Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-02-08

ton, 1t mus, IN this country, be omnipo-
tent.
But the treaty m king power of the Pre-
sident is further checked by the necessity
Of the concurrence of two-thirds of the Sc
nate, consisting of men elected by the Lee
gislaturcs OF the several states, themselves
elected by the people. They too must have
y ssed through th- probation ct time before
they can be chosen, and must bring with
them every title to confidence. The du-
ration of their Office is that of few years
their numbers are considerable their con-
stitutonal responsibility as great as it Can
be and their moral responsibility beyond
all ,lculaton.
The power of impeachment has been
mentioned as check upon TIE President,
in the exercise of the trc ity making ca
paci,y. l rely upon it less than upon 9th
ers, OF, as think. abetter class /; but as the
constitution places some reliance upon it,
SO do |. 1t has been said, that imreach-
ment has been tried and found wanting
Two inpeachments have fiied, as | have
understood, Chat of Judge WIS one)--but
they may have failed for reasons Consistent
vita the geRerai efficacy Of such Erocee-
ding. j know nothing of their merits, but
1 am justified in surprising that the evidence
was defective, or that the parties were IN
nocent, as they were pronounced 20 be. OF
this, however, l feel assured, that if il
should ever happen thar the President is
found to deserve the punishment which
impeachment seeks to infct, (even for
making treaty to which his Judges have
become partieS,) and this body should nc
cuse him in a constitut onal way, he
will not easily escape. Bat, be that as il
may, ask, if it is nothing that YOU have
power TO arraign him as u culprt Is it
nothing that you can bring him to the
bar. expose his misconduct to the world,
and bring down the Indignation of the pub
lie upon him & those who dared to acquit
him
If there be any power explicitly granted
by the constitution to Congress, it is that of
declaring war and If there be any exer-
else Of human leg Station more solemn
and important tn n another, it is a decla-
rattan of war, For expansion it s the lar
gcst, for effect the most awful Of all the
enactmcnts to which Congress is compe-
tent and it always is or ought to be, pre-
coded by grave and anxious deliberat ton.
This power, too, is connected with, or vir-
tualy involves. others of high import nd
efficacy among which may be ranked the
power OF granting letters of marque aud
reprsal, OF regulating captures, of prohi-
biting intercourse with, or the aCcepta nce
OF projections OF licens from the enemy.
Yet farther power to declare war, i'm
plies, with peculiar emphasis, negative
upon all power. in any other branch of
the government, Inconsistent with the
tull and continuing effect of it. A DOW
er TO make peace in any other branch Of
the government, is utterly inconsistent
with that full and continuing effect. 1t
may even prevent it from having anv effect
at all since peace may follow almost i'm
me;iiately, (altho' it rarely does SO follow
the commencement of a war. If therefore
it be undeniable, that the President, with
the advice and Consent of the Senate, has
power to make tyeaty CT peace available,
Xso }ure, 1t is undeniAbie that he has DOW
er to repeal, by thu mere operation of such
a treaty, the highest acts of congressional
legislation. And it will not be questioned
that this repeating power is, from the en-
inent nature of the war-declaring power,
less fit to be made out by inference that
the power Of modifying by treaty, the laws
which regulate our foreign trade. Now,
the President, with the advice and consent
of the Senate, has an mcontestible and
uncontestcd right to make treaty of
peace, of absolute, inherent efficacy, and
that too, III virtue Of the very same gener-
al provision in the constitution which the
rehnements of political speculation, rather
than any known rules Of construction, have
led some OF us TO suppose excludes trea-
~ OF commerce.
BY what process Of reasoning will YOU
be abio TO extract from the wide field of
that general provision, the obnoxious case
OF a commercial treaty, without forcing a.
long with 1T the case of treaty Of peace,
and along with that again the case of ev-
distinction upon the favorite idea that
treaty can repeal laws competently enact.
ed, or, as it is sometimes expressed, can
not trench upon the legislative rights of
Congress Such distinction not only
seems to be repro7chcd, by ali the theories,
numerous as they are, to which this bill
has given birth, but is against notori-
Gus fact and recent experience. We have
lately witnessed the operation insthis res
pect of a treaty OF peace, and could not
fail to draw from it this lesson that 10
sooner does the President exert, with the
consent ofthe Senate, his power 10 make
such treaty, than your war-denouuciDg
Law, your act for letters of marque, your
prob bitoGy statutes as to intercourse and
licenses, and all the other concomiiaut and
dependent statutes, so far as they affect the
national rea.ions with a foreign enemy,
pass away as a dream, and in a moment
are with years beyond the food" Your
auxiliary agency was not repaired IL the
production Of this affect; and / have not
heard that you ever rendered it. You saw
your laws departing AS it were frofn the
S u,e book, expelled from the strong hold