Gold Hill Daily News

The Senate yesterday, by a vote of thirty-seven to twenty-nine, decided that the resignation of a public officer does not shield him from impeachment for crimes and misdemeanors in office, and that they had jurisdiction in the case of William W. Belknap, late Secretary of War. The vote was not a partisan one by any means, many good Democrats voting against, and many sterling Republicans giving their voice in favor of jurisdiction. The result will be a surprise to the country at large, as it has been considered almost a foregone conclusion that the guilty Secretary would escape. It will be a pleasant surprise, however, and the decision will be approved by Republicans and Democrats alike, as one founded on right and justice, even if it is not technically sound in law. In a court of justice legal quibbles would have intervened and saved Belknap. There is not a Justice in the land who would not have decided that after resignation he could not be impeached. Luckily the Senate is not a court of law, and its conclusion has been dictated by common sense. The evident intention of the Constitution has been carried out, though the letter of the instrument has been ignored.

The importance of this vote is not in its influence upon the fate of Belknap. All that the Senate can do after his conviction is to disqualify him from ever again holding office in the United States. This sentence in the case of Belknap amounts to nothing. His disgrace is so complete that he could never hope for future honors, even if he were shameless enough to desire them. But the precedent now established is an important one. The question of the limits of the power of impeachment is now settled. It is definitely decided that a public officer can be impeached for crimes and misdemeanors, even after he has resigned to escape the penalties. It has taken a good deal of the public time and the public money to reach this conclusion, but the precedent established is worth the price. The vexed question is now laid at rest. The next step should be to so amend the Constitution that this decision may be in accordance with its letter as well as its spirit.