Censors

The Constitution of Pennsylvania, framed in 1776, provided that every seven years the people should choose a Council of Censors, two for each city or county, who should investigate the doings of departments of government, inquire whether the Constitution had been violated, etc. This institution was not continued by the Constitution of 1790. The Vermont Constitution of 1777, modeled on that of Pennsylvania, made similar provision for a Council of Censors, to convene every seven years, and this provision, continued by the Constitutions of 1786 and 1793, was not abrogated until 1870, Censure, Resolutions of. In case of a violation of law by the President, the constitutional proce of punishment is impeachment by the House, conviction by the Senate and removal from office. On March 28, 1834, after a three months’ debate, Congre resolved ‘‘ that the President (Andrew Jackson), in the late executive proceedings in relation to the public revenue, has a umed upon himself authority and pewer not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in derogation of both.” Jackson protested against this as accusing him of perjury. The resolution was expunged in 1837, after a long struggle on the part of Jackson's friends.