secretaryship of War held their ground. A sort of legal by-play then ensued. Mr. Stanton entered a formal complaint before Judge Carter, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, charging that General Thomas had illegally exercised and attempted to exercise the duties of Secretary of War; and had threatened to “forcibly remove the complainant from the buildings and apartments of the Secretary of War in the War Department, and forcibly take possession and control thereof under his pretended appointment by the President of the United States as Secretary of War ad interim;" and praying that he might be arrested and held to answer this charge. General Thomas was accordingly arrested, and held to bail in the sum of $15,000 to appear before the court on the 24th. Appearing on that day he was discharged from custody and bail; whereupon he entered an action against Mr. Stanton for false imprisonment, laying his damages at $150,000. On the 22d of February the House Committee on Reconstruction, through its Chairman, Mr. Stevens, presented a brief report, merely stating the fact of the attempted removal by the President of Mr. Stanton, and closing as follows: "Upon the evidence collected by the Committee, which is hereafter presented, and in virtue of the powers with which they have been invested by the House, they are of the opinion that Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, should be impeached of high crimes and misde- cuted, did unlawfully and in violation of the meanors. They, therefore, recommend to laws and Constitution of the United States, the House the adoption of the following perform the several acts specified in the resolution: articles respectively;" closing with the de"Resolved, That Andrew Johnson, Pres-claration: "Whereby the said Andrew ident of the United States be impeached of Johnson, President of the United States, high crimes and misdemeanors." did then and there commit and was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office." The phraseology is somewhat varied. In some cases the offense is designated as a "misdemeanor," in others as a "crime." The whole closes thus: "And the House of Representatives, by After earnest debate, the question on the resolution was adopted, on the 24th, by a vote of 126 to 47. A committee of two members-Stevens and Bingham-were to notify the Senate of the action of the House; and another committee of sevenBoutwell, Stevens, Bingham, Wilson, Lo-protestation, saving to themselves the libgan, Julian, and Ward-to prepare the articles of impeachment. On the 25th (February) Mr. Stevens thus announced to the Senate the action which had been taken by the House: "In obedience to the order of the House of Representatives we have appeared before you, and in the name of the House of Representatives and of all the people of the United States, we do impeach Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors in office. And we further inform the Senate that the House of Representatives will in due time exhibit particular articles of impeachment against him, to make good the same; and in their name we demand that the Senate take due order for the appearance of the said Andrew Johnson to answer to the said impeachment." The Senate thereupon, by a unanimous vote, resolved that this message from the House should be referred to a select Committee of Seven, to be appointed by the chair, to consider the same and report thereon. The Committee subsequently made a report laying down the rules of procedure to be observed on the trial. On the 29th of February the Committee of the House appointed for that purpose presented the articles of impeachment which they had drawn up. These, with slight modification, were accepted on the 2d of March. They comprise nine articles, eight of which are based upon the action of the President in ordering the removal of Mr. Stanton, and the appointment of General Thomas as Secretary of War. The general title to the impeachment is: erty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any further articles or other accusation or impeachment against the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, and also of replying to his answers which he shall make to the articles herein preferred against him, and of offering proof to the same and every part thereof, and to all and every other article, accusation, or impeachment which shall be exhibited by them as the case shall require, do demand that the said Andrew Johnson may be put to answer the high crimes and misdemeanors in office herein charged against him, and that such proceedings, examinations, trials, and judgments may be thereupon had and given as may be agreeable to law and justice." The following is a summary in brief of the points in the articles of impeachment, legal and technical phraseology being omitted: Article 1. Unlawfully ordering the removal of Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War, in violation of the provisions of the Tenure of-Office Act.-Article 2. Unlawfully appointing General Lorenzo Thomas as Secretary of War ad interim.-Article 3 is substantially the same as Article 2, with the addition that there was at the time of the appointment of General Thomas no vacancy in the office of Secretary of War.Article 4 charges the President with "conspiring with one Lorenzo Thomas and other persons, to the House of Representatives unknown," to prevent, by intimidation and threats, Mr. Stanton, the legally-appointed Secretary of War, from holding that office. -Article 5 charges the President with con"Articles exhibited by the House of spiring with General Thomas and others Representatives of the United States, in to hinder the execution of the Tenure-ofthe name of themselves and all the people Office Act; and, in pursuance of this conof the United States, against Andrew spiracy, attempting to prevent Mr. Stanton Johnson, President of the United States, from acting as Secretary of War.-Article 6 s maintenance and support of their im-charges that the President conspired with peachment against him for high crimes General Thomas and others to take forcible and misdemeanors in office." Each of the articles commences with a preamble to the effect that the President, "unmindful of the high duties of his office, of his oath of office, and of the requirements of the Constitution that he should take care that the laws be faithfully exe possession of the War Department.—Article 7 repeats the charge, in other terms, that the President conspired with General Thomas and others to hinder the execution of the Tenure-of-Office Act, and to prevent Mr. Stanton from executing the office of Secretary of War.-Article 8 again |