.
He could not say that the Senate refused to confirm a proper
appointee, for he would make no appointment to them. The Senate
had declared that the reasons assigned for suspending Mr. Stanton
did not make the case required by the tenure of office act, but I
affirm as my conviction that the Senate would have confirmed any
one of a great number of patriotic citizens if nominated to the
Senate. I cannot resist the conclusion, from the evidence before
us, that he was resolved to obtain a vacancy in the department of
war in such a way that he might fill the vacancy by an appointment
without the consent of the Senate, and in violation of the constitution
and the law. This was the purpose of the offer to General Sherman.
This was the purpose of the appointment of General Thomas. If he
had succeeded as he hoped, he could have changed his temporary
appointment at pleasure, and thus have defied the authority of the
Senate and the mandatory provisions of the constitution and the
law. I cannot in any other way account for his refusal to send a
nomination to the Senate until after the appointment of General
Thomas. The removal of Mr. Stanton by a new appointment, confirmed
by the Senate, would have complied with the constitution. The
absolute removal of Mr. Stanton would have created a temporary
vacancy, but the Senate was in session to share in the appointment
of another. An _ad interim_ appointment, without authority of law,
during the session of the Senate, would place the department of
war at his control in defiance fo the Senate and the law, and would
have set an evil example, dangerous to the public safety--one which,
if allowed to pass unchallenged, would place the President above
and beyond the law.

"The claim now made, that it was the sole desire of the President
to test the constitutionality of the tenure of office act, is not
supported by reason or by proof. He might, in August last, or at
any time since, without an _ad interim_ appointment, have tested
this law by a writ of _quo warranto_. He might have done so by an
order of removal, and a refusal of Mr. Stanton's requisitions. He
might have done so by assigning a head of department to the place
made vacant by the order of removal. Such was not his purpose or
expectation. He expected by the appointment of General Sherman at
once to get possession of the war department, so when General Thomas
was appointed there was no suggestion of a suit at law, until