The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-01-09

are recognized As the most solid foundations OF
| the liberties of the nation, the, have never been
considered as interfering with the power of ex-
peilng inembcr, exercised 1T all times bv the
house OF commons power which there how
ever rests only upon parliamentary usage and has
never been bestowed AS In the constitution of the
| United States. by any act of supreme legislation
! from number of precedcnts which have been
consulted, tbs found that the exercise of this a,
| thority there has always been discretionary, and
| It's process always far otherwise compcnClious
thAl III the prosecutions before the judicial courts
So tar indeed have they been from supposing a
| con'icton at law necessary to precede a vote of
| expulsion, that in one instance, resolution to
demand a prosecution, appears immediately af.
| ter the adoption Of the resolution to expel In
| numerous cases the member submits to cxamna-
| ton, adduces evidence in his favor and has evi.
| dence produced against him, with or without for
| NAL authorization and the discretion of the
house is not even restricted by the necessary con-
currencc OF more than bare majority of the
votes.
| The provision in our constitution which forbds
| the expulsion OF member by an ordinary MAORI
~, and requires for this act Of rigorous and pain
| iul duty, the assent OF twQ-thirds, YOUR commit
tee consider wise and sufficient gus I'd against
| the possible abuse of this Legislative discretion
In times OF heat and violent party spirit the gs
OF the minorit, might not always be duly re spec
! ted, TIA bare majority could e1pel their members,
erection. The operation of this rule is of great eff
tcacy, both over the proceedings of the whole
| dodv. and over the conduct of every individual
| member. The times when the most violent strug-
gies OF contending parties occur, when the CON
fict OF opposite passions is most prone to excess
| are precisely the times when the numbers are
| most equally divided; when the majority p
mounts to two-thirds, the security in its own
strength is OF itself guard against extraordinary
Sketches of power, when the minority dwindcs
IN he, ~. ~.
| OF weakness dissuades from any attempts TO en-
| croach upon the rights of the majority, which
| might provoke retaliation. But if expulsion were
| admissible only sequel to the issue Of legal
prosecution, or upon the principles ard
! forms of testimony, which are establish in the
| CRIMINAL courts, your committee no pos
siole reason why 1t should be rendered still more
mheciic, by the requisition of two-tlirds to give
| it effect
| 1t is now the duty of your committee to apply
| the principles which they have here cndeavored
TO settle and clucidate, the particular case OH
| which the Senate have directed them to report
| The bills OF indictment fonnd against Mr.. Smith
ut the late session of the circuit court of the U
| States, at Richmond, COPIES Of which are here
| with subnittcd,) are precisely similar to those
| found against A. Burr. From the volume OF
| printed evidence communicated by the President
OF the - Safes 10 Congress, relating to The trial
| OF Aaron Burr, 1T appears that a great part of
| the testimony which essential 10 his convic-
ton upon the Indictment for treason, was with
held from the Jury, upon opinion OF the court
| that Aaron Burr, not having been present at the
overt act of treason sllcdgcd in the Indictment
no testimony relative to his conduct or declarati-
ons elsewhere, and subsequent 20 the transact
ons on Blenlerlassets island could be admitted
And IN consequence Of this suppression OF evil
dence, the traverse jury found a verdict that
Aaron Burr was not proved to be guilty under thai
Indictment by any evidence submitted TO them" Il
was also an opinion fthc court that none OF the
transactions of which evidence was given oninc
trial OF Aaron Burr did amount TO an overt act OF
ievyng wal, and OF course that they did not -
mount to treason. These decisions forming the
basis OF the issue upon the trials of Burr, altC.
pated the event whick must have awaited Gle
trials OF the bills against Mr.. Smith, who from
| the circumstances of his case, must have been
entitled to the benefit Of their application: they
were the sole inducements upon which the coun-
sci for the u. States, abandoned the prosecution
against him.
Your committee not disposed now TO ques-
ton the correctness OF these decisions on case
OF treason before court of criminal jurisdiction
But whether the transactions proved against Aa-
ron Burr, did or did not amount, in technic al Ian
guage, to overt act oflcvying war, your commit
tee have not scruplc of doubt upon their minds
that but for the vigilance and energy OF the govern
ment, and of faithful citizens under its directions
In arrcsung their progress, and in crushing ms
designs, they would IN very short lapse OF tune,
have terminated not only in war, but in w.r
OF the most horrible description, w ar
once foreign and domestic. AS little hesitation
have your committee III saying, that if the day.
Light of evidence, combining one vast complicat-
ed intention with overt inifumerable, be not
excluded from the mind by the curtain of artf-
cial rules, the simplest understanding cannot but
see what the subtlest understanding cannot dis
guse, crimes before which ordinary treason viii
tens into yirtue-Crmes of which war is the mild
est feature. The debauchmcnt of our army, the
plumber and devastation of our own and foreign
territories, the dissolution OF our national union
and the root ofinterninablc civil war, were but
the means ofindv!dua! aggradizement, the steps
to projected usurPation. If the ingenuity of dc
mon asked, to weave into one composition
ali the greatmoral and political evils, which could
be inflicted upon the people OF these states, ii
could produce nothing more than texture of
war, diStnembcrmcnt, and despotism.
OF these designs, grand jury, composed of
characters respectable as this nation Can boast,
have upon the soicmnity Of their oathS, charged
John smith with beng accompGce. The rea-
sons upon which the trial OF tins charge has not
bceh submitted to the verdict ola jury, have been
shown by your committee, and arc proved by the
letter from tie attorney OF the u States, for the
district Of Virginia, herewith reported. And
your committee are Of opinion, that the derelicti-
on of the prosecution OIL these grounds cannot in
the Sigh test degree remove the imputation which
the accusations of the grand jury have brought to