Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1818-09-16

calculated greatly to impair, if not entirely
to destroy its useful application. tie re.
quires that every implied power. claimed
under this grant. shall have direct, obDi-
Gus, and natural tendency TO execute some
authority expressly delegated. :.
Iwould ask. Mr. Chairman, whether DIS
tinct ideas are 10 be annexed to these terms:
il such tendency be direct, il may not be
assumed to be obvio,,s !. II both direct ana ana
o5pioas, II may not be regarded asnaf'ira!
II power may not be fairly implied, al
though, when considered singly, or apart
from many others which cohsPire with y,
to the execution of one expressly grsnted,
It's tendency be indirect? IL the legitimacy
of every implied power depends on its d.,
rect tendency to attain some constitutional
end, being made obuious to epery under
Standing
OF these three qualities required by my
colleague, the last, or that which IS hsu.
ratiyely denoted by the term natural, al
lords, perhaps, the best characteristic OF
that tendency of an implied power which,
renders It constitutional !; and y empieyeu
in contradistinction Of such tendency, rom
one. which is overstrained, OF iorceI ,or
the purposes Of usurpation, ! cheerlully
acauiesce in this limitation OF the powers
of Congress. have, then, to ask my col
league, if the power to construct mas not
nnfurai tendency to execute the power. to
e,tablish a post road? May We not go far
ther. and aver that such tendency is alike
direct. and obvious? that road must er'St,
before a mail can be transported on ITS sur
fare. and that the power to establish post
roads. may be obstruc ed or defeated, un-
less the power to make them accompany II.
The ingenuity Of my colleague has be-
trayed him into a mere extraordinary error
of the same description. Having denied
that the power to establish, necessarily COM
prehends the power to construct post roads,
he assumed the last to be the greater Porer
of tie tvgo; and, hence, inferred that the
latter could not be implied from the express
grant of the former. Permit me, briefly to
examine, first, the fact, and next the poll
ticaI doctrine, on which this conclusion is
founded. Even in physical science, such
is the necessary and intimate dependence
of one agent on another; so many effects,
more or less striking to The external senses,
flow apparently from the same cause, that
il is not easy TO define the relative magni.
tude of any two natural powers. unless, in
deed, both their nature, and the circum-
stances under uhich they operate, are the
same. The power Of attraction or grav-
tation, restricts the planets to their orbits.
and holds together the elements of the earth
which we inhabit. But il has been assert
ed, that such is the expansive force of the
air, that if size grain Of gun-powder
could be completely confined in the center
ofour earth, and there suddenly exploded,
il would burst this globe asunder. | will
not stop to enquire which is the greater Of
these poTers; but merely remark, that when
we enter upon the held Of political science,
if, indeed, It deserves that appellatioIi, the
expressions greater and less, become, often,
incapable OF any definite application. If
the magnitude Of apolitical PoTsr, be de;
rived from its apparent effects. we shall
find il impossible 10 reconcile some OF the
greatest revolutions in the world, to causes
seemingly trivial.
, But the constitutional doctrine Of my col
league, is yet more falacious. The toun-
dation OF all implied powers in physical, as
well as political science, is to be sought,
not in their relative magnitude, but IN their
relative dependence on The powers IRON
which they are dcdnced. And, since IL is
most Obvious, that the greater OF two pow
ers may have direct and natural tendency
10 execute the Jess, the constitutionality OF
the former may be inferred, according to
nv colleagues own admission, IRON the
express. gran, OF the latter. In the connec-
tior of causes and effects, the smallest link
is an essential part of the whole cham
The construction, and establishment 81 q posi-
road. if regarded as distinct acts, are alike
necessary, though, indeed, humble means
Of accomplishing one common end, neces,,
sary TO the safety Of the government, and
to the convenience and comfort OF the peo-
ple. Which Of them is the greater power,
or contributes more largely to their joint
result, | acknowledge my utter incompe-
tence to decide-whether in the transmits
sion OF social, literary, commercial. and po-
liticaI information, the government, or the
people can better dispense with the road,
or the mail.
Having, | trust, said Mr.. Mercer, remov-
ed some Of the distinctions which remain
ed IN my path, come now to the main
ground, on which our opponents rest their
opposition to the authority Of Congress, for
which we contend. My colleague, who
has Just addressed you, considers himself
engaged in ''the last battle which will ever
be fought upon this floor for the preserva-
ton of state rights" In the excess OF his
zeal. he has charged the friends Of the re-
solutions With usurpation and tyr.nny.
And on what does h. found this heavy ac-
cusation On the suggestion, that no road
can be constructed under the authority Of
Congress, without title to the soil over
which it passes; from whence, he infers,
that the power, which we claim for the iede-
raj government, may involve an application
TO the public use, OF some part Of the land
OF private citizen, lying within the terri
toriai limits Of state, without the consent
of either.