Portland gazette and Maine advertiser., 1812-10-19
SPEECH
Gentlemen ofih- Senate, and

Gentlemen offhs Senate, and
Gentlemen Of The House Of Rrbresrsta'irss
TIE period again approaches when Elec-
tors ofs President and Vice. President Of The
United States are TO be appointed, and on
have now assembled that you may execute
The important trust Ut directing The manner
Of 'heir appointment on the part Of this State.
hope that nothing W II interfere t. prevent
an impartial discharge Of dis public duty.
The language Of tue constitution on this
subject is imperative " Each state shall
sppn,nI ~ such manner az the legislature
thereof may direct, number Of electOrs"-
this form Of expression was necessary, for it
is obvious, that II the states should e"iect
TO appoint electors the - lonI Govern.
ment would be at an end. In addlton TO
this, the constitution has required, that the
members Of ihe state legislatures and all ex-
ecutive officers shall be bound BY oath or at
filmalion 70 support the constitution. We
have taken this oath and have Also sworn
impartially to perform all the duties incum
bent on us a. members of tue state govern
ment Should this duty be neglected, the
people OF this slate would, on This mpOr-
TAM occasion, lose their polit cal conse.
quence, and De deprived of the rights VI citi
i zens.
! BY letter IF the 18th Of last June, the
I Secretary Of War requested me, by direc.
I zion Ut The President, 20 order into the ser
Y VICE OF The Unitcd States, on the requsItiOn
Of Major General Dearborn, such part of he
, quota Of militia from this staie, detacho q
Coniotmabiy 20 The act Of The 10Th OF April
las, az ne r.ight deemnecessary for the de
.t e AS Tar,
I received letter From General Dearborn,
informing me that war had been declared
gainst Great Britain, snd requesting me 10
order forty one companies a the detached
militia into the service Of the u. S. for The
defence Of Tie ports and hartOrs IN this stale,
and The harbour Of NJ WpOrt in the state Of
RhCuI Island and stating that tile compa-
mes were intended for tie following ports
and haibcr5, in the following proportions.
For Pa>samaquoddy five companies, for Ma
chlas one company, for CasLine three Cumpa-
Mes, for Damariscotta aud Wi5cssset Two
companies, for t<enncbunk one company, for
Portland Eve companies, for Marblehead,
Salem, Cspe-Ann and Newburyport, four
companies, for Boston twelve companies,
and for Rhode Island eight companies. al
50 received from Cen. Dearborn two other
letters Of June &c and June 2g, on Tie same
subject.
The constitution Of the u. s declares
that, Congress may provide for calling
forth the militia to execute the laws ofthe
ion, suppress iHsurrectioDs and repel in.
s4-i1ns," snd the act of congress Of April
10 Il Guhorising detachment Of 100, 600 uf
the militia, empowers the President TO
=" II INTO actua, service any pavt, or lhe
whole Of said detachment in s,l the exren
cleS provided by the constitution" From
'hesg clauses IN the constitution and lsU Of
Arril i0h, the President derives his au-
thorIly to cali the militia Of the states Injo
actual service and except in TIE exigen-
cies above mentioned ne can have no aH-
thOrity by the constitution 10 90 il. But
there was no suggestion either III the letter
from The wsr department, above referred
10, or In those from Gen Dearborn, that This
State or Rhodeis,and was invaded, or IN i'm
minent dinger OF INVASION or that eIhcr of
the exigencles recognized b. he c0nsiiiu
ION and law Of tie u. S. existed IF slch
declaration could have been made with uuh,
It WoHld undoubtedly have been made
Cen Dsarborn plainly supposed that in
consequence OF the act declaring Wal, he
WAS AUTHORISED oy virtue Of the power CIV
En- him by the President, 70 require any part
or the whole Of our detached militia 10 be
called out and marched to such places IL
thus snd the other states as be might think
proper. Ii this construction the constitu.
lion is correct, the President and CJngsess
will DC able at any time, by debating war,
% cali Tue whole militia OF the u. s. into &C
tual service, 3 march them to such places As