368 



IMPEACHMENT. 



my was a unit in that belief, and that the 

 opinion of several eminent lawyers had been 

 taken, all of whom held that the Aimy was 

 bound to obey the orders, whether the law was 

 constitutional or not, until the question was 

 decided by the Supreme Court, and it was pro- 

 mulgated in orders that the law was void. 



The President said, "The object of the law 

 is evident." The above-mentioned order was 

 put in the last sections of an appropriation act, 

 approved March 2, 1867, establishing the head- 

 quarters of the Army at Washington, and en- 

 acting that all orders, etc., relating to military 

 operations, issued by the President or Secre- 

 tary of War, should be issued through the 

 General of the Army, and that the General 

 should not be suspended from command, nor 

 be assigned to duty elsewhere, except at his 

 own request, without the previous approval of 

 the Senate. General Emory's commission; 

 the order of August 27, 1867, assigning him to 

 duty in Washington ; a note from the Presi- 

 dent, dated February 13, 1868, to General 

 Grant, desiring that General Thomas resume 

 his duties as Adjutant-General ; a note from 

 General Grant, January 24, 1868, requesting 

 the President to give him certain previous ver- 

 bal instructions in writing, and indorsement of 

 the letter, January 29th, directing the General 

 not to obey any orders from the War Depart- 

 ment, assumed to be issned by direction of the 

 President, unless known to the General com- 

 manding the Armies of the United States to 

 have been authorized by the Executive, and the 

 President's letter to General Grant of February 

 10th (see PUBLIC DOCUMENTS), were next put in. 

 The latter was objected to unless accompanied 

 by the letters of the several heads of departments 

 enclosed with and referred to in the same ; but 

 was admitted without them, 20 to 29. Copies 

 of the letters removing Mr. Stanton, and ap- 

 pointing General Thomas Secretary ad interim, 

 furnished by General Thomas to Mr. Stanton, 

 and indorsed with dates of receipt, and Gen- 

 eral Grant's presence, by Mr. Stanton ; Gen- 

 eral Order No. 17, March 14, 1867, and General 

 Grant's order to General Thomas, February 14, 

 1868, to resume duty as Adjutant-General, the 

 order issued in pursuance of the President's 

 request, were next put in. Evidence that the 

 President appointed his own private secretary 

 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury ad interim, 

 as one means of defeating the Tenure-of-Office 

 and other acts, was offered under the eighth 

 and eleventh articles, but was rejected, 22 to 

 27. The President's dispatch to Governor Par- 

 sons, of Alabama, in answer to the dispatch of 

 Governor Parsons to him, as follows, was ad- 

 mitted under the eleventh article, 27 to 17: 

 MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, January 17, 1867. 



Legislature in session. Efforts making to reconsider 

 vote on constitutional amendment. Report from 

 Washington says it is probable an enabling act will 

 pass. We do not know what to believe. I find noth- 

 mghere. LEWIS E. PARSONS, Exchange Hotel. 



His Excellency ANDREW JOHNSON, President. 



The response is : 



U. S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, ) 

 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 17, 1867. ) 



What possible good can be obtained by reconsider- 

 ing the constitutional amendment ? I know of none in 

 the present posture of affairs ; and I do not believe 

 the people ot the whole country will sustain any set 

 of individuals in attempts to change the whole 

 character of our Government by enabling acts or oth- 

 erwise. I believe, on the contrary ? that they will 

 eventually uphold all who have patriotism and cour- 

 age to stand by the Constitution, and who place their 

 confidence in the people. There should be no falter- 

 ing on the part of those who are honest in their 

 determination to sustain the several coordinate de- 

 partments of the Government in accordance with its 

 original design. ANDREW JOHNSON. 



Hon. LEWIS E. PARSONS, Montgomery, Alabama. 



April 3. Rule seventh amended, by insert- 

 ing, at the end of the same, " Upon all such 

 questions, the vote shall be without a division, 

 unless the yeas and nays be demanded by one- 

 fifth of the members present, when the same 

 shall be taken." 



The President's message at the time of the 

 concurrent resolution of the two Houses, as to 

 the proposal of a fourteenth amendment to 

 the Constitution, was put in (see ANNUAL CY- 

 CLOPEDIA, 1866, page 195). Several stenog- 

 raphers testified as to the President's speeches 

 charged in the tenth article ; one of the wit- 

 nesses being allowed to refresh his memory 

 from a newspaper report which he knew to be 

 correct. Also, the Cleveland Leader's report 

 of the above speeches was admitted, against 

 the ruling of the Chief Justice, 35 to 11 ; al- 

 though it was objected that the managers 

 were in possession of the notes of the short- 

 hand writer of the whole speech, and of his 

 transcript therefrom sworn to by him, and that 

 the Leader's report was made partly by an- 

 other person besides the witness, whose notes 

 were not produced. 



April 4. Further evidence as to the Presi- 

 dent's speeches ; change in certain commis- 

 sions in the Departments testified to, and copies 

 of the forms used put in. The words, " during 

 the pleasure of the President for the time be- 

 ing," were struck out, and "subject to the con- 

 ditions prescribed by law " inserted ; and com- 

 missions issued since the Tenure-of-Office Act 

 had contained these words. Some changes in 

 temporary commissions were also proved. No 

 commission had been issued to a head of a de- 

 partment since that time. The correspondence 

 relative to the removal of Mr. Pickering from 

 the office of Secretary of State, by President 

 John Adams, was read from the works of John 

 Adams (see works of John Adams, ed. of 1854, 

 Little & Brown, vol. ix., pp. 53-55), and an 

 extract from the Executive Journal of the Sen- 

 ate of the same date as the letter of removal, 

 May 12, 1800, which contained a nomination of 

 John Marshall as successor to Mr. Pickering, 

 was read. A list of heads of departments re- 

 moved and appointed by the President during 

 the session of the Senate was also put in (Mr. 

 Pickering being the only one removed), and it 

 was shown that the letter of authority in case 

 of such temporary appointments came from the 



