

CONGRESS, UNITED M \ 



180 



tioii or |.r>rli\ity of mind to tu- intliu-mvd |,y 



..;!KT than those \vliidi ] 

 I,, tli. :' llio question it-M-lf. I intend, 



at -mile point ill tli I debate, to bo heard Upon 



,ni qiu-Mion involved in the bill ; l>ut for 



the present, 1 join in the hope e.\piv<-ed i.y the 

 chairman <il' the Senate hruneh of tin- eommit- 

 i i-etivnehment, thut we shall not rai-e 

 ..iit-nil debite. It is not necessarily in- 

 i in tin- motion now pending before the 

 Sena; amendment of tho first rlan-e 



of tin- eommittee's substitute, to wit, the ques- 

 tion whether the power ot the President with 

 i to removals from office shall be cur- 

 taiK-1 so far as his own Cabinet ministers are 

 :-ned. That is a distinct and independent 

 question, and I hope we shall determine it 

 without extending ourselves, or permitting 

 tho debate to extend itself, into the whole 



Held/' 



Mr. Howard, of Michigan, on January llth, 

 moved an amendment in section two, line eleven, 

 after the word "Senate," which Mr. Edmunds, 

 of Vermont, moved to modify as follows : 



And such person so designated shall take the oaths 

 and give the bonds required by law to be taken and 

 given by the person duly appointed to fill such office. 



Mr. Edmunds then moved further to amend 

 by adding the following sections : 



And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, 

 contrary to the provisions of this act, accept any ap- 

 pointment to or employment in any office, or shall 

 hold or exercise, or attempt to hold or exercise nny 

 such office or employment, he shall be deemed and is 

 hereby declared to be guilty of a high misdemeanor, 

 and he shall be punislied therefor by a fine not ex- 

 ceeding $10,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 

 five years, or both said punishments, in the discretion 

 of the court. 



And be it further enacted, That every removal, ap- 

 pointment, or employment made, had, or exercised 

 contrary to the provisions of this act, and the mak- 

 ing, signing, sealing, countersigning, or issuing of 

 any commission or letter of authority for or in re- 

 spect to any such appointment or employment, shall 

 be deemed and are hereby declared to be high misde- 

 meanors, and every person guilty thereof shall be 

 punished by a fine iiot exceeding $10,000, or by im- 

 prisonment not exceeding five years, or both said 

 punishments, in the discretion of the court. 



And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty 

 of the secretary of the Senate, at the close of each 

 session thereof; to deliver to the Secretary of the 

 Treasury and to each of his assistants, and to each of 

 the Auditors and to each of the Comptrollers in the 

 Treasury, and to the Treasurer, and to the Register 

 of t lie Treasury, a full and complete list, duly certi- 

 fied, of all persons who shall have been nominated to 

 and rejected bv the Senate during such session, and 

 a like list of all the offices to which nominations shall 

 have been made and not confirmed and filled at such 

 session. 



And be it further enacted, That whenever the I'n-M- 

 dent shall, without the advice and consent of the 

 Senate, designate, authorize, or employ any person 

 to perform the duties of any office, he snail forthwith 

 notify the Secretary of the Treasury thereof, and it 

 shall In- the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury 

 thereupon to communicate such notice to all the prop- 

 er accounting and disbursing officers of his depart- 

 ment. 



/' it further enacted, That no money shall be 

 paid or received from the Treasury, or paid or re- 



ceivcd fi,.i.. . nut of any public moneys or 



fund-- M| '(!,. '. ln-lliiT ill the TrCMUTy 



or not, to or by or for the benefit of any per*' 

 pointed to or untliori/ed to act in or holdup-/ or cxer- 

 ciMiiii tin- dutie- in fnn--tii.ii.-i of any oflicc contrary 

 t > tin- provisions of thin act : nor shall any claim, ac- 

 count, \ouHn-r, order, certificate, warr.: 

 instrument proviuin-r for or relating to such pay- 

 ment, receipt, or n r ntion be presented, pu*ea, al- 

 li.wi-d, approved, certified, or paid by any oli 

 the United States or by any person exercising the 

 functions or performing the duties of any office or 

 place of trust under the l.'nin-d States for or > 

 spect to such office or the exercising or performing 

 the functions or duties thereof: and every person who 

 shall violate any of the provisions of this section 

 shall be deemed guilty of u high misdemeanor, and 

 shall be punished therefor by a fine not exceeding 

 $10,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, 

 or both said punishments, in the discretion of the 

 court. 



Mr. Johnson, of Maryland, said : " I think 

 the honorable member who proposes the amend- 

 ment had better follow what I believe has been 

 the precedent in all such cases, and provide that 

 the punishment shall be inflicted upon trial and 

 conviction of the offence. As it stands, the 

 case is submitted to the court apparently, and 

 the court can award the punishment. The re- 

 sult, of course, would be the same ; they would 

 be obliged to try him by a jury under the Con- 

 stitution of the United States; but it might be 

 held to give the power to the court itself. I 

 think the Senator will find, upon looking at 

 the penal statutes, that they always say that 

 upon trial and conviction the punishment shall 

 be inflicted." 



Mr. Edmunds accepted the amendment as 

 suggested. 



The amendment as moved by Mr. Edmunds 

 was then agreed to, and the bill reported to the 

 Senate. 



An amendment was offered by Mr. Hendricks, 

 of Indiana, which was subsequently withdrawn. 

 J Hiring the debate upon it, he said: "But tho 

 question here is, whether, in a case where 

 the President and Senate have been unable to 

 agree upon some man for an office and the 

 Senate adjourns, the office shall remain vacant 

 during the ensuing recess. That is the ques- 

 tion : whether the President shall have power 

 to appoint, not the rejected man, but anybody 

 to the office; whether, as I said before, the 

 office shall remain vacant, tho interests of the 

 people shall be neglected, because the President 

 might appoint somebody not agreeable to t he- 

 majority of Congress. That is the whole ques- 

 tion." 



Mr. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, said : 

 "Mr. President, I understand this question to 

 be simply a question whether the Constitution 

 of the United States shall or shall not bo ob- 

 served. I understand that tho Constitution 

 makes two tilings requi>ite to an appointment 

 a nomination by the President and the con- 

 sent of the Senate. It would be revolutionary 

 for the Senate to undertake to make a nomina- 

 tion, and it is equally revolutionary for the 

 President to undertake to make an appointment 



