ARKANSAS. 



31 



board of managers was appointed, who ap- 

 peared at the bar of the Senate on the 2d of 

 March, and gave the following notice : 



MB. PRESIDENT : In obedience to the order of the 

 House of Representatives, we appear before you. and, 

 in the name of all the people of the State of Arkan- 

 sas, we do impeach Powell Clayton, Governor of the 

 State of Arkansas, of high crimes and misde- 

 meanors in office ; and we further inform the Senate 

 that the House of Eepresentatives will, in due time, 

 exhibit particular articles of impeachment against 

 him, and make good the same ; and in their name 

 we demand that the Senate take order for the ap- 

 pearance of the said Powell Clayton to answer said 

 impeachment. 



A resolution was immediately adopted to 

 the effect that the Senate would " take proper 

 order thereon, of which due notice shall be 

 given to the House of Representatives." Mean- 

 time the case of Lieutenant-Governor Johnson 

 before the Supreme Court had been decided in 

 favor of the legal right of that official to the 

 position which he held. The result of this de- 

 cision would be, that, if Governor Clayton ac- 

 cepted the position of United States Senator, 

 Mr. Johnson would become Governor, a result 

 which the former seemed determined to pre- 

 vent. Although elected to the Senate on the 

 10th of January, the Governor had not yet 

 signified whether he would accept or not, and, 

 when asked by a vote of the House to do so, 

 had declined, saying in his reply : 



When the time arrives when I can qualify as United 

 States Senator, I shall be governed in my action by 

 what I deem to be the right, and for the best inter- 

 ests of the State. One thing your body can implicitly 

 rely upon is, that I shall not decline the position to 

 which I have been elected unless I shall be con- 

 vinced that the interests of the whole people would 

 be best subserved by a retention, of the executive 

 chair. 



On the 4th of March, after the decision of 

 the Supreme Court in the case of Johnson, he 

 sent the following message to both Houses of 

 the Legislature, declining the seat in the Fed- 

 eral Senate, and giving his reasons for so 

 doing : 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF ARKANSAS, | 

 LITTLE BOCK, HarcU 4, 1871. j 



On the 10th of January, 1871, it was ascertained 

 that I was elected, by the General Assembly, United 

 States Senator by a vote of ninety-four to nine, on 

 joint ballot. I not only received the united support 

 of my own party, but many of the opposition mem- 

 bers voted for me. This large and almost unanimous 

 vote, to myself and the outside world, could not be 

 construed otherwise than as an indorsement of my 

 official action, and I may here state that I felt highly 

 complimented by it. 



At the time of my election by the General As- 

 sembly, the Republican members of the Legislature 

 seemed to be thoroughly united, and I had reason to 

 hope that the Lieutenant-Governor would pursue such 

 a course as would commend himself to the confidence 

 of the Republican members. By subsequent events 

 I have been forced to the unwilling conviction that 

 many of the members who then supported me were 

 actuated more by a desire to place a person in the 

 Executive chair who would carry out a policy adverse 

 to the wishes of a large majority of the Republican 

 party, than to have me represent the State in the 

 United States Senate. In other words, many of the 

 members who supported me deemed the control of 



the State government of more importance to the con- 

 summation of their wishes than representation in the 

 Senate of the United States. 



At the time referred to, both branches of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly were under the control of the Repub- 

 lican party ; but since that time a coalition seems to 

 have been formed of a few Republicans, under the 

 leadership of the Lieutenant-Governor, and the entire 

 conservative element of both Houses. I can but re- 

 gard this coalition as being anti-Republican, and 

 having for its object the overthrow of the present 

 State government on the one part, and the gratifica- 

 tion of private malice and revenge on the other. 

 With this conviction, I cannot, by any act of mine, 

 be instrumental in placing in the Executive chair the 

 leader of this coalition. Were I to consult the 

 promptings of- a selfish ambition, rather than the 

 perpetuation of the principles of the party which has 

 honored me with its confidence and that saved the 

 State to the Union, I should accept the position to 

 which I was elected by your votes. 



Feeling that such a course would not only be a be- 

 trayal of the confidence reposed in me, but a deser- 

 tion of principles, a sense of duty impels me to 

 decline the position tendered. When I remember 

 that to establish these great principles the best blood 

 of the nation has been shed, and hundreds of thou- 

 sands of patriots have laid down their lives upon the 

 altar of their country, I can well afford to lay aside 

 my personal aspirations to aid in the perpetuation of 

 the principles in the support of which so many lives 

 have been sacrificed and such vast treasures ex- 

 pended. 



In pursuing this course, I may give offence to some 

 whose personal ambition may have been thwarted, 

 but I am more than recompensed in this respect by 

 the belief that the men who stood by the flag in the 

 hour of its greatest peril and those* who have since 

 aided in bringing order out of the chaos in which 

 the State was round at the close of the war, and who 

 desire the restoration of peace and security for life 

 and property, will heartily approve and indorse my 

 action. It must now be apparent to the most casual 

 observer, that the object for which the coalition was 

 formed cannot be accomplished, and it is, therefore, 

 hoped that the communication of my declination 

 will allay the public mind and permit the attention 

 of the General Assembly to be turned toward the 

 objects of legislation recommended in my message 

 at the beginning of the session, and which are much 

 needed by the people. 



I cannot let the present opportunity pass without 

 thanking those friends who voted for me for the ex- 

 pression of confidence, and the high compliment paid 

 me by their votes, and I can assure them that I 

 highly appreciate their action, and shall ever remem- 

 ber it with pride and pleasure. 



I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

 POWELL CLAYTON. 



The tone of the message was resented by 

 certain members of the Senate, and several 

 voted against its publication. One of these 

 gave the following reasons for his vote : 



1. Because the communication just received from 

 the Chief Executive casts unjust and slanderous im- 

 putations upon the conduct and character of the Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor of this State. 



2. Because it casts base : unjust, and slanderous 

 imputations upon the motives that have actuated 

 and controlled a majority of the members of the 

 General Assembly of this State in their actions. 



3. Because it contains a base, foul, and infamous 

 slander upon the people of the State of Arkansas. 



4. Because I believe it should be beneath the dig- 

 nity and sense of honor of this body to receive and 

 consider such a slanderous communication. 



In sending to this body his declination, I think he 

 should have couched it in appropriate language; 

 therefore, I am opposed to its publication. 



