Mr. Stanbery then submitted the following motion:
In the matter of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States.
Henry Stanbery, Benjamin R. Curtis, Jeremiah S. Black, William M.
Evarts, and Thomas A.R. Nelson, of counsel for the respondent, move the
court for the allowance of forty days for the preparation of the answer
to the articles of impeachment, and in support of the motion make the
following professional statement:
The articles are eleven in number, involving many questions of law
and fact. We have during the limited time and opportunity afforded us
considered as far as possible the field of investigation which must be
explored in the preparation of the answer, and the conclusion at which
we have arrived is that with the utmost diligence the time we have asked
is reasonable and necessary.
The precedents as to time for answer upon impeachments before the Senate
to which we have had opportunity to refer are those of Judge Chase and
Judge Peck.
In the case of Judge Chase time was allowed from the 3d of January until
the 4th of February next succeeding to put in his answer--a period of
thirty-two days; but in this case there were only eight articles, and
Judge Chase had been for a year cognizant of most of the articles, and
had been himself engaged in preparing to meet them.
In the case of Judge Peck there was but a single article. Judge Peck
asked for time from the 10th to the 25th of May to put in his answer,
and it was granted. It appears that Judge Peck had been long cognizant
of the ground laid for his impeachment, and had been present before the
committee of the House upon the examination of the witnesses, and had
been permitted by the House of Representatives to present to that body
an elaborate answer to the charges.
It is apparent that the President is fairly entitled to more time than
was allowed in either of the foregoing cases. It is proper to add that
the respondents in these cases were lawyers, fully capable of preparing
their own answers, and that no pressing official duties interfered with
their attention to that business; whereas the President, not being a
lawyer, must rely on his counsel. The charges involve his acts,
declarations, and intentions, as to all which his counsel must be fully
advised upon consultation with him, step by step, in the preparation of
his defense. It is seldom that a case requires such constant
communication between client and counsel as this, and yet such
communication can only be had at such intervals as are allowed to the
President from the usual hours that must be devoted to his high official
duties.
We further beg leave to suggest for the consideration of this honorable
court that, as counsel careful as well of their own reputation as of
the interests of their client in a case of such magnitude as this, so
out of the ordinary range of professional experience, where so much
responsibility is felt, they submit to the candid consideration of the
court that they have a right to ask for themselves such opportunity to
discharge their duty as seems to them to be absolutely necessary.
HENRY STANBERY,
B.R. CURTIS,
JEREMIAH S. BLACK, \__ Per H.S.
WILLIAM M. EVARTS, /
THOMAS A.R. NELSON,
_Of Counsel for the Respondent_.
The above motion was denied, and the Senate adopted the following orders:
_Ordered_, That the respondent file answer to the articles of
impeachment on or before Monday, the 23d day of March instant.
_Ordered_, That unless otherwise ordered by the Senate, for cause shown,
the trial of the pending impeachment shall proceed immediately after
replication shall be filed.