CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



143 



! 'at and Vica-Prosident, and they may 

 I. |.r. n;>v I to do this by the hope of getting 



favorite into the presidential office. Murk 

 you that in case of tliu removal of both the 

 President and Vice-President, the Senate, under 

 t!u- nili- in-isted upon on the other side, would 

 i-livt tli 1'ivsident. Is it wise to give to that 

 tribunal which alone has the power under the 

 Constitution of removing the President and 

 Vice-President absolute power to name their 

 successor ? Need it be said, sir, that little 

 checks like the one we advocate in this case 

 mi., r lit prove sufficient to save the state? This 

 \ .TV power of the Senate to elect or remove a 

 President at pleasure might lead to combina- 

 tions and conspiracies to promote the fortunes 

 of particular men. 



\Vhy is it that the question now under de- 

 bate has been brought before ns? No com- 

 plaint has ever been made against the gentle- 

 man in the chair on account of the manner in 

 which ho has performed his duties. No one 

 supposes that tliis subject would now bo agi- 

 t i' 1 had we not lost the Vice-President. And 

 what does this show ? It shows that the Senate 

 is looking beyond the office of President of the 

 Ssnate, and, recognizing the uncertainties of 

 life, is anxious about the person who might 

 be called to the first office in the Government. 

 An 1 this, in my opinion, is not what the Con- 

 stitution intended. It did not mean that the 

 Sanata should say who should be President in 

 ttie exigency stated. If it did, very strange 

 1 1:1^:1 age has been employed to convey this 

 msaning. Bat the Constitution gave Congress 

 ths power to decide this question, and that 

 biJy has dasignated the officer. According to 

 our view the President of the Senate, selected 

 without raferencs to any higher duties than 

 belong to that office, would, in the emergency 

 mentioned, succeed to the presidency. In the 

 ot'iar casa, the Senate would have the power 

 while complying with the letter of the law, 

 and furnishing an officer for the vacancy filling 

 the description in the statute, to exercise in its 

 choice as to the person who should be placed 

 at the head of the Government. Let the pres- 

 ent situation illustrate the question. The pres- 

 ent presiding officer was elected at a time 

 when no thought was entertained of the death 

 of the Vice-President. He was liable to be 

 superseded at any moment by the latter officer. 

 If during the absence of the Vice-President he 

 and the President died, were removed, or re- 

 signed, Mr. Ferry would have become Presi- 

 dent. In that case there would have been no 

 opportunity for the Senate to engage in a con- 

 test about the succession under one view of the 

 law. But how would the cass stand under the 

 other view ? Should sickness or accident im- 

 peril the life of the Chief Magistrate, then the 

 S -n tt would have the power to exercise a 

 choice as to the person who might be called to 

 the presidency. The selection of a President 

 pro tempore of the Senate under such circum- 

 stances would become a selection of a Presi- 





dent of the United States. And will any man 

 say, or can he say, that with such a momen- 

 tous issue cast upon this body there would not 

 be much of the feeling, the acrimony, passion, 

 and excitement, and with them much of the 

 danger, attending an ordinary election for that 

 hi^rli iitiicur? 



" But, sir, this is not all. As I said a while 

 ago, the Constitution provide* that if there bo 

 no President pro tempore of the Senate, the 

 Speaker of the House, in the emergency stated, 

 shall act as President. Remember now that 

 while this body may bind its own members by 

 its decision respecting the capacities and pow- 

 ers of its own presiding officer, so far as these 

 relate to his ordinary duties in this body, it 

 cannot claim the right to bind, and it cannot 

 bind by any decision it may make, the other 

 House of Congress in regard to this right of 

 removal, in so far as that right involves the 

 question of title to the presidency. The House 

 of Representatives, being equally interested 

 in this question with the Senate, has a right 

 to decide for itself. And this body may con- 

 firm this report, and affirm that the Speaker 

 of the House is removable at the will and pleas- 

 ure of that body, and that therefore the Presi- 

 dent of the Senate is removable at the pleasure 

 of this. And I would say here, by way of pa- 

 renthesis, that the conclusion arrived at is, be- 

 cause the Speaker of the House is removable 

 at the will and pleasure of that body, the 

 President pro tempore is likewise removable 

 by this." 



Mr. Merrimon : " What authority is there for 

 saying that the Speaker of the House may be 

 removed at the will of the House ?" 



Mr. Jones, of Florida : " None. The people's 

 Representatives may possibly come to a ditfer- 

 ent conclusion, and they may say, as they have 

 the right to say, that their Speaker holds his 

 office for two years, and is not removable at 

 pleasure, and that the presiding officer of this 

 body holds his office by a like tenure. It is 

 hardly necessary for me to say what conclu- 

 sion this reasoning will justify. If the Senate 

 should act upon the theory of this report and 

 displace their President when in the judgment 

 of the House they had no right to do so, and a 

 vacancy occurred in the office of President, the 

 House might be found claiming the office of 

 President of the United States for their Sneaker, 

 and the Senate for their President. This con- 

 dition of things could never result from the law 

 as we understand it ; for, although the House 

 might believe in the power of removal as set 

 up in this report, and the Senate in a fixed 

 tenure of office, no harm could come from such 

 a difference. This is all I have to say on thia 

 part of the case. 



" I contend that by the very words of the 

 Constitution the power of removal does not 

 exist. The Constitution gives to the Senate 

 the right to elect a President pro tempore in 

 the absence of the Vice-President. Upon the 

 appearance of the latter officer the right of tbe 



