The Montrose Democrat. (Montrose, Pa.) 1849-1876, March 03, 1868, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    . ;'...\ „.
. .
.... .
,
. „.., .
..,
... .
...... . . [t ...
, ~..... t:., ..,......
..,
..-, Vr, i•v' .f.
„ ..., - ,,,:k . • „ . 711 :. :: : :: : :„ Z 7'-- "1 .. ,
.-.:....
M
, •. i..‘' . :i-,..-1 - : •..
~ f. c..."., , -....-
...
.. k , !..: ~. 't.,,.....
. -
, :/,, • .
..i._ ti ::. , .
~.
-, • "..,‘ 3 '' i' .:-, ', ..., ; s • .
,
~.., ,s .' "; ,_,..
. , .
7
, -,
... s ,
".., .
''.- .
. , ,
4.. J. GERRITSON, Proprietor.}
Coismon Schools. of SuSqehanna Co.
Annual Report. of W. W. Watson,
(Jaunty Superintendent%
.6'ducationat Progreat—Some progress
has been made the past year. We have
st least learned the educational condition
of the eppntbyhich isimportant to know
before entering upon a safe progressive
in eV enien
There are seventeen graded schools, or
seventeen departments in such schools.
There are, in fact, but four schools gTa
ded; 'and part of -these imperfectly. An
effOrt has been made by the teachers and
mysellto get. up-,a course, of- study for-
L lia graded- school 6,, that it aillititig - nein
upon a more permanent graded system.
So far the effort has 'Met with good suc
cess. The schools at-Susquehanna Depot
and Greattend have been graded upon
the plan !proposed: The one di. Susque
hanna Depot had not before been graded,
the buildings are poor and disconnected;
some opposition arose on the part of the
citizens, but, notwithstanding this, the
grades were well sustained and the
schools made fine .progress. Much credit.
is due to directors and teachers of Sus
quehanna Depot. The one at, Great
Bend was doing well before adopting the
grades, and has done better since. The
building is too small for the increased
number of pupils, but with the enterprise
cf the place, we expect a. better one the
present year.
The remaining two, one at New Mil
ford.,and the other at Montrose, have long
been graded - and succeeded well. With
proper effort,,.itla befieved,..five ,well ;reg
ulated- and flourishingggraded-schOols can
be reported next year.
There. are 261 school houses in the
ematy, or that number is reported as
such. About 94 do not form part of the
school properil.' - lark ' share of those,
unatir the had 0f.. , unfit:7l4i , tiet," • were
lila by private enterprise. The greater
} art of those built by directors are fine
buildings, though some are far behind the .
age, a disgrace to the distriCts in which
they are located, and a waste of the pub
ic moneys. Some boards of directors
hive made decided improvement, both in
thci external and .interhid arrangement of
their building-- others bave retrograded.
efitufort,health and happiness of their pit;
i's, as fell as the mere fact that "they
can go to school." Very few buildings
h:tve sufficient play grounds. We repoit
''9, and only seven suitably impruxed.
Jackson district has done more than any
other towards improving and beautifying
the grounds—much - remailfs to be done
th
Seventeen houses were built during the
year, and with three or four exceptionti,
they are well constructed and good buil.
dings. Fif:y nine have suitable, and 142
injurious furniture.' Twenty two were
ititplied during the year, five with suitn
ble, and seventeen with unsuitable furni•
ture.
.A wide difference of opinion exists in
regard to the furniture necessary for a
school room; some think two good chairs,
a table - and recitation benches encumbran
eels; and should never find their way into
the school house. Such bring strong ob
jections to furnishing school houses, and
urge that the pupils will destroy the fur
niture, and it will not do to indulge the
teacher too much; that he will become
negligent, if allowed to sit part of the
tine. Others_ view this matter from a
higher standpoint, and believe that suita
ble furniiiire sheMla - be in - every school
room; that the better the quality the bet
ter it !preserved, and that'. g ood
physical health and comfort are necessary
LO mental growth....-- -
One hundred and sixty seven buildings
have no out houses. If such a shameful
neglect be not remedied, we shall deem it
a duty to make speciAmention'of the dis
tricts neglecting such - -necessary apporte
nanoes.l,Fifty:four rooms are:rrpocted
well .P.Optilled-lititil th'43
might.be better.. Some improvement was
madediirini the year;
,one hundred and
eleven AVete'partially supplied ; opehrta
dred and - four With globes, twenty .. 'two
with elocutionarY and six with 'primary
charts. Too few hat* a block and bell
—necessary articles; 'Bitter opposition
exists againstpurchasing apparatus - . Much
of it arises from the. fact, that , many of
the teachers have not made proper use of
it, lining foi-an eicus'e a wantof time or
a lack of . understanding it themselves.
We are in hopes this difficulty may tie re
movediait we may have more instead of
less.
Both the qualification sad . ; salary of
teachers are too low. In some cases the
wages'areto6 high, but our besto'ieaelfere
should receive better pay Greater-in
ducements should .be offe.red for tezchers
to qualify themselies, and remain longer
iv the profession. , We must have an long er
sn thil "Upon
. this de
peas the future success of --Astir schools,
ingre.tivn upon all other .ageociesyfor all
Others are.but auxiliary. to tiie oni3 great
necessity—,-better qualified teaehers.!
l'reviolts.to the examination fall,
the "qualification for provisional certifi
cates," as given by the School Depart
meat, wept publishua in the-. county pa
pers. It.tiad' the desired effectteach i ers,
*of7
sa, iimakle bette r qualifi4;
were opened in different parte of the
county by our best teachers, and attended
prinetpally by thoie wishing to leach the
following term. Although upwards of
four hundred teachers were licensed,
there was diflieultj in filling the schools.
Some had gone to other sections for bet
ter Wages; otheis remained at home, in
preference to teaching in a poor building,
at tw.o dollars a week and bbard 'around.
Sin some improvement was made; the sal
aries were graded somewhat with the
grade of certificate. Some districts are
paying 25 per cent. more than formerly,
furnishing better houses and having bet
ter schools. On the contrary, two or
thtee districts reduced the, wages, and as
a consequence, lost their old and ,experi
enced teachers, and have poor schools.
The whole nuniber of teachers, employ
ed was four hundred and forty four—sev.
enty 'five males and three hundred and
sixty nine femaleS; seventy eight were
employed who never taught—sixty nine
less than one and sixty one more than five
years; twenty two have totally failed—
some for the want of support on the part
of directors. and patrons, others for the
want of ability in themselves. Experi
enced teachers are needed. To teach is a
lesson that cannot be learned in a day,
nor a year. Three things are necessary,
age, education and experience.
The methods of instruction are various.
The practice of teaching, as marked at
time of visitation, varies from 5 (very
poor) to x, (not quite, very good.) On
ly one hundred and forty eight schools
were found well classified, but the fault
was not always the teachers. In many
cases the books are not uniform, making
it impossible to properly classify. We
found those who paid no attention to clas
sifleation or system, and used the " old
method," or no method at all. The oral
system of instruction is extensively used
by our best teachers, and with good suc
cess, especially in the primary schools.
More improvement has been made by our
1v , wo-king to ,hers, =in the theory
and practice of teaching, than in any oth
er partieular. This is a step in the right
In one hundred, and forty one schools
the Bible is read as a part of the morning
exercises. Some - tithes the teacher reads
a chapter, which is followed by prayer,
aliernati•iy. now Inirortatit — it•W tn.sT,
while the intellectual part is cultivated,
the moral is not forgotten.
Sc'ion's have been visited, more or less
by the directors, in nearly every district.
In some cases, the secretary visited the
schools regularly every month. Such a
plan is always attended with good result.
Twenty five teachers attend or have at
tended Normal schools. We need more
such. It. is an admitted fact, that teach
ers should not only be educated in the
branches to be taught, but also in the the
ory and practice of teaching.
There seems to be a revival of interest
in education, especial} , among the teach
ers who are anxious to qualify themselves
better for the important and responsible
duties before them. May they receive
proper encouragement.
EDUCATIONAL WORK DONE BY SUPERIN•
TENDLNT
Upo n entering upon the duties of the
ofnce it was found there was too much
be o e us to be accomplished in one year.
A stranger to many of the teachers and
directors, but with an earnest desire for
the improvement of our schools, the task
was begun: If so much was not accom
plished as was hoped fur, it may be at
tributed to other causes than a lack of
desire and anxiety on my part. Nearly
every day was spent in facial duty, 4,s
reference to the monthly : reports will
show.
Fifty one public examinations were
held. Tile ,number or applicants examin
ed;four liundred and forty five. The
climber rejected, eighty nine, Many were
without experience. One hundre and
fifty five directors, and a large number of
citizens, ..141e present. ,Three hundred
and fifty sll5 applicants received provis
ional certificates, with an average grade
of 2 5 04. ..No professional, certificates
Were granted. Others were licensed, by
request of 4irectors, who bad been.exam
ined and certificates withheld, and a few
were endorsed front. Bradford county,
making the whole number licensed over
four hundred,aside from upwards offifty
granted by-my predeestors in the spring
of UM. . _
The annnal:series of examinations corn- I
menced OCtober 18, and continued until
November 20, holding 6 a week, and one
for each school district.. During ,tho win
ter visitation it was found, necessary (in
order to save the, tate appropriation) to
hold examinations nearly ,every Saturday
to license such teachers, as,bad been em
ployd, who bad not certificates. We
have assurance that, such, a violation, op
the pert o the directors' will not occur
P The method was used in all the
:hfayrelies i; eidept oribograplik, written
arithineti r e and false - syntax; The exami
nations were elementary in their charnel
ten'almtiiae prideliiles • were iihol tr.dis
carded; rob pqT.zling
,queetiOns,
w ere'agced; The , nimr'ivas to ascertain '
the ability of the apftlicancto teach what
is to be taught, and, at the same time ay/a
lien's 'lively interest in the undies pursued '
r in the' public schools. This'icoutse bad a
MONiROSE; PA:,'TUEST Y, MARCH 3, 18 68.
good effect, for Many. who Wad tenghyd
number of terms found themselves poorly
qualified in the most important part'of
teacher's education, and at. once went to z
work to post, thernselyes. It aid not stop,
here; the ideas were carried. into the
school room, and pupils were 'het:tatted,
.The-whole number , of - schools' visited'
was two hundred and forty fiveovith• an
average ,time of 2 7-74 hours spent/in each.
A number of schools were visited twice,,
some three and others four iimeshence,
the whole number of visits- m04011611'
equal the Pearlier of schools. 17
The first work of . tire, superintendent:
was visitation, as the schools were nearly
all in operatiob, and the whole time
spent at this until they closed in August.
Notwithstanding the busy season of the
year, very many of the visits were accom
panied by one or more directors. '
A Normal department was formed in,
the graded school in Nem Milford, and a -
Teachers' class in the Montrose graded
schq,ol. My time was wholly spent in the
above schools, until the opening of the
annual examinations in October. A good
ly number, of teachers were in attendance.
Instruction was given in the theory and
practice of teaching, and class drills in the
several branches to be taught.
When the schools opened again in No
vember, visitations were renewed. After
about a month% work it was found im
possible for one to visit all the schools, and
at the same time do justice. I, therefore,
employed an assistant, Mr. J. M. Craw
ford, a successful teacher and earnest
worker in the cause of education. He
worked with me one month, during which
time about 90 schools were examined.
Twenty six schools were not visited, in
consequence of their being closed at the
time of visiting in the sections iu which
they are located.
It is but a small part simply to call up
on each school and note the necessary,
statistics to be taken; if that were all, it ,
would be a dry task indeed.- The schools'
should be thoroughly examined; the teach
er's method of instruction, discipTine and
the progress ofthe pupils ascertained. The
superintendent should examine classes,
give different, methods of teaching by ac
tual practice; point out errors and give
credit where it is due. One,hundred and
114 — 4LJTIC , "ITU ctil Cur mums - ..••+ • uvoritly
citizens met in the schools, and Upwards
of one thousand classes examined.
There is 'but one regularly- organized
district institute in the county, and no
county institute. As there was no coun
ty organization in existence, it was
thought best, to defer it for a time. A
county institute will be organized, agreea
bly to the supplement of the school law
early, in the present school year.
The want of a county institnte was
made up in part, at least, by holding a .
number of educational meetings in dif
ferent parts of the county. Some earnest
work was done by the teachers.
EDUCATIONAL WORK DONE BY OTUER
AGENCIES
This county needs more help from oth
er edutational agencies. Too little is
done through the pulpit and press. Both
are in sympathy with the common schools
but there k Black of real earnestness.
Good directors are indispensable to the
success of the Pennsylvania school sys
tem. Many of them have a heart io the
work, nothing but clogs in the wheel of
progress, and should never be directors.
The latter are few—we believe growing
less. There is but one district superin
tendent. He is beneficial; and when that
office shall be titled with qualified leachers,
it, may be of material' aid. It, would be as
consistent.to Make a master mason of a
blacksmith, r'a Man to; superintend'
teachers, who is not a teacher hiinself.
There are no academies, smith - miles or
colleges in the county. The Normal
school, at Mansfield, has done us but.lit
tle good yet. A few teachers have atten
ded that school, and we hope more will do
soin the future. More educated teach ,
era are needed—educated for the work of
leaching. We report thirty two private
schools. They are helps, but temporary
and uncertain. A County Normal school
is needed—one that will accommodate the
great body of teachers.
OBSTACLES IN TOE WAY OP IMPEOVEBIENT.
The obstacles in the way of improve
ment may be included node!, t_he follow
ing:
I. Unequal taxation.
2. The division of the schools into sum
mer and winter terms.
3. The gratuitous labor of directors,
and, as a consequence, .a lack of responsi.:
bility.
4. A lack of a uniformity in text books.
5. Poor school houses. • • • . • •
0. Low wages paid to te.ac,bers, and, as
a consequence, poor qualifications.
1 7; A want of 'appreciation the part
of the people; - •
Cpnclusion-41 we had -„a school fuqd ,
suffivieut, to support:4)pr schools, and do
away w 3h the preseq.uncqßal
all opposition to and CbsfaCles to Ihe.way .
of improvement . would'ititiii Iris
! not just that did - citizitisaa 'one histria
should - pay thirteen wills ca the .dollar,
1 and. receive bat four ,mouths' schooling;
while those ofanother . pay but tour mills
on the dollar, and receive seven mouths'
schooling. •Snoh is the case; and we
woild earnestly recommend legiklatimi
upon this subject. A certain rate-of tax
'aLlo'n should be made uniform throughout
the'Stafe; and a fund raised sufficient to
keep the schools open at least eight
months in the year.
Most of the schools are divided into
summer and winter terms—the summer
term opening the last of May or the first,
of ,Juue, and continuing through the
months of July and August. The schools
dwindle down to ksmall number of small
pupils, making a waste of time and. mon
ey.ft, is believed it would be better were
our schols closed during this time, and
open- in the fall.
Too many of the duties of directors are
left optional—they should be compulsory.
Directors should be paid like any other
officer, and held responsible . for every du
ty devolving open them.
In most of the districts, teachers "board
around." This may have been good in
the primitive stage of society, but it
should now be, done away. Teachers
should not be obliged to visit and live on
charity. Time out of school should be
sfreatiin preparing for the next, day's du
ty- -
Invme cases teachers are employed by
the directors; in others by a committee
appointed by the neighborhood, and fuel
is furnished; and the schools generally
looked after "by,the patrons or nobody; in
others all thelork is done by the direc
tors. The results are strikingly different.
There is a want lif4ystem. The time has
come when the matters pertaining to our
public schools should: be as thoroughly
done as that of any other branch of busi
ness..
One hundred and thirty. two schools
have a uniformity of books, kaNing ,one
hundred and thirty nine, in "which the
books are not uniform—a serious obstacle
in the way of improvement. It does but
little good for the directors to adopt - a
uniformity of books, unless they be actu
ally made uniform in the schools.
Many of the houses are poor, totally un
fit tor use, without apparatus or furni
ture. Schools kept in such buildings
must remain in the back ground, until
they are abandoned, and better ones put
in their place.
We cannot say that opposition to the
Pennsylvania school system is dead, but
etently ' prosperous. There are three
classes who oppose free schools :I. Those
who educated their children before the
present, system. 2. Those who are inde
pendent of free schools, and would rather
see the poor in ignorance, than receive an
equal opportunity with themselves. 3.
Those who are uneducated and ignorant
of their interests. Such are to be pitied
rather than censured.
I trust I shalrbe pardoned for speaking
thus plainly. I have felt it a duty, early
in my term of office, to point out the facts
as they are. We must know where we
are, before improvement can be expected.
I would not leave the impression that the
majority of the people are opposed to the
school system. It has its living, earnest
supporters, such as would be an honor to
any cause.
The people of this great State will not
forget that popular education and free in
stitutions are twin sisters, and that upon
the inccess of one depends the other. If
we neglect the education of the people,
America. will be deprived•ef half her glo
ry.
With thanks for the kindness and sup
port of directors, teachers, and people
generally, we will commence another
year, with earnest hope that more good
will be accomplished.
An Incident of the Dickens Readings.
Au incident, worth mentioningoccurred
in Carroll Hall on the second night of the
Dickens readings. Ben. Butler entered
after the performance bad commenced,
and walked down the centre able while
Dickens was describing one of the most
interesting scenes in his selections from
David Copperfield. Perhaps Benjamin
was unavoidably detained, or perhaps he
wished to make his appearance at the
time when he could attract that amount
of attention which be thinks is due to his
eminent abilities and great public servi
ces. There are those who adopt this as
one of the ways of keeping before the
people, some of them men of marked zeal
in religious affairs, who never enter the
church till the congregation is well seat
ed, and then walk straight to the front
pew. If General Butler hadn't his mind's
eye on this idea" on the occasion referred
to, his motives were i rni4underatood i that!a•
all. rs •
Well, the hero of nertetida 'walked
down the aisle the observed of all obser
versi)and. took hie • seat in : a very select
and advantageous part of the hail.. The
fi ve t t select,ipn_was soon concluded, and
Mr. Dickens retired - as is his, wont for
ten riiinnietiOrest anti' refreshment. The
rustle , hadThnstle cdosequent upon a re
laxation:: attentiotirolfowed. There ,
were ; hi4p.r;iogs among the, Rider - folk),
and flirtings. among ,the rungpr, ialhe
midst - otwhlo:Ul3 .rps 9 l3q,ler
_from his
seat,~Clther', to' 'pbserVO • be ' obsi3tved i
hard tolt - ell Which, though I incline Lathe
latter: belief.-i• There was 'no mistaking
that bald bead s o' than strabismic eye. It
was Perdu:nip F. Butler, and -nobody
else.
The intermission, like all thing on this
earth, had its end, Dickens reappeared
and the readings were resumed. This
time it was a selection from Pickwick—
the famous Bob Sawyer party scene. It
was very funny, as we all know, and the
laughing was, at times, immoderate.
There was a point, however, at which the
laugh became very much like a vulgar
roar, and wasn't the funniest part of the
reading by any. means. Mr. Dickens felt a
little confused, I thought, for a man of his
nice perceptionr• knows exactly where the
fun comes in, and we all know there is
such a thing possible as a laugh at the ex
pense of an actor which is always more
vivid than that provoked by the play.
Dickens evidently thought he had blun
dered. But he hadn't. He /ad simply
read the following colloquy between Hop
king and Noddy—and the audience had
just seen Butler, and every one knew he
was present.
" I request that you'll favor me with
your card sir."
" I'll do nothing of the kind, sir."
"Why not, sir ?"
" Because you'll stick it np over your
chimney piece, and delude your visitors
into the false belief that a gentleman has
been to see you, sir."
" Sir, a friend'of mine shall wait on you
in the morning."
"Sir, I am very much obliged to you
for the caution; and I'll leave particular
directions with the servant to lock up the
spoons."
The laugh, Mr. Dickens, which so ex
ceeded all bounds as to perplex you, was
due solely to a connection in the popular
mind between General Butler and spoons!
"Mack," Wash. Cor. Ciro. Com.
Special Elusage of the Fiestdent to
the Senate.
To the Senate of the United State,
1 have recieved a copy of the resolution
adopte&by the Senate on the 21st just as
follows:
"Whereax, the Senate has received and
considered the communications of the
President, stating that he , had removed
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, and.
had designated th e Adjutant-General of
the Army to act as Secretar of. War ad
Stales, That er -7 :ihe nattatioffilid
laws of the United States, - the President
has no power to remove , the Secretary of
War, and designate any other officer to
perform the duties of that office ad interim."
This resolution is confined to the power
of the President to remove the Seoritary
of War, and to designate another officer to
perform the duties of the office ad interim,
and by its preambles is made expressly ap
plicable to the removal of Mr. Stanton, and
the designation to act adinterim of the Ad
jutant-General of the army. Without,
therefore, attempting to discuss the gen
eral power of removal as to all officers, up
on which subject, no expression of opinion
is contained in the resolution. I shall con
fine myself to the question as thus limited :
The power to remove the Secretary of
War. It is declared in the resolution.
" That, under the Constitution and laws
of the United States, the President has no
power to remove the Secretary of War
,and designate any other officer to perform
the duties of that office ad interim.,
As to the question of power under the
Constitution, I do not propose at present
to enter upon its discussion. The uniform
practice-from the begining of the govern
ment, as established by every President
who hasexercised the office, and the dec
isions of the Supreme Court, of the United
States, have settled the question in favor
of the power of the President to remove
all officers, excepting a class holding ap
pointments of a judicial character. No
practice nor any decision has ever except
ed a Secretary of War from that general
power of the President to make removals
from office.
It is only necessary then that I should
refer to the power of the Executive, under
the laws of the United States, to remove
from °flies. a Secretary of War. The res
olution denies that under these laws this
power has any existence, in other words,
it a ffi rms that no such authority isTecog.
nized or given by the statutes of the coun
try. What then are the laws of the
United States which deny the" President
the power to remove that officer? , I know
but two laws that bear upon this question.
The first, in order of time, is the act of
Angust 7, 1789,*creating the Department
of War, which,' after providing for a Sec
retary as its-rincipaPofficer, proceeds as
follows
"SEC. 2. And be, i 4 ittriker encteted i That
there shall be in the said department, an
inferior offi,cer, to be appointed, by the
said ptincipal officer, to be employed
therein as he shall deem proper, and to be,
called the Chief Clerk in the Department
of War„and who, whenever the said prin.
'cipal r offieer shall be removed from °tilde
by I.lo'residetit of the Milted States, or
in any:Other cafkof vaeancyobakduring
such Tab - alley, have the charge •end oust&
dy of alf rpcdrdle and papers Epper
'tain lag tolho sa i d b_cpartment.''
• It ifielear' that 'this' sot, passed by
,Congress; many 'of whose members part,•
cipated in the formation of the Qonstitn•
'don, solar from denying the povirei of the
IVOLUME XXV, NUMBER 1.04
President to remove the Secretary of War t
recognizes it as existing in the Eteentird
alone, without the concurrence of tbe Sen-
ate or of any other department. Ptirth-
ermore, this act does not purport to Con•
fer the power by legislative saLhority, nor
in fact was there any other existing
legislation through which it was bestow
ediupon the Executive.
They recognition of the power by tbi.
act is therefore complete as a recognition
under the Constitution itself, for there
was no other source or authority undet
which it could be derived. The other atit.
which to this question is that regu
latinge tenure of certain civil officers,
passed by Congress on the 2d day of
March, 1867. The first section of that acts
is in the following words:
"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 here
after be appointed to any such office, and
shall become duly qualified to act there-
in, is and shall be entitled to hold such of•
flee until a successor shall have -been in
like manner appointed and duly qualified
except as herein otherwise proVided; pro
vided that the Secretary of State, of the
Treasury, of War, of the Navy, and of the
Interior,
the Postmaster General and At'
torney General, shall bold their offices,
respectively, for and during the term of
the President by whom they may have
been appointed, and for one month there-
after, subject to removal by and with ill*
advice and consent of the Senates"
The fourth section of the same act re.;
strlcts the term of offices to the limits pre•
scribed by the law creating them. That
part of the first section which precedes
the proviso declares that every person
holding a civil office, to which he haiibeeti
or may be appointed by and with the ad.
vice and consent of the Senate, shall hold
such office until a successor shall have been
in like manner appointed.
It, purports to take from!the Executive,
during the fixed time established for the
tenure of the office, the independent pow/
er of removal, and to require for such sea
moval the concurrent action of the Presi
dent and the Senate. The proviso that
follows proceeds to fix the term dam .
of seven heads of dettor~tvavi-----
- eer - respeieuvely — rons
of the President by whomlthey may have
been appointed, and for inie month there•
after, subject to removal by and with tilt
advice and consent of the Senate."
Thus, as to these enumerated officers!,
the proviso takes from , the President the
power of removal except with the advice •
and consent of the Senate. By the termi
however, before he can deprived of this
power to displace them, it mast. appear
that he himself has appointed them. It is ,
only in the case that they have -any ten-,
ure of office, or any independent right to
hold during the term of the President, and
for one month after the term of his offi.'
cial functions. The proviso, therefore,
gives no tenure of office to any one of
these officers who has been appointed by
a former President beyond the month af ,. .
ter the accession of his successor.
In the case of Mr. Stanton, the only ap
,pointment under which he held the office'
of Secretary of War was that conferred
upon him by my immediate predecessor,
with the advice and consent of the Senate.
He has never held from me any appoint.'
went as the bead of the War Depart-.
ment. Whatever right he had to bold •
the office, was derived from that original
appointment, and my own sufferance.
The law was not intended to protect
such an incumbent of the War Depart.
ment by taking from the President the
power to remove him. This, in my judg
ment, is perfectly clear; and the law itself
admits ofuo other just construction. • We
find in all that portion of the first section
which precedes the proviso, that as to civ
ii o ffi cers generally, the resident is de
prived of the power of removal, and it it
plain that if there bad been no proviso
that power would just as clearly have
been taken from him so far as it applies to
the seven heads of departments ; but for
reasons which were no doubt satisfactory
to Congress, these principal officers were
specially provided for, and as to them the
express and only requirement is that the
President, vl has appointed theth shall
not, without the advice and consent of .
the Senate, remove them from office.
The consequence is, that as to my Cab.
inet, embricing the seven officers designa
ted in the first section, the act takes from
me the power, without the concurrence of
the Senate, to remove any one of Omni
that have appointed, but it does not pro
tect such of them as 1. did not . appoint,
nor give to them any tenure of office be
yond my pleasure. An examination of
this Mt, then, shows that rbile in one
part of the section prevfiliOn IS Made for
officers generally, is rinoitiet dense 'there
is a class of officers 'designated
,hy: theft'
_official titles, Who are exeepted:frotti the
geuerhii tertna•of tholaw, and' in referential
to whOitra clear iliatitiction is made sari
the, general 'power of remora) limited in
the first clause of tbe (mitten.
This distinctionis that es to - Web or
these'enumerated officers, as bold, 'under
the appointthent of the PrOdent ! !,liipow 4
er of remittal can.. only be
f: q t leedl l g
blm with the eounent or the " i
rt-r: