The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-03-13


: cessary, lie thought the proceedings of con,
sress tor the last three years fully demon.
: strated.
lie had no doubt, that at the time of giving
, THIS unlimited power to congress, to declare
war, &C. the trainers of the constitution had
their attention drawn to the colonies bor-
oering ON each extremity of the u. S. and
fwisely concluded not to impose any res
traints upon the government against the oc-
: cupatlon OF them. whenever such a proceed
ing should become advisable in the COM
mon progression of human affairs. What
reason could be assigned for limiting or res
training the powers Of the u. S. in assert
ing and maintaining all their rights in the
common intercourse with other nations. &c
In this clause, surely no trace of the spirit
OF these tlmid spectres and visions &c is
Iascernaoie The next clause gives in
terms equallyunlimited, the power to raise
and support armies, there is no liuiitation.
nor direction to congress, as to the species
Tor amount OF armies to be raised. The
whole subject is left to the discretion of con.
gress--to raise and support such armies as
may be required by the national eXigenCies
OF which congress Is to Judge. Regular ar
mics too, are clearly contemplated (; be-
oause limitation OF appropriation for sup
porting armies Immediately follows.
he limitation is, that no appropriation
!
I term than two years This limitation evil
Iuently had reference to the term, tor which
we members OF the house OF Representative es
I was made eligible 4; to enable that branch "a
iope to check any possible disposition in the
otper branches to support armies for a long
er Pered than might be deemed necessary
DIV ule nation ct large whose wishes in that
respect, could always be manifested in the
choce OF the members of the house ofrepre-
/ SeutatIyeS Rnt
strict as that which exists in C. Britain ac-
cordlng toits fundamental laws. 1t is ne
Cessary there, that the appropriation for the
support OF the standing army should be annu-
al; and the practice here, has been invari-
ably the same. The Limitation of the ap-
preparation for the support of armies in the
constitution, therefore, was merely intended
as remedy in an extreme case, and was
not intended to debilitate nor counterfeit the
ordinary operations of the government, The
next clause in the constitution for placing the
| physical force OF the nation in the hands Of
the government, gives to congress the power
| to,provide for organizing, arming and dis
clplining the militia, &c. &c , and to pro-
vide for calling forth the militia to execute
the laws of tie union, suppress instructions,
and repel invasions.' These are the only
two species of force contemplated by the
constitution rot word is there said about
| volunteer force compounded
ofregulars and militia whilst therefore he
would not deny, but that congress may, if it
can, ccnsttutionally raise "a volunteer force,
lyet he would deny, that such force was
more Congenial to the spirit of the CON
| st'tntlon, than Regular force, which is
| there authorized in express words. tits not
little remarkable too, that this new-fash-
| Toned force, is not only not mentioned in the
constitution, but that it never was relied on
lltrar e. Il
defence, during the whole revolutionary war
was never recommended by Gen. Wash
ington to congress even for the hurhoses of
ae'eHce, although now it is to form part of
SySfemjor oGeHcej nor do you find the small
iest trace OF such force during thewhole of
Gen. Washington's administration. During
the winter of 1777 and 1873, whilst the A.
merican army lay at Valley Forge, COM
hittee OF congress attended Gen. Washing
| Ton In ms camp, principally for the purpose
OF devising system of defence, and recruit
! ing the army for the next campaign every
possible consideration was anxiously bestow-
ed upon that subject, rendered doubly inter-.
esting, by the embarrassments Of the army.
ana the alarming prospects before it vet
the reliance, was exclusively on reguIarE and
militia the volunteer system was deemed
inefficient and discarded; even for hurhoses
strictly defenSive. Now when the difficult
| ties OF organizing such force are consider
| ably increased in consequence of the divisi-
! on OF the powers over the militia between
the general and state governments, it is to
tbe relied on for o6enSiDc hurto8es, CSC. in
| the event of actual war; T.. -.
Mr.. Giles said he well knew how much he
Eexposed himself to the censurcs of certain
republican Newspaper editors, and others,
fby questioning the infallibility OF the opini-
ons OF the favorite partisans of the day, al
through the fundamental motto of those same
Newspapers has invariably been, in theory,
measures, not men - but in their Practice
tor some years past, this orthodox motto has
been inverted. 1t is in practice, "men, not
measures" For during that time, nothing
has been more Common, than to see men APP
plauded, whose measures are condemned, &
men condemned, whose measures are APP
plauded and so far has this patriotic zeal
tor this inverted principle been carried that
IT you point the finger at the possible errors
OF the iayoiites of the day, it becomes an of
feiSe for which you are denounced but if
you demonstrate these errors by argument
to the conviction of every mind, it then be-
comes sin past forgiveness. You may then
feXpect nothing less than ostracism, accom-
panied with the most foul and scurrious re-
lproaches. Bad motives are applied to bear
down good opinions, when good aigum ents
are wanted for that purpose, &c. MIR. Giles
: said, to judge of measures uDinhuenced by
their authors, required the exertion of some
OF the highest attributes of the human mind