ure, an act of legislation will be necessary to confirm
these articles, and that the House of Representatives, as one branch of
the Legislature, are perfectly free to pass the act or to refuse it,
governing themselves by their own judgment whether it is for the good
of their constituents to let the treaty go into effect or not. On
this depends whether the powers of legislation shall be transferred
from the President, Senate, and House of Representatives, to the
President, Senate, and Piamingo, or any other Indian, Algerine, or
other chief."]

CHAPTER XIV.

As the result of the great victory over the President in the political
contest of 1866, and of his stubborn maintenance of a hostile attitude,
the ardent and extreme men of the Republican party began, in the autumn
of that year, to discuss the propriety of ending the whole struggle by
impeaching Mr. Johnson and removing him from office. They believed
that his contumacious and obstinate course constituted a high crime
and misdemeanor, and the idea of Impeachment, as soon as suggested,
took deep root in minds of a certain type. When Congress came together
in December the agitation increased; and on the 7th of January (1867),
directly after the holidays, two Missouri representatives (Loan and
Kelso) attempted in turn to introduce resolutions in the House
proposing an Impeachment, but each was prevented by some parliamentary
obstruction. At a later hour of the same day Mr. James M. Ashley of
Ohio rose to a question of privilege and formally impeached the
President of high crimes and misdemeanors. "I charge him," said Mr.
Ashley, "with an usurpation of power and violation of the law: in
that he has corruptly used the appointing power; in that he has
corruptly used the pardoning power; in that he had corruptly used the
veto power; in that he has corruptly interfered in elections and
committed acts which in contemplation of the Constitution are high
crimes and misdemeanors."

Mr. Ashley's charges were very grave, but they created slight
impression upon the House and did not alarm the country. Every one
present felt that they were gross exaggerations and distortions of
fact, and could not be sustained by legal evidence or indeed by
reputable testimony of any kind. They were however referred in due
form to the Judiciary Committee, with full power to send for persons
and papers, to administer the customary oath to witnesses, and to make
in all respects a thorough i