Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-03-06
MONDAY, MARI II 6, 1926.
IN THE SENATE OF THE U. STATES, MARCH /.

whom was referred the proposition to amend
the Constitution of the United States, with
respect to the appointment Of Senator'S and
REPRESENTATIVES to Offices under the Federal
Government,
REPORTED:
That, having had recourse to the history OF
the times in which the Constitution was formed,
the Committee find that the proposition no"
referred 10 them, had engaged the deIberauons
of the Federal Convention which framed the
Constitution and of several Of the State Con-
yentions which ratified it.
In an early stage of the session of the Federal
Convention, ii was resolved, as follows:
eArticle 6, section g. The members OF each
House (of Congress) shall be ineligible to, * IN
capable of, holding any Office under the authori-
ty of the United States, during the time Tor
which they shall respectively be elected; and the
members Of the Senate shall be ineligible to, and
incapable OF, holding any such office for one
year afterwards. - Journal Of the Federal Con-
Uepfion, page 2l9.
1t further appears from the Journal, that this
clause, in the FIRST draft of the Constitution, was
adopted with great unanimity, and that alter
wards, in the concluding days OF the session, II
was altered, and its intention defeated, by ma
jority of single vote, in the absence OF one OF
the States by which it had been supported.
Following the Constitution into the State
Conventions which ratified it, and the Commit
tee find, that, by the New-York Convention, 1t
was recommended, as follows:
"That no Senator or Representative, shall,
during the time for which he was elected, be APP
pointed to any Office under the authority of the
United States
BY the Virginia Convention, as follows:
"That the members of the Senate and House
of Representatives shall be ineligible to, and in
capable of, holding any civil office under the au-
thority of the United States, during the term for
which they shall respectively be elected"
By the North-Carolina Convention, the same
amendment was recommended, In the same
words.
In the first session of the first Congress, which
was held under the Constitution, member of
the House of Representatives submitted a SINH
lar proposition of amendment: and, in the third
session of the eleventh Congress, James Madi-
son being President, like proposition was a
gain submitted, and being referred to Com
mittee of the House, was reported by them III
the following words:
mo Senator or Representative shall be ap-
pointed to any civil Office, place, or emolument,
under the authority of the United States, until
the expiration fthe Presidential term in which
such person shall have served as Senator OF
Representative"
Upon the question to adopt this resolution,
the vote stood II yeas, 40 nays, wanting but
three votes of the constitutional number for re-
ferring it to the decision of the States.
Having thus shewn, by reference to the We
nerable evidence of our early history, that the
principle of the amendment now under consi-
Iteration, has had the appreciation and support
of the first friends of the Constitution, the Com
mittee will now declare their own opinion in ia
vor of its correctness, and expresses its belief
that the ruling principle in the organization OF
the Federal Government demands its adoption
That ruling principle requires that the three
great branches of the Federal Government, the
Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary, should be
separate and distinct from each other, not only
in contemplation of law but in point fact; and
for this end, that each should not only have its
independent organization, but that the individ-
uas administering each, should be wholly free
from the control and influence OF the individuals
who administered the others.
To secure this independence on the part oil the
President, and to prevent the Legislative depart
ment from starving him into compliance OF
theirwill, by Withholding his necessary support,
or seducing him into an acquiesence In their
views, by tempting his avarice with an augment
ed salary, Fed. No, ~ it is provided in the
constitution that he shall receive .fTed COM
pensation for his services, which shall neither
be increased nor diminished during the term for
which he was elected.
10 secure the independence of the Legisla-
tive Department, and to prevent the Executive
from influencing its deliberations, BY retaining
set OF dependents in the Senate and House OF
Representatives, always ready, like the place
rnenin the British Parliament, to support the
measures Of administration, it was provided, in
the same constitution, that persons holding Off
ces under the authority of the u States, should
be wholly excluded from the floor of Congress
The Committee believe that this provision for
the independence of the Senate and House o.
Representatives, though wise and proper as fan
as it goes, does not go far enough to accomplish
the object it had in view. They admit that thu
presence of Office holders in the Legislative de
partment would be the bane of honest and indie
pendent legislation; and they believe that thu
presence of Office hunters would be equally fatal
The danger to be apprehended from each, is, IL
effect, the same. The office holder would sup