Слике страница
PDF
ePub

FRIDAY, April 3, 1868.

The Chief Justice of the United States entered the Senate chamber at five minutes past 12 o'clock and took the chair.

The usual proclamation having been made by the Sergeant-at-arms,

The managers of the impeachment on the part of the House of Representatives appeared and took the seats assigned them.

The counsel for the respondent also appeared and took their seats.

The presence of the House of Representatives was next announced, and the members of the House, as in Committee of the Whole, headed by Mr. E. B. Washburne, the chairman of that committee, and accompanied by the Speaker and Clerk, entered the Senate chamber, and were conducted to the seats provided for them.

The CHIEF JUSTICE. The Secretary will read the minutes of the last day's proceedings.

The Secretary read the journal of the proceedings of the Senate yesterday sitting for the trial of the impeachment.

Mr. DRAKE. Mr. President, I move that the Senate take up the proposition which I offered yesterday, to amend the seventh rule, and have a vote upon it. The CHIEF JUSTICE. The amendment will be considered as before the Senate unless objected to.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Let it be read.

The CHIEF JUSTICE. The Secretary will read the amendment.

The Secretary read as follows:

Amend the seventh rule by adding the following:

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 or requested by the presiding officer, when the same shall be taken.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Mr. President, I move to strike out that part of it relating to the yeas and nays being taken upon the request of the presiding officer.

Mr. CONKLING. Not having heard the motion of the senator from Vermont, I ask for the reading of the seventh rule as it is now, which is not before us, and which we have no means of knowing anything about.

The CHIEF JUSTICE. The Secretary will read the seventh rule.
The SECRETARY. The seventh rule is as follows:

VII. The presiding officer of the Senate shall direct all necessary preparations in the Senate chamber, and the presiding officer on the trial shall direct all the forms of proceeding while the Senate are sitting for the purpose of trying an impeachment, and all forms during the trial not otherwise specially provided for. And the presiding officer on the trial may rule all questions of evidence and incidental questions, which ruling shall stand as the. judgment of the Senate, unless some member of the Senate shall ask that a formal vote be taken thereon, in which case it shall be submitted to the Senate for decision; or he may, at his option, in the first instance, submit any such question to a vote of the members of the Senate.

It is proposed to add the following to the rule:

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, or requested by the presiding officer, when the same shall be taken.

Mr. DRAKE. I have no objection to the amendment proposed by the honorable senator from Vermont.

The CHIEF JUSTICE. The amendment to the rule will be so modified if there be no objection. (To the chief clerk.) Read the amendment as modified. The chief clerk read the amendment as modified, as follows:

At the end of rule seven insert:

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 amendment to the rules, as modified, was agreed to.

Mr. DRAKE. I move that the rules, as now amended, be printed for the use of the Senate.

The motion was agreed to.

The CHIEF JUSTICE. The managers on the part of the House of Representatives will proceed with their evidence.

Mr. Manager BUTLER. Before putting any question to Mr. Tinker, the witness under examination at the adjournment, I will put in a single paper with the leave of the court. The paper is a "message of the President of the United States, communicating to the Senate a report of the Secretary of State, showing the proceedings under the concurrent resolution of the two houses of Congress of the 13th instant, requesting the President to submit to the legislatures of the States an additional article to the Constitution of the United States."

MR. STANBERY. What article is that? What date?

Mr. Manager BUTLER. The fourteenth article. The document is dated June 22, 1866. It is the same article to which the despatch related. We offer it in order to show to what the despatch referred.

(The document was handed to the counsel for the respondent.)

Mr. STANBERY, (returning it.) Mr. Chief Justice, we do not see the particular relevancy of this message to any article which we are called upon to answer. However, we have no objection to the gentleman reading it.

Mr. Manager BUTLER. Mr. Clerk, will you read the message?

The chief clerk read as follows:

Message from the President of the United States, communicating to the Senate a report of the Secretary of State, showing the proceedings under concurrent resolutions of the two houses of Congress of the 13th instant, requesting the President to submit to the legislatures of the States an additional article to the Constitution of the United States.

To the Senate and House of Representatives :

I submit to Congress a report of the Secretary of State, to whom was referred the concur rent resolution of the 18th instant, respecting a submission to the legislatures of the States of an additional article to the Constitution of the United States. It will be seen from this report that the Secretary of State had, on the 16th instant, transmitted to the governors of the several States certified copies of the joint resolution passed on the 13th instant, proposing an amendment to the Constitution.

Even in ordinary times any question of amending the Constitution must be justly regarded as of paramount importance. This importance is at the present time enhanced by the fact that the joint resolution was not submitted by the two houses for the approval of the President, and that of the thirty-six States which constitutes the Union eleven are excluded from representation in either house of Congress, although, with the single exception of Texas, they have been entirely restored to all their functions as States, in conformity with the organic law of the land, and have appeared at the national capital by senators and representatives who have applied for and have been refused admission to the vacant seats. Nor have the sovereign people of the nation been afforded an opportunity of expressing their views upon the important questions which the amendment involves. Grave doubts, therefore, may naturally and justly arise as to whether the action of Congress is in harmony with the sentiments of the people, and whether State legislatures, elected without reference to such an issue, should be called upon by Congress to decide respecting the ratification of the proposed amendment.

Waiving the question as to the constitutional validity of the proceedings of Congress upon the joint resolution proposing the amendment, or as to the merits of the article which it submits, through the executive department, to the legislatures of the States, I deem it proper to observe that the steps taken by the Secretary of State, as detailed in the accompanying report, are to be considered as purely ministerial, and in no sense whatever committing the Executive to an approval or a recommendation of the amendment to the State legislatures or to the people. On the contrary, a proper appreciation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution, as well as of the interests of national order, harmony, and union, and a due deference for an enlightened public judgment, may at this time well suggest a doubt whether any amendment to the Constitution ought to be proposed by Congress, and pressed upon the legislatures of the several States for final decision, until after the admission of such loyal senators and representatives of the now unrepresented States as have been or as may hereafter be chosen in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 22, 1866.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 20, 1866. The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the concurrent resolution of the two houses of Congress of the 18th instant in the following words: "That the President of the United States be requested to transmit forthwith to the executives of the several States of the United States copies of the article of amendment proposed by Congress to the State legislatures, to amend the Constitution of the United States, passed June 13, 1866, respecting citizenship, the basis of representation, disqualification for office, and validity of the public debt of the United States, &c., to the end that the said States may proceed to act upon the said article of amendment, and that he request the executive of each State that may ratify said amendment to transmit to the Secretary of State a certified copy of such ratification," has the honor to submit the following report, namely: that on the 16th instant Hon. Amasa Cobb, of the committee of the House of Representatives on Enrolled Bills, brought to this department and deposited therein an enrolled resolution of the two houses of Congress, which was thereupon received by the Secretary of State and deposited among the rolls of the department, a copy of which is hereunto annexed. Thereupon the Secretary of State, on the 16th instant, in conformity with the proceeding which was adopted by him in 1865 in regard to the then proposed and afterward adopted congressional amendment of the Constitution of the United States concerning the prohibition of slavery, transmitted certified copies of the annexed resolution to the governors of the several States, together with a certificate and circular letter. A copy of both of these communications is hereunto annexed.

Respectfully submitted:

The PRESIDent.

[Circular.]

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Department of STATE,

Washington, June 16, 1866.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit an attested copy of a resolution of Congress, proposing to the legislatures of the several States a fourteenth article to the Constitution of the United States. The decisions of the several legislatures upon the subject are required by law to be communicated to this department.

An acknowledgment of the receipt of this communication is requested by your excellency's most obedient servant,

His Excellency the GOVERNOR of the State of

To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting :

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

I certify that the annexed is a true copy of a concurrent resolution of Congress, entitled "Joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States," the original of which resolution, received to-day, is on file in this department.

In testimony whereof, I, William H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of the Department of State to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this 16th day of June, A. D. 1866, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

[SEAL.]

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

[Concurrent resolution received at Department of State, June 16, 1866.] JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as part of the Constitution, namely:

ARTICLE XIV.

SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

SEC. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians

not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. SEC. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each house remove such disability.

SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

SEC. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

SCHUYLER COLFAX,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
LA FAYETTE S. FOSTER,
President of the Senate pro tempore.

Attest:

EDWARD MCPHERSON,

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

J. W. FORNEY,

Secretary of the Senate.

[To which is appended the certificate of J. W. Forney, Secretary of the Senate, dated April 2, 1868, that the foregoing are true extracts from the records of the Senate.]

CHARLES A. TINKER'S examination resumed.

By Mr. Manager BUTLER:

Question. You told us yesterday you were manager of the Western Union telegraph office. Have you from that office what purports to be a copy of a speech which was telegraphed to the country or any portion of the country, as made by Andrew Johnson on the 18th of August, 1866? if so, produce it.

Mr. DRAKE. I will state that we have not heard the question put by the honorable manager.

The CHIEF JUSTICE. The manager will be good enough to repeat the question. Mr. Manager BUTLER. It is whether, being agent of the Western Union Telegraph Company, you have what purports to be a copy of a speech which was telegraphed over that line, made by Andrew Johnson on the 18th day of August, 1866; if so, produce it.

Answer. I have the files of the Associated Press despatches sent on that day, containing what purports to be a copy of the speech delivered by the President. [Producing a roll of manuscript]

Q. From the course of business of the office are you enabled to state whether this was sent ?

A. It has the "sent" marks put upon all despatches sent over the line.

Q. And this is the original manuscript?

A. That is the original manuscript telegraphed.

Q. By what association was this speech telegraphed ?

A. By the Associated Press, by their agent in the city of Washington.

Mr. CURTIS. We must object to this, General BUTLER. He says it has a mark on it. He does not say he put the mark on it, or that he knows that anything was done, thus far.

Mr. Manager BUTLER, (to the witness.) Can you tell me, sir, to what extent over the country the telegraphic messages sent by the Associated Press go?

A. I suppose they go to all parts of the country; I cannot state positively. They are telegraphed direct from Washington to New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, there addressed to the agents of the Associated Press, and from New York they are distributed through the country.

Mr. Manager BUTLER, (to the counsel for the respondent.) The witness is yours, gentlemen.

Mr. CURTIS. We will not detain you, Mr. Tinker.

Mr. Manager BUTLER. You can step down for the present, Mr. Tinker; but do not leave.

JAMES B. SHERIDAN Sworn and examined.

By Mr. Manager BUTLER:

Q. Your whole name, Mr. Sheridan?

A. James Bernard Sheridan ?

Q. What is your business?

A. I am a stenographer.

Q. Where employed?

A. At present in New York city.

Q. What was your business on the 18th of August, 1866?

A. I was a stenographer.

Q. State whether you reported a speech of the President on the 18th of August, 1866, in the East Room of the President's Mansion.

A. I did.

Q. Have you the notes taken at the time of that speech?

A. I have; [producing a note-book containing short-hand notes.]

Q. Did you take down that speech correctly as it was given?

A. I did, to the best of my ability.

Q. How long experience have you had as a reporter?

A. Some fourteen years now.

Q. Did you write out that speech at the time?

A. I wrote out a part of it.

Q. Where?

A. At the Presidential Mansion.

Q. Who was present?

A. There were several reporters present-Mr. Clephane, Mr. Smith.

Q. What Clephane? Do you remember his first name?

A. James, I think, is his first name.

Q. What Mr Smith?

A. Francis H., I believe, is his name.

Q. The official reporter of the House?

A. At that time, I believe, he was connected with the House.

Q. Who else?

A. I think Colonel Moore was in the room part of the time; I do not know that he was in all the time.

Q. What Colonel Moore?

A. The President's private secretary, William G.

Q. After it was written out, what, if anything, was done with it?

Mr. CURTIS. He says he wrote a part.

Mr. Manager BUTLER. The part that you wrote out?

A. I do not know. I think Mr. Moore took it. I was very sick at the time, and did not pay much attention to what was going on.

Q. You think Mr. Moore took it?

A. I think either he or Mr. Smith took it, as I wrote out my share of it.

« ПретходнаНастави »