CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



197 



I believe that one set of men have enjoyed tin- 

 iMiiiihiiMi-iiu of oflQco long enough, and Un>y hhould 



lliiT |)i>rti"li "I' ill' 1 people liiivi- :i Hiancf. How 



IM in-" i" In- not out unless y.mr Kxecutivecon 

 i. lit ill. -in .mi unlosayoucan reoo tlinn iln-mi^h die 



vs be shall not turn tli.-in out, 



im<l ti it? to pass laws to prevent it being 



\\YII, let mo say to you, if \<>u "ill stand by 



in.' in this aetion -if you will stand by me in trying 

 iln- | >>.'!'!. ti fair chance to have soldiers and 

 to p:irtiei|>aie in those offices God be willing, 



I will kick them out; I will kick them out just aa fast 



as I can. 



.i-li language ns this is without precedent. 

 Coming rt-om the President, it is a declaration 

 of ' policy ' which it is your duty to counteract; 

 and in this duty you must make a precedent, if 

 need be. 



" The bill now before tho Senate arises from 

 this necessity. Had Abraham Lincoln been 

 spared to us, there would have been no occasion 

 for this bill, which the Senator from Vermont 

 (Mr. Edmunds! h:;s shaped with so much care, 

 and now presses so earnestly. It is a bill aris- 

 ing from tho exigency of the hour. As such it 

 is to be judged. But it does not meet the whole 

 case. Undertaking to give protection, it gives 

 it to a few only, instead of the many. It pro- 

 vides against the removal, appointment, or em- 

 ployment of persons whose offices, according to 

 existing law and Constitution, are held by and 

 with the advice and consent of the Senate. Its 

 special object is to vindicate the power of the 

 Senate over the offices committed to it accord- 

 ing to existing law and Constitution. Thus 

 vindicating the power of tho Senate it does 

 something indirectly for the protection of the 

 citizen. . . . 



" We are in the midst of a crisis. On one 

 side is the President, and on the other the 

 people. It is the old question between pre- 

 rogative and Parliament which occupied our 

 English fathers. But the form it now takes is 

 grander than ever before. In this controversy 

 I am with the people and against the President. 

 I have great faith in the people ; but I have no 

 faith in the President. Here, sir, I close what 

 I have to say at this time. But before T take 

 my seat, you will pardon me if I read a brief 

 lesson, which seems as if written for the hour. 

 The words are as beautiful as emphatic : 



The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to 

 the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with 

 difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As 

 our case is new, so we must think anew and act 

 anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we 

 shall save our country. 



" These are the words of Abraham Lincoln. 

 They are as full of vital force now as when he 

 uttered them. I entreat you not to neglect the 

 lesson. Learn from its teaching how to save 

 our country." 



Mr. Edmunds : "I do not rise to prolong the 

 debate on this amendment more than a few 

 moments; but I think it right to say, in reply 

 1<> my friend from Massachusetts, for whose 

 opinions upon fundamental questions I have 

 always entertained the highest respect, that I 



think upon reflection ho will himself adroit by 

 and liy that there are many thcorit-* whi 

 absolutely pi-rf.-ct in themselves that can i, 

 cirri. <1 into practice. There are many;. 

 th:i! it would be exceedingly desirable to do if. 

 as human nature goes and as human or^ 

 lions are, they could be actually effected. It 

 would he highly desirable if tho will of the 

 people of this country could bo carried into the 

 remotest detail of the Government, because 

 that is the fundamental theory. It is, in theory, 

 the duty of the hour in all democratic govern- 

 ments that tho people's will should go. to the 

 uttermost artery and vein of the administra- 

 tion of a people's government ; but every man 

 in his senses knows perfectly well that no such 

 chimera can be carried into practice. The 

 people are numerous. They cannot act indi- 

 vidually or collectively together as a body. 

 They inust select their chief agents. Their 

 chief agents must select subordinates, and those 

 subordinates again must have more or less dis- 

 cretion in selecting the agencies which, under 

 them, are to carry out the practical operations 

 of the business of the Government. 



" Now, the question on the amendment of 

 my friend is simply this: first, whether it be 

 desirable for the President and tho Senate of 

 the United States to occupy their time, no 

 matter whether they are in opposition or in 

 accord, in discussing the particular merits of A 

 against B for a night-watchman in the city of 

 New York or for an inspector of customs in 

 the city of Boston." 



The amendment of Mr. Sumner was rejected 

 by the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Brown, Chandler, Conness, Grimes, 

 Harris, Howard, Howe. Lane, Morgan, Merrill, Ram- 

 sey, Sprague, Sumner, Wade, Wilson, and Yates 16. 



NATS Messrs. Anthony, Buckalew, Cowan, Cra- 



f'm, Dixon, Dooiittle, Edmunds, Fessenden, Fogg, 

 oster, Hendricks, Johnson, Nesmith, Patterson, 

 Poland, Riddle, Saulsbury, Sherman, Van Winkle, 

 Willey, and Williams 21. 



ABSENT Messrs. Cattell, Creswell, Davis, Fowler, 

 Frelinghuysen, Guthrie, Henderson, Kirkwood, Mc- 

 Dougall, ^rton, Nye, Pomeroy, Ross, Stewart, and 

 Trumbull 15. 



Mr. Howe, of Wisconsin, offered as an amend- 

 ment to strike out the following words of the 

 first section : f 



Excepting the Secretaries of State, of the Treas- 

 ury, of War. of the Navy, and of the Interior, the 

 Postmaster-General, and the Attorney-jGeneral. 



The amendment was rejected yeas 18, nays 

 27. The amendments made in Committee of 

 the Whole were concurred in, and the bill was 

 passed by the following vote : 



YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Cattell, Chan- 

 dler, Conness, Cragin, Edmunds, Fessenden, Fogg, 

 Foster, Frelinghuysen, Grimes, Harris, Henderson, 

 Howard, Howe, Morgan, Morrill, Poland. Ramsey. 

 Sherman, Sprague, Sumuer, Van Winkle, Wade. 

 Willey, Williams, Wilson, and Yates 29. 



N \vs-Mcssrs. Buckalew, Cowan, Dixon, Doo- 

 little, Hendricks, Nesmith, Patterson, Riddle, and 

 Saulsbury 9. 



ABSENT Messrs. Creswell, Davis, Fowler, Guth- 



