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to its source or its immediate cause, you will find out who was responsible for the blood that was shed there. If you will take up the riot at New Orleans and trace it back to the radical Congress, you will find that the riot at New Orleans was substantially planned. If you will take up the proceedings in their caucuses you will understand that they there by its power having expired; that it was said that the intention was that a new government was to be organized, and on the organization of that government the intention was to enfranchise one portion of the population, called the colored population, who had just been emancipated, and at the same time disfranchise white men. When you design to talk about New Orleans, you ought to understand what you are talking about. When you read the speeches that were made, and take up the facts on the Friday and Saturday before that convention sat, you will there find that speeches were made incendiary in their character, exciting that portion of the population, the black population, to arm themselves and prepare for the shedding of blood. You will also find that that convention did assemble in violation of law, and the intention of that convention was to supersede the reorganized authorities in the State government of Louisiana, which had been recognized by the Government of the United States; and every man engaged in that rebellion in that ing the civil government which had been recognized by the Government of the United States, I say that he was a traitor to the Constitution of the United States, and hence you find that another rebellion was commenced, having its origin in the radical Congress. "So much for the New Orleans riot. And there was the cause and the origin of the blood that was shed; and every drop of blood that was shed is upon their skirts, and they are responsible for it. I could test this thing a little closer, but will not do it here to-night. But when you talk about the causes and consequences that resulted from proceedings of that kind, perhaps, as I have been introduced here, and you have provoked questions of this kind, though it does not provoke me, I will tell you a few wholesome things that have been done by this radical Congress in connection with New "I know that I have been traduced and abused. I know it has come in advance of me here as elsewhere-that I have attempted to exercise an arbitrary power in resisting laws that were intended to be forced upon the Government; that I had exercised that power; that I had abandoned the party that elected me, and that I was a traitor, because I exercised the veto power in attempting, and did arrest for a time, a bill that was called a Freedman's Bureau' bill; yes, that I was a traitor. And I have been traduced, I have been slandered, I have been maligned, I have been called Judas Iscariot, and all that. Now, my countrymen, here to-night, it is very easy to indulge in epithets; it is easy to call a man Judas and cry out traitor, but when he is called upon to give arguments and facts, he is very often found wanting. Judas Iscariot-Judas. There was a Judas, and he was one of the twelve apostles. Oh! yes, the twelve apostles had a Christ. The twelve apostles had a Christ, and he never could have had a Judas unless he had had twelve apostles. If I have played the Judas, who has been my Christ that I have played the Judas with? Was it Thad. Stevens? Was it Wendell Phillips? Was it Charles Sumner? These are the men that stop and compare themselves with the Saviour; and everybody that differs with them in opinion, and to try to stay and arrest their diabolical and nefarious policy, is to "Well, let me say to you, if you will stand by me in this action, if you will stand by me in trying to give the people a fair chance-soldiers and citizens-to participate in these

Orleans and the extension of the elective franchise.

be denounced as a Judas.

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offices, God being willing, I will kick them out. I will kick them out just as fast as I can.

"Let me say to you, in concluding, that what I have said I intended to say. I was not provoked into this, and I care not for their menaces, the taunts, and the jeers. I care not for threats. I do not intend to be bullied by my enemies nor overawed by my friends. But, God willing, with your help, I will veto their measures whenever any of them come to me."

Which said utterances, declarations, threats, and harangues, highly censurable in any, are peculiarly Indecent and unbecoming in the Chief Magistrate of the United States, by means whereof said Andrew Johnson has brought the high office of the President of the United States into contempt, ridicule, and disgrace, to the great scandal of all good citizens, whereby said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did commit, and was then and there guilty of a high misdemeanor in office.

ARTICLE XI. That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful of the high duties of his office, and of his oath of office, and in disregard of the Constitution and laws of the United States, did, heretofore, to wit, on the 18th day of August, A. D. 1866, at the city of Washington, and the District of Columbia, by public speech, declare and affirm, in substance, that the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States was not a Congress of the United States authorized by the Constitution to exercise legislative power under the same, but, on the contrary, was a Congress of only part of the States, thereby denying, and intending to deny, that the legislation of said Congress was valid or obligatory upon him, the said Andrew Johnson, except in so far as he saw fit to approve the same, and also thereby denying, and intending to deny, the power of the said Thirty-Ninth Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States; and, in pursuance of said declaration, the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, afterwards, to wit, on the 21st day of February, A. D. 1868, at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, did, unlawfully, and in disregard of the requirement of the Constitution, that he should take care that the laws be faithfully executed, attempt to prevent the execution of an act entitled "An act regulating the tenure of certain civil offices," passed March 2, 1867, by unlawfully devising and contriving, and attempting to devise and contrive means by which he should prevent Edwin M. Stanton from forthwith resuming the functions of the office of Secretary for the Department of War, notwithstanding the refusal of the Senate to concur in the suspension theretofore made by said Andrew Johnson of said Edwin M. Stanton from said office of Secretary for the Department of War and, also, by further unlawfully devising and contriving, and attempting to devise and contrive, means, then and there, to prevent the execution of an act entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1868, and for other purposes," approved March 2, 1867; and, also, to prevent the execution of an act entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," passed March 2, 1867, whereby the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did then, to wit, on the 21st day of February, A. D. 1868, at the city of Washington, commit, and was guilty of, a high

misdemeanor in office.

SCHUYLER COLFAX,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Attest:
EDWARD MCPHERSON,

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Votes on the Articles in the House. 1868, March 2-The first article was agreed to-yeas 127, nays 42, as follow:

YEAS-Messrs. Allison, Ames, Anderson, Arnell, Delos R Ashley, James M. Ashley, Bailey, Baldwin, Banks, Beaman Broomall, Buckland, Butler, Cake, Churchill, Reader W. Beatty, Benton, Bingham, Blaine, Blair, Boutwell, Bromwell, Clarke, Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Coburn, Cook, Cornell, Covode, Cullom, Dawes, Dixon, Dodge, Donnelly, Driggs, Eggleston, Eliot, Farnsworth, Ferriss, Ferry, Fields, Garfield, Gravely, Griswold, Halsey, Harding, Higby, Hill, Hooper, Hopkins, C. D. Hubbard, Hulburd, Hunter, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Judd,

S. Black, William M. Evarts, and Thomas A. R. Nelson, who have my warrant and authority therefor, and who are instructed by me to ask of this honorable court for a reasonable time for

the preparation of my answer to said articles.

Julian, Kelley, Kelsey, Ketcham, Kitchen, Koontz, Laflin, Geo.V. Lawrence, William Lawrence, Lincoln, Loan, Logan, Loughridge, Lynch, Mallory, Marvin, Maynard, McCarthy, McClurg, Mercur, Miller, Moore, Morrell, Mullins, Myers, Newcomb, Nunn, O'Neill, Orth, Paine, Perham, Peters, Pike, Plants, Poland, Polsley, Pomeroy, Price, Raum, Robertson, Sawyer, Schenck, Scofield, Shanks, Smith, Spalding, Starkweather, Thaddeus Stevers, Stokes, Taffe, Taylor, Thomas, After a careful examination of the articles of Trimble, Trowbridge, Twichell, Upson, Van Aernam, Burt impeachment, and consultation with my counsel, Van Horn, Robert T. Van Horn, Van Wyck, Ward, Cadwal- I am satisfied that at least forty days will be ader C. Washburn, Ellihu B.Washburne, William B. Washburn, Welker, Thomas Williams, James F. Wilson, John T. necessary for the preparation of my answer, and Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Windom, Woodbridge-127. I respectfully ask that it be allowed, NAYS-Messrs. Adams, Archer, Axtell, Barnum, Beck, ANDREW JOHNSON. Boyer, Brooks, Burr, Cary, Chanler, Eldridge, Fox, Getz, Glossbrenner, Golladay, Grover, Haight, Holman, Hotchkiss, The counsel also read a "professional stateHumphrey, Johnson, Jones, Kerr, Knott, Marshall, McCorment" in support of the request. The Senate mick, Morgan, Mungen, Niblack, Nicholson, Pruyn, Randall, retired for consultation, and, after some time, Ross, Sitgreaves, Stewart, Stone, Taber, Trimble, Van Auken, adopted, without a division, an order that the NOT VOTING-Messrs. Baker, Barnes, Benjamin, Eckley, respondent file answer on or before the 23d inst. Ela, Finney, Hawkins, Asahel W. Hubbard, Richard D. Hub- An order was also adopted-yeas 40, nays 10bard, McCullough, Moorhead, Morrissey, Phelps, Pile, Robinson, Selye, Shellabarger, Aaron F. Stevens, Henry D. Wash- that unless otherwise ordered by the Senate for cause shown, the trial shall proceed immediately after replication shall be filed.

Van Trump, Wood, Woodward-42.

burn, William Williams-20.

The second article was agreed to-yeas 124, nays 41, not voting 24.

The third article was agreed to-yeas 124, nays 41, not voting 24.

The fourth article was agreed to-yeas 117, nays 40, not voting 32.

The fifth article was agreed to-yeas 127, nays 42, not voting 20.

The sixth article was agreed to-yeas 127, nays 42, not voting 20.

The seventh article was agreed to-yeas 127, nays 42, not voting 20.

The eighth article was agreed to-yeas 127, nays 42, not voting 20.

The ninth article was agreed to-yeas 108, nays 41, not voting 40.

The tenth article was agreed to-yeas 88, nays 44, not voting 57.

The eleventh article was agreed to-yeas 109, nays 32, not voting 48.

Messrs. John A. Bingham, George S. Boutwell, James F. Wilson, Benjamin F. Butler, Thomas Williams, John A. Logan, and Thaddeus Stevens were elected managers to conduct the impeach

ment.

March 4-The articles were read to the Senate by the Managers.

March 5-Chief Justice Chase took the chair, Associate Justice Nelson having administered the following oath :

"I do solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Andrew Johuson, President of the United States, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God."

AN "ILLEGAL AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL COURT."

March 23-Mr. Davis, a member of the Senate and of the Court of Impeachment, from the State of Kentucky, moved the court to make this order:

The Constitution having vested the Senate with the sole power to try the articles of impeachment of the President of the United States preferred by the House of Representatives, and having also declared that "the Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislatures thereof," and the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas having, each by its legislature, chosen two Senators, who have been and continue to be excluded by the Senate from their seats respectively, without any judgment by the Senate against them personally and individually on the points of their elections, returns, and qualifications, it is

Ordered, That a Court of Impeachment for the trial of the President cannot be legally and constitutionally formed while the Senators from the States aforesaid are thus excluded from the Senate; and this case is continued until the Senators from these States are permitted to take their seats in the Senate, subject to all constitutional exceptions to their elections, returns, and qualifications severally.

Which was rejected-yeas 2, nays 49, as fol

low:

YEAS-Messrs. Davis, McCreery-2.

March 5 and 6-The Chief Justice administered the same oath to the various Senators. On the 6th, an order was adopted, directing a sum-Chandler, Cole, Conkling, Conness, Corbett, Cragin, Dixon, mons on Andrew Johnson to file answer to the articles, returnable on the 13th instant. March 13-The President's counsel entered this appearance:

In the matter of the impeachment of Andrew
Johnson, President of the United States.

NAYS-Messrs. Anthony, Buckalew, Cameron, Cattell, Doolittle, Drake, Edmunds, Ferry, Fessenden, Fowler, Fre linghuysen, Grimes, Harlan, Henderson, Hendricks, HowVermont, Morton, Norton, Nye, Patterson of New Hampard, Howe, Johnson, Morgan, Morrill of Maine, Morrill of shire, Patterson of Tennessee, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Ross, Trumbull, Van Winkle, Vickers, Willey, Williams, Wilson, Sherman, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Thayer, Tipton,

Yates-49

NOT VOTING-Messrs. Bayard, Saulsbury, Wade-3.

Answer of President Johnson.

Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE: I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, having been served with a summon to appear before this honorable court, sitting as a court of impeachment, to answer certain articles of impeachment found and presented against me by the honorable the House of Representatives of the United States, do hereby enter my appearance by my counsel, Henry Stanbery, Benjamin R. Curtis, Jeremiah William S. Groesbeck of Ohio appeared in his stad.

to the close of that portion relative to the first Mr. Curtis then proceeded to read the answer article of impeachment.

Mr. Black did not appear in the trial. March 23, Hon.

Mr. Stanbery read that portion of the answer beginning with the reply to the second article to the close of the response to the ninth article. Mr. Evarts read the residue of the answer. Senate of the United States, sitting as a Court of Impeachment for the trial of Andrew Johnson, President of the United States.

The answer of the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, to the articles of impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives of the United States.

ANSWER TO ARTICLE I.

moved from the said office by this respondent, the said Stanton continued to hold the same under the appointment and commission aforesaid, at the pleasure of the President, until the time hereinafter particularly mentioned; and at no time received any appointment or commission

save as above detailed."

And this respondent, further answering, says that on and prior to the 5th day of August, A. D. 1867, this respondent, the President of the United States, responsible for the conduct of the Secretary for the Department of War, and having the constitutional right to resort to and rely upon the person holding that office for advice concerning the great and difficult public duties enjoined on the President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, became satisfied that he could not allow the said Stanton to continue to hold the office of Secretary for the Department of War without hazard of the public Stanton and the President no longer permitted interest; that the relations between the said the President to resort to him for advice, or to be, in the judgment of the President, safely responsible for his conduct of the affairs of the Department of War, as by law required, in accordance with the orders and instructions of the President; and thereupon, by force of the Con

For answer to the first article he says: That Edwin M. Stanton was appointed Secretary for the Department of War on the 15th day of January, A. D. 1862, by Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, during the first term of his presidency, and was commissioned, according to the Constitution and laws of the United States, to hold the said office during the pleasure of the President; that the office of Secretary for the Department of War was created by an act of the first Congress in its first session, passed on the 7th day of August, A. D. 1789, and in and by that act it was provided and enacted, that the said Secretary for the Department of War shall perform and execute such duties as shall from time to time be enjoined on and institution and laws of the United States, which trusted to him by the President of the United States, agreeably to the Constitution, relative to the subjects within the scope of said department; and, furthermore, that the said Secretary shall conduct the business of the said Department in such a manner as the President of the United States shall from time to time order and in

struct.

And this respondent, further answering, says that by force of the act aforesaid and by reason of his appointment aforesaid the said Stanton became the principal officer in one of the executive departments of the Government within the true intent and meaning of the second section of the second article of the Constitution of the United States, and according to the true intent and meaning of that provision of the Constitution of the United States; and, in accordance with the settled and uniform practice of each and every President of the United States, the said Stanton then became, and so long as he should continue to hold the said office of Secretary for the Department of War must continue to be, one of the advisers of the President of the United States, as well as the person intrusted to act for and represent the President in matters enjoined upon him or intrusted to him by the President touching the department aforesaid, and for whose conduct in such capacity, subordinate to the President, the President is by the Constitution and laws of the United States, made responsible.

And this respondent, further answering, says he succeeded to the office of President of the United States upon, and by reason of, the death of Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, on the 15th day of April, 1865, and the said Stanton was then holding the said office of Secretary for the Department of War under and by reason of the appointment and commission aforesaid; and not having been re

to control the conduct of the business of that devolve on the President the power and the duty executive department of the government, and by reason of the constitutional duty of the Presi dent to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, this respondent did necessarily consider and did determine that the said Stanton ought no longer to hold the said office of Secretary for by virtue of the power and authority vested in the Department of War. And this respondent, him as President of the United States, by the Constitution and laws of the United States, to give effect to such his decision and determination, did, on the 5th day of August, A. D. 1867, address to the said Stanton a note, of which the following is a true copy:

SIR: Public considerations of a high character constrain me to say that your resignation as Secretary of War will be accepted.

To which note the said Stanton made the following reply:

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, August 5, 1867. SIR: Your note of this day has been received, stating that "public considerations of a high character constrain you' " to say "that my resignation as Secretary of War will be accepted."

In reply, I have the honor to say that public considerations of a high character, which alone have induced me to continue at the head of this Department, constrain me not to resign the office of Secretary of War before the next meeting of Congress. Very respectfully, yours,

EDWIN M. STANTON.

This respondent, as President of the United States, was thereon of opinion that, having regard to the necessary official_relations and duties of the Secretary for the Department of War to the President of the United States, according to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and having regard to the responsibility of the President for the conduct of the said Secretary, and having regard to the permanent executive authority of the office which the respondent holds under the Constitution and

laws of the United States, it was impossible, consistently with the public interests, to allow the said Stanton to continue to hold the said office of Secretary for the Department of War; and it then became the official duty of the respondent, as President of the United States, to consider and decide what act or acts should and might lawfully be done by him, as President of the United States, to cause the said Stanton to surrender the said office.

This respondent was informed and verily believed that it was practically settled by the first Congress of the United States, and had been so considered, and, uniformly and in great numbers of instances, acted on by each Congress and President of the United States, in succession, from President Washington to, and including, President Lincoln, and from the First Congress to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, that the Constitution of the United States conferred on the President, as part of the executive power and as one of the necessary means and instruments of performing the executive duty expressly imposed on him by the Constitution of taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, the power at any and all times of removing from office all executive officers for cause to be judged of by the President alone. This respondent had, in pursuance of the Constitution, required the opinion of each principal officer of the executive departments upon this question of constitutional executive power and duty, and had been advised by each of them, including the said Stanton, Secretary for the Department of War, that under the Constitution of the United States this power was lodged by the Constitution in the President of the United States, and that, consequently, it could be lawfully exercised by him, and the Congress could not deprive him thereof; and this respondent, in his capacity of President of the United States, and because in that capacity he was both enabled and bound to use his best judgment upon this question, did, in good faith and with an earnest desire to arrive at the truth, come to the conclusion and opinion, and did make the same known to the honorable the Senate of the United States by a message dated on the 2d day of March, 1867, (a true copy whereof is hereunto annexed and marked A,) that the power last mentioned was conferred And the duty of exercising it, in fit cases, was imposed on the President by the Constitution of the United States, and that the President could not be deprived of this power or relieved of this duty, nor could the same be vested by law in the President and the Senate jointly, either in part or whole; and this has ever since remained and was the opinion of this respondent at the time when he was forced as aforesaid to consider and decide what act or acts should and might lawfully be done by this respondent, as President of the United States, to cause the said Stanton

to surrender the said office.

This respondent was also then aware that by the first section of "An act regulating the tenure of certain civil offices," passed March 2, 1867, by a constitutional majority of both houses of Congress, it was enacted as follows:

That every person holding any civil office to which he has been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and every person who shall hereafter be au

pointed to any such office, and shall become duly qualified until a successor shall have been in like manner appointed and duly qualified, except as herein otherwise provided: Provided, That the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of the Interior, the Postmaster General and the Attorney General, shall hold their offices respectively for and during the term of the President by whom they may have been appointed, and one month thereafter, subject to removal by and with the advice and consent of

to act therein, is and shall be entitled to hold such office

the Senate.

This respondent was also aware that this act was understood and intended to be an expression of the opinion of the Congress by which that act was passed, that the power to remove execu tive officers for cause might, by law, be taken from the President and vested in him and the had arrived at and still retained the opinion Senate jointly; and although this respondent above expressed, and verily believed, as he still believes, that the said first section of the lastmentioned act was and is wholly inoperative and void by reason of its conflict with the Constitution of the United States, yet, inasmuch as the same had been enacted by the constitutional majority in each of the two houses of that Conto examine and decide whether the particular gress, this respondent considered it to be proper case of the said Stanton, on which it was this the terms of that first section of the act; or, if respondent's duty to act, was within or without within it, whether the President had not the power, according to the terms of the act, to remove the said Stanton from the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and having, in his capacity of President of the Unfted States, so examined and considered, did form the opinion that the case of the said Stanton and his tenure of office were not affected by the first section of the last-named act.

that although a case thus existed which, in his And this respondent, further answering, says, judgment as President of the United States, called for the exercise of the executive power to remove the said Stanton from the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and although shown, that under the Constitution of the United this respondent was of opinion, as is above States the power to remove the said Stanton from the said office was vested in the President of the United States; and although this respondent was also of the opinion, as is above shown, that the first section of the last named act; and althe case of the said Stanton was not affected by though each of the said opinions had been formed by this respondent upon an actual case, requiring him, in his capacity of President of the United States, to come to some judgment and President of the United States, desired and dedetermination thereon, yet this respondent, as termined to avoid, if possible, any question of the construction and effect of the said first section of the last-named act, and also the broader the President of the United States, by the Conquestion of the executive power conferred on stitution of the United States, to remove one of

the principal officers of one of the executive departments for cause seeming to him sufficient; and this respondent also desired and determined that, if from causes over which he could exert no control, it should become absolutely necessary to raise and have, in some way, determined either or both of the said last-named questions,

it was in accordance with the Constitution of the United States and was required of the President thereby, that questions of so much gravity and importance, upon which the legislative and executive departments of the Government had disagreed, which involved powers considered by all branches of the Government, during its entire history down to the year 1867, to have been confided by the Constitution of the United States to the President, and to be necessary for the complete and proper execution of his constitutional duties, should be in some proper way submitted to that judicial department of the government intrusted by the Constitution with the power, and subjected by it to the duty, not only of determining finally the construction of and effect of all acts of Congress, but of comparing them with the Constitution of the United States and pronouncing them inoperative when found in conflict with that fundamental law which the people have enacted for the government of all their servants. And to these ends, first, that through the action of the Senate of the United States, the absolute duty of the President to substitute some fit person in place of Mr. Stanton as one of his advisers, and as a principal subordinate officer whose official conduct he was responsible for and had lawful right to control, might, if possible, be accomplished without the necessity of raising any one of the questions aforesaid; and, second, if this duty could not be so performed, then that these questions, or such of them as might necessarily arise, should be judicially determined in manner aforesaid, and for no other end or purpose this respondent, as President of the United States, on the 12th day of August, 1867, seven days after the reception of the letter of the said Stanton of the 5th of August, herein before stated, did issue to the said Stanton the order following, namely:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, August 12, 1867. SIR: By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby suspended from office as Secretary of War, and will cease to exercise any and all functions perYou will at once transfer to General Ulysses S. Grant, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other public property now in your custody and charge. The Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.

taining to the same.

And this respondent, further answering, says, that it is provided in and by the second section of "An act to regulate the tenure of certain civil offices," that the President may suspend an officer from the performance of the duties of the office held by him, for certain causes therein designated, until the next meeting of the Senate, and until the case shall be acted on by the Senate; that this respondent, as President of the United States, was advised, and he verily believed and still believes, that the executive power of removal from office confided to him by the Constitution as aforesaid includes the power of suspension from office at the pleasure of the President, and this respondent, by the order aforesaid, did suspend the said Stanton from office, not until the next meeting of the Senate, or until the Senate should have acted upon the case, but by force of the power and authority vested in him by the Constitution and laws of the United States, indefinitely and at the pleasure of the President, and the order, in form aforesaid, was made known to the Senate of the United States on the 12th day of December, A. D. 1867, as will be more fully hereinafter stated.

And this respondent, further answering, says, that in and by the act of February 13, 1795, it was, among other things, provided and enacted that, in case of vacancy in the office of Secretary for the Department of War, it shall be lawful for the President, in case he shall think it necessary, to authorize any person to perform the duties of that office until a successor be appointed or such vacancy filled, but not exceeding the term of six months; and this respondent, being advised and believing that such law was in full force and not repealed, by an order dated August 12, 1867, did authorize and empower Ulysses S. Grant, General of the armies of the United States, to act as Secretary for the Department of War ad interim, in the form in which similar authority had theretofore been given, not until the next meeting of the Senate and until the Senate should act on the case, but at the pleasure of the President, subject only to the limitation of six months in the said lastmentioned act contained; and a copy of the last-named order was made known to the Senate of the United States on the 12th day of Decem

To which said order the said Stanton made ber, A. D. 1867, as will be hereinafter more fuily the following reply:

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, August 12, 1867. SIR: Your note of this date has been received, informing me that, by virtue of the powers vested in you as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, I em suspended from office as Secretary of War, and will cease to exercise any and all functions pertaining to the same, and also directing me at once to transfer to General Ulysses S. Grant, who has this day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other public property now in

stated; and in pursuance of the design and intention aforesaid, if it should become necessary to submit the said questions to a judicial determination, this respondent, at or near the date of the last-mentioned order, did make known such his purpose to obtain a judicial decision of the said questions, or such of them as might be necessary.

And this respondent, further answering, says, that in further pursuance of his intention and design, if possible, to perform what he judged to be his imperative duty, to prevent the said Stanton from longer holding the office of Secretary for the Department of War, and at the same time avoiding, if possible, any question

my custody and charge. Under a sense of public duty I am compelled to deny your right, under the Constitution and laws of the United States, without the advice and consent of the Senate, and without legal cause, to suspend me from office as Secretary of War, or the exercise of any or all functions pertaining to the same, or without such advice and consent, to compel me to transfer to any person the records, books, papers, and public property in my custody as Secretary. But inasmuch as the General command-respecting the extent of the power of removal ing the armies of the United States has been appointed ad from executive office confided to the President interim, and has notified me that he has accepted the ap- by the Constitution of the United States, and pointment, I have no alternative but to submit, under pro- any question respecting the construction and effect of the first section of the said "act regu

test, to superior force.

To the PRESIDENT.

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