North Iowa Times

This subject interests everybody. The testimony of Gen. Thomas, was surely funny. Below will be found a short editorial from the N. Y. Sunday Times. We do not now share in the fears expressed in the closing sentence:

It is now maintained, perceived, and very ably as well as ingeniously maintained, that under a just interpretation of the second article of the federal constitution, neither Senator Wade nor Speaker Colfax can legitimately become acting President of the United States when President Johnson shall have been ousted from the White House--ousted because he is not in political accord with the majority in the Capitol. Common sense would suppose that after the dignified, logical, and unanswerable defence of Mr. Curtis, not to mention the utter failure of the impeachment managers to sustain with anything like decent proof their indictment against Johnson for "high crimes and misdemeanors," it would be idle to canvass in this shape the question of his successorship: but it is manifest that the radical party, having so unexpectedly lost Connecticut, even under the banner of General Grant, are only the more impressed with the necessity of securing all the federal patronage for their own use in the coming presidential campaign. Hence they must substitute some political co-laborer in the White House for the present incumbent. The "political necessity" demands it, and as the radical leaders in Congress have not permitted even the Supreme Court to stand in the way of their partisan ambition, we can see no good reason for entertaining the presumption that they will hesitate to insist upon President Johnson's conviction simply because he has been demonstrated to be innocent. We hope we may prove mistaken, but we fear that a sufficient number of United States Senators cannot be found to withstand the menaces of the impeachment managers, cannot be found willing to risk party destruction to maintain their own independence.

That no thoughtful man, after perusing the testimony taken in the trial so far can believe the President guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors," is too apparent to require argument. That he made speeches that were in lamentable taste, is undeniable. That he believed the Tenure of Office Law unconstitutional, and took the only proper means within his reach to bring it to the legal test, is not denied. But, that he conspired in these things to violate the Constitution he had sworn to uphold and defend, is what no sane citizen can ask his common sense to credit as a reality. The trial is a farce, a solemn farce, at best. It is a partisan attempt to get rid of a President of its own choice because he will not carry out its present policy; and the ludicrous notion, at bottom, of all this fierce array of combative legal talent denominated impeachment, is exquisitely illustrated in Gen. Lorenzo Thomas' testimony as published yesterday. Gen. Thomas said:

"Mr. Stanton turned to me and got to talking in a very familiar manner with me. I said, 'The next time you have me arrested please don't do it before I get something to eat.' (Laughter.) I said, I have had nothing to eat or drink to-day. (Continued laughter.) He put his arm round my neck as he used to do in a familiar manner, and ran his hand through my hair, and turned round to General Schriver and said, 'Schriver, have you got a bottle here? bring it out.' (Roars of laughter.) Schriver unlocked his desk and took out a small vial; the Secretary then proposed that we should have a spoonful of whiskey: I said I would take a little: General Schriver poured it out into a tumbler and divided it equally.

"Mr. Stanberry-He shared it evenly?

A. Yes, he took the glasses up this way (indicating) and measured them with his eye. Presently the messenger came in with a full bottle of whiskey, and the cork was drawn and he and I took a drink together."

Now who can read this and for a moment fancy that Mr. Stanton, with his arm round Gen. Thomas' neck, and lovingly calling for a bottle of whiskey that they might "take a drink together," can represent a leading scene in what is said to be such an outrage on the Constitution as to call for the impeachment of the federal executive? Peals of laughter greeted the delivery of this testimony by Gen. Thomas. It exposed the absurdity of the impeachment so plainly that gravity was impossible, and yet, as the Commercial Advertiser's Washington correspondent said of Mr. Curtis' famous address: "It had not the slightest effect on a single Senator. Each one sitting in judgment has already made up his mind how he will vote. The deposition of Johnson and the installation of Wade is but a question of time, and that time is not far distant." That is our reluctant impression exactly.