This article was adopted, and also another which charged that the President had declared and affirmed, in substance, that the thirty-ninth Congress of the United States was not a Congress authorized to exercise legislative power, but, on the contrary, was a Congress of only part of the States. Chief Justice Chase was appointed President of the Senate as the Court for the trial, and on the 18th of March President Johnson appeared and delivered in a statement by his counsel, who were Messrs. Stanbery, Curtis, Black, Evarts, and Nelson, demanding more time to answer the charges. This was refused, and on the 23rd of March the President put in his answer, which was a very long document denying seriatim that he was guilty of the several charges brought against him. Next day the managers presented their replication, and on the 30th of March the case for the impeachment was opened by Mr. Butler. We do not purpose to go through the details of the trial, which lasted until the 16th of May. Many witnesses were examined, and some very able speeches were delivered on both sides, but conspicuous amongst them all was that of Mr. Evarts (who became Attorney-General of the United States) for the defence. The result was that a vote was first taken on the 16th of May, on the question of the 11th article of the impeachment, when thirty-five of the Senators voted for a conviction, and nineteen for an acquittal. This was, in effect, an acquittal by the Senate, as it was necessary that two-thirds should vote for a conviction to sustain a verdict of guilty. The Senate then adjourned "as a Court of Impeachment" until the 26th of May, when the votes were taken on the other charges, and the President was acquitted upon all of them.

The following was the manifesto or "platform" adopted by the Republican party at a Convention held at Chicago on the 20th of May:

"1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the reconstruction projects of Congress, as evinced by the adoption in a majority of the States lately in rebellion of constitutions securing equal civil and political rights to all, and regard it as the duty of the Government to sustain these institutions, and to prevent the people of such States from being remitted to a state of anarchy.

"2. The guarantee of Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the South was demanded by every consideration of public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained, while the question of suffrage in all the loyal States properly belongs to the people of these States.

"3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime, and national honour requires the payment of the public indebtedness in the utmost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only according to the letter but the spirit of the laws under which it was contracted.

"4. It is due to the labour of the nation that taxation should be equalized and reduced as rapidly as possible as the national faith will permit.

"5. The national debt, contracted, as it has been, for the preservation of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair period for redemption, and it is the duty of Congress to reduce the rate of interest thereon whenever it can honestly be done. "6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is to so improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower rates of interest than we now pay and continue to pay so long as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened or suspected.

"7. The Government of the United States should be administered with the strictest economy, and the corruptions which have been so shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson calls loudly for radical reform.

"8. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession of Andrew Johnson to the presidency, who has acted treacherously to the people who elected him and the cause he was pledged to support; has usurped the legislative and judicial functions; has refused to execute the laws; has used his high office to induce other officers to ignore and violate the laws; has employed the executive power to render insecure the prosperity, peace, and liberty of life of the citizens; has abused the pardoning power; has denounced the national Legislature as unconstitutional; has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every measure in his power, every proper attempt at the reconstruction of the States lately in rebellion, has perverted the public patronage into an engine of wholesale corruption, and has been justly impeached for high crimes and misdemeanours, and properly pronounced guilty by the votes of thirty-five senators. "9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European Powers, that because a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted at every hazard by the United States as a relic of the feudal times, not authorized by the law of nations and at war with our national honour and independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to be protected in all their rights of citizenship as though they were native born, and no citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign Power for acts done or words spoken in this country; and if so arrested and imprisoned, it is the duty of the Government to interfere in his behalf.

"10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war there were none entitled to more especial honour than the brave soldiers and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and imperilled their lives in the service of the country. The bounties and pensions provided by law for these brave defenders of the nation are obligations never to be forgotten. The widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the people-a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's protecting care.

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11. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth and development of the resources and the

increase of power to this nation-'the asylum of the oppressed of all nations' should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.

"12. This Convention declares its sympathy with all the oppressed people who are struggling for their rights."

In the month of June the President transmitted to the Senate for their approval his nomination of Mr. Reverdy Johnson, a Senator, as Minister to England in the place of Mr. Adams, who had resigned. The Senate, as a mark of respect to Mr. Johnson, dispensed with the usual formality of a reference to a Committee, and confirmed the appointment without any opposition.

A Bill for re-admitting Arkansas into the Union with a proviso as a condition that the State of Arkansas shall never deprive any citizen or class of citizens of the right to vote who are now entitled to vote by the new State Constitution, except as a punishment for crime, having been passed by Congress, was vetoed by the Presi.dent. In his message explaining his reasons, he said that an approval of this Bilk by him would be an admission on the part of the Executive that the various Reconstruction Bills were proper and constitutional. His opinion, however, in reference to those measures had undergone no change, but, on the contrary, had been strengthened by the results which had attended their execution. Even were this the case he could not consent to a Bill based upon the assumption either that by an act of rebellion of a portion of the people the State of Arkansas seceded from the Union, or that Congress might, at its pleasure, expel or exclude a State from the Union, or interrupt the Government by arbitrarily depriving it of representation in the Senate and House of Representatives. After reciting the provisions of the Federal Constitution in regard to the representation of the States in Congress, Mr. Johnson, following that authority, declared that all that was necessary to restore Arkansas in all its constitutional relations to the Government was a decision by each House upon the eligibility of those who, presenting their credentials, claimed seats in the respective Houses of Congress. He went on to protest against the authority assumed by Congress to regulate the franchise in Arkansas, by imposing as a fundamental condition to the representation of that State that the basis of suffrage therein should never be changed from that laid down in the new State Constitution, saying that the question of suffrage was reserved by the Federal Constitution to the States themselves. He did not forget to call attention to the fact that in imposing this condition the Bill failed to provide in what manner its acceptance should be signified, and that the Bill did not prescribe the penalty to follow a violation thereof, but left the people of Arkansas in uncertainty as to the consequences of such action. He noticed the circumstances under which the new Constitution was claimed to be adopted in Arkansas; the offensive test oath prescribed by the new Constitution to the voters, and which practically disfranchised large numbers who could have

voted under the Reconstruction Acts of Congress; and the small and doubtful majority claimed for the Constitution itself. He concluded by asking what was to be the consequence if Arkansas should hereafter modify her Constitution so as to conform it to those of a large proportion of the Northern and Western States. "Is it intended that a denial of representation shall follow, and if so, is there not reason to dread at some future day a recurrence of the troubles which have so long agitated the country? Would it not be the part of wisdom for Congress to take for a guide the Federal Constitution, rather than resort to measures which, looking only to the present, may in a few years renew, in an aggravated form, the strife and bitterness caused by legislation which has proved so ill-timed and unfortunate ?"

The Bill, however, was passed against the veto by the requisite majorities of two-thirds in both Houses, and became law.

Another Bill, called "The Omnibus Bill," for re-admitting into the Union the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, and Alabama was also passed about the same time. The omission of Alabama from the Bill had been urged by several Republican members on the ground that the Constitution there under the Reconstruction laws had not been ratified by a majority of registered voters; but the objection was not allowed to prevail. The Bill was of course vetoed by the President, and of course passed afterwards in spite of it by the requisite majorities'.

1 The estimated balance-sheet for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, was as follows:

From this it appears that there will be a deficit of $160,439,262. By an Act of Congress passed in April, 1866, any increase of the Public Debt was prohibited beyond $2,827,000,000, which was its amount at that time.

CHAPTER VI.

UNITED STATES (continued).

Proclamation by the President granting an Amnesty-Manifesto of the Democratic Party-Bill to prevent Southern States not reorganized under the Reconstruction Laws from voting in the Electoral Colleges-Message from the President as to Election of Senators-Report of a Committee of the House of Representatives on the question of taxing Interest on Public Bonds-Negroes declared by the Legislature of Georgia disqualified to sit as Members-Recognition of the new Spanish Government-Contest for the Presidency-General Grant and Mr. Horatio SeymourTone of the Press in the United States-General Grant elected President-Opening of new Session of Congress-Message of the President-Topics :-1. Reconstruction Question-2. Tenure of Office Bill -3. Finances-4. Public Debt-5. Currency6. Public Lands-7. Indians-8. War Department-9. Navy-10. Foreign Relations-11. Amendments to the Constitution recommended-Resolution by House of Representatives as to Public Debt.

In the beginning of July the President issued a proclamation granting a free pardon to all who participated in the rebellion except those who, at the time of publishing the proclamation, had indictments found against them for treason-felony.

The Democratic party met in convention in New York in July, and issued the following as their "platform:

"The Democratic party, in National Convention assembled, reposing its trust in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of the people, standing upon the Constitution as the foundation and limitation of the powers of the Government, and the guarantee of the liberties of the citizens, and recognizing the questions of slavery and secession as having been settled for all time to come by the war or the voluntary action of the Southern States in Constitutional Conventions assembled, and never to be renewed or reagitated, do with the return of peace demand,—

"1. Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights in the Union under the Constitution, and of civil government to the American people.

"2. Amnesty for all past political offences, and the regulation of the elective franchise in the States by their citizens.

"3. Payment of the Public Debt of the United States as rapidly as practicable, all moneys drawn from the people by taxation, except so much as is requisite for the necessities of the Government economically administered, being honestly applied to such payment, and where the obligations of the Government do not expressly state upon their face, or the law under which they were issued does not provide, that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right and in justice, to be paid in the lawful money of the United States.

"4. Equal taxation of every species of property according to its real value, including bonds and other public securities.

"5. One currency for the Government and the people, the

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