IMPEACHMENT. 



371 



the Cabinet, whether by appointment made in 

 recess, and those confirmed by the Senate, as 

 well as those acting ad interim, or simply 

 acting, certified by Mr. J. S. Black, Secretary of 

 State, January 15, 1861. 



April 16. A continuation of the list put in 

 the day before, bringing the statement down 

 to the present time, and a statement of the 

 beginning and end of all the sessions of the 

 Senate, were put in. Mr. Walter S. Cox, coun- 

 sel for General Thomas when arrested on the 

 affidavit of Mr. Stanton, testified, objection 

 being overruled (29 to 21), that the President 

 sent for him on the 22d of February, and told 

 him he desired the necessary legal proceedings 

 to be instituted without delay to test General 

 Thomas's right to the office, and to put him in 

 possession, and that the witness intended to do 

 this by procuring a writ of habeas corpus from 

 the Supreme Court of the United States, in the 

 Thomas matter. In order to procure this, it 

 was necessary that the commitment of General 

 Thomas should be made by a court, which was 

 sought to be brought about, but the intention 

 was frustrated by the counsel for the Govern- 

 ment consenting to the General's discharge. 

 Admitted, 27 to 23. 



Afterward went to District Attorney for an 

 information in the nature of a quo warranto, 

 which he refused to sign without the Attorney- 

 General's authority. This fact was communi- 

 cated to the Attorney-General. Admitted, 27 

 to 23. 



Did not tell the other side of his intention, 

 but supposed they divined it. 



Mr. R. T. Merrick, another of the counsel in 

 Thomas's case, testified to a similar effect. 



Declarations made at the same to a member 

 of Congress were ruled inadmissible, 9 to 37. 



April 17. Some testimony as to the Presi- 

 dent's Cleveland and St. Louis speeches ; that 

 he spoke reluctantly, and as to the incorrect- 

 ness of the reports of those speeches as put in 

 by the managers. 



Washington's commission as Lieutenant- 

 General was put in " during the pleasure of 

 the President of the United States for the time 

 being." Further evidence of the custom as to 

 ad interim appointments, from the Depart- 

 ments of the Interior and of State,- and also by 

 Mr. F. W. Seward. Secretary Welles testified 

 that he communicated some movements of 

 troops of General Emory to the President, who 

 said, "I don't know what Emory means," and 

 that he would send for him, or send and in- 

 quire into this. 



Secretary Welles also testified (objection 

 being overruled, 26 to 23) that the President 

 told the Cabinet, at a meeting, that he had 

 removed Mr. Stanton, and appointed General 

 Thomas ad interim, and that the latter was 

 then in possession, Mr. Stanton only requiring 

 time enough to remove his papers ; and that, 

 as the President understood it, Mr. Stanton 

 acquiesced. Evidence was then offered that 

 the President laid the Tenure-of-Office Act be- 



fore the Cabinet when it was enacted, and that 

 they advised him that the same was unconsti- 

 tutional, and that Secretaries Seward and 

 Stanton undertook to draw up a veto. This 

 was objected to, and, after argument, the court 

 adjourned. 



April 18. After further argument on the 

 question of yesterday, the evidence was re- 

 jected, against a strong expression of the Chief 

 Justice's opinion that it was admissible, 20 to 

 29. Evidence of the opinion v of the Cabinet at 

 the same meeting, that Mr. Stanton was not 

 within the terms of the act, was also rejected, 

 22 to 26. A further question, whether the 

 President and Cabinet regarded it as necessary 

 for the public service to obtain a judicial de- 

 cision as to the constitutionality of the act, was 

 not allowed to be put, 19 to 30. A question, 

 whether any thing was said about getting pos- 

 session of the War Department by force, was 

 rejected, 18 to 26. The witness testified to 

 the nomination of Mr. Ewing as made out 

 February 22d. Mr. E. F. WeUes testified to 

 having noticed movements of troops, February 

 21st, P.M., and having vainly tried to notify 

 the President. 



The testimony of other members of the Cab- 

 inet was treated by the President's counsel as 

 ruled out under the former rulings. Post- 

 master-General Eandall testified as to the sus- 

 pension of Foster Blodgett, the postmaster, 

 which had been alluded to on the other side, 

 that it was done by him without the President's 

 knowledge, on account of a complaint that the 

 party had been indicted for perjury in taking 

 the test oath, and the papers in that case were 

 put in, though objected to, as not accompanied 

 by the indictment referred to in the same. 



Senator Sherman offered a question, whether 

 the question of applicability of the Tenure-of- 

 Office law to the members appointed by Mr. 

 Lincoln ever came before the Cabinet for dis- 

 cussion; and, if so, what the opinions were. 

 This was overruled, 20 to 26. 



This closed the evidence for the defence. 



TESTIMONY IN EEBTJTTAL. 



April 20. The Journal of Congress of 1774-75 

 of the First Congress, pp. 121, 122, which is a 

 report of the committee appointed to draft a 

 commission to the General, George Washing- 

 ton, who had first been theretofore appointed, 

 was first put in to show that the only form of 

 commission authorized by law was that drawn 

 up by said committee, and read "until revoked 

 by this or a future Congress." In the draft of 

 commissions under the Constitution, "the pleas- 

 ure of the President " was substituted. 



Next a letter from James Guthrie, Secretary 

 of the Treasury, stating to the applicant for 

 office that the place could not. be filled during 

 the recess of the Senate, the vacancy having 

 occurred during the recess. The indictment 

 of Foster Blodgett, the postmaster, before re- 

 ferred to, and other testimony in reference to 

 the case, was offered and ruled out. A list of 



