Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1812-03-02
Dirginia Legislature.

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| Substitute, f,,oi'0SeS BY III. MnRcER, o
L.oudoan, ~ s9ag IF amcn1nent 10 he Su5
sfifafe fu'ohosed by 1,9r. LElcH, Of Dinsvid
dee, 70 the Preamble and Resolutions, on tn
subject Of tie right of'the STATE Legislature
70 instruct the Senator's Of tirir resnectiv,
states, in tAe Congress- Of Me U. STATES.
lcoNcLupEp FROM OUR LAsr)
oftbat portion Of SOVEREIGN 6o7ver delegate,
by the people of the several states TO In, s.a,,
govcrnm ents, ana secured to those govern
ments by the Constitution of the United
states, the act of the whole people, the Iceis
latures OF the respective States, possess k1f ,
PART: The state judiciaries, and the state eS
ecutives, have also, their portions of sover
e:Sn Poser, or OF sovereignty, if those expires.
sions are deemed synonymous Each pow,
er, moving within the orbit prescribed 20 !,
by the people, is sovereign, that is, liable 20 no
other control than that of the constitution, the
act, and law OF the people themselves The now.
er OF lnsirrcting the senators of the u States as
1t has been already remarked, has been exrress.
iy delegated, by the people, to none of those
state authorities. 1t assumed, by implication.
because any such authority possesses n sove-
reign or uncontrolled power, it must belong eli
ther to all OF them, conjunctiyely, or TO each Of
them, separately. Is il to be exercised bv the
JOINT act OF all, or by each 1t is not contcndcd
that concurrence of all is necessary, 70 make
Instructions binding on senator Of the United
states still less, is il admitted by the advo.
Gates OF the doctrine of instructions, that each
has Alright to instruct, which would, moreover,
be absurd because, each Instruction, it is
SAID. would be binding, the senator nigh: be
subjected to three distinct and interfering rules
ofconduct.
The advocates For the right of instruction
limit ITS exercise to the legislative branch ofthc
state government, TO the exclusion of the other
two branches. Whereas, if analogy and irnpli
cation were both TO be respected, their theory
would appear, more consistent, if in relation TO
interpretations Of the constitution and laws of
the United States, the state judiciaries were al
lowed to be the popular organ of instruction; if
u IN relation TO the conduct of the executive.
the state executives for the senate of the Uni
ted States has executive rs well as Legislative
power; and to the legislatures of the states,
the power OF instruction would be consistently
conhaed TO its operation on questions Of expedi-
ency, occurring in the course of national Iee.is-
lation.
It is believed, by this assembly, that every
authority exercising, under state government.
power, uDrestrained, except by the constitu-
-
nominated, sovereign power, and as the con-
stItution OF this state provides, that {" the le-
:" gIslative, executive and Judiciary depart.
y ments shall be separate and distint," each de-
Partment has the same "general attributes of
sovereignty" which belong to either of the 9th
er two departments
Having closed this view of this interesting
question, this assembly will resume the point,
which IT conceded, and regarding the people
he Al:
stitution of national government, it will briefly
consider the other argument, on which, "thc
right OF the state legislatures, to instruct the
" senators of the United States" has been
grounded. Does the Constitution ofthe United
States, ny requiring that the senator's in con-
Sress shall be elected by the legislatures of the
several states, give to those legislatures tie
right to instruct the senators who respectively
represent those states The people are as
much the constituents of the Senate of the Uni
ted States as they are Of the president Are
they not the constituents of the latter Speak
ing OF the possible corruption Of a president of
the United States, Publius, closes a train of
animated remark in these words, "he might
make his own aggrandizement the price of
his treacbery to his conStitRents" Speak
ing OF the utility Of his qualified vote against
the passage of an ubiquitous law, 4" his forth
tude, would he stimulated, by the probability
sc of the sanction of his oorstitveuts'' What
constituents Unquestionably the people of
the United Statcsi for the existence of the
!" Colleges of presidential electors" ceases with
the election Of the officer, has been Justly re
marked. In like manner, the senate of a neigh
bouring safe is elected by the instrumentaiity
OF deputies chosen for that purpose. But it las
never been, even imagined, that the senator's of
that state were liable 10 be honnd, by the in
structiOns Of their immediate electors Those
senators are regarded, rs Che representatives. of
the people, ~tO have, by their constitution of
government, provided that mode OF electing
them, either Tor convenience, or TO render the
two branches Of their legislature, intended rs
mutual checks upon one another, less homo
gencous."
Bot docs not appear, if the right Of instr,Ic.
tion be deemed coincidcnt with the right Of C..
lection, that the single college which elects the
senators Of Maryland, or the numerous colleges
which elect tho President and Vice President,
can be, consistently denied the right Of instrl1c-
ting the authorities whom, they must, in this
sense, be deemed, respectively, to constitute.
The Exception, which has been taken to this
parallel, that no one electoral bofy appoints the
president, does not apply to the election of the
Senators on Maryland, who arc all elected BY
one assembly Of deputies and Il is not peroeiv-
cd, how the Hamber Of the electoral colleges,
employed, IN the choice Of a President of the
United States, absolutely GsqagEfes them for
giving him Instructions. They an meet, at the
The same period oftime and it would suffice
70 settle any proposition among them, that IT
be, at that time, propounded 30 them all.
Where the eyo branches Of safe Legislature
elect by c9NcHrreA5 Vofe, the senator is not elect
Ell ~ o body; and those, who claim for each
congressional district, consisting OF many coun-
tics, the rii5,t Of instfucting their representa-
tivcs in Congrcs, VIII not contend, that the
eeUiaes shall To- instruct hial, because 10 enc