Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-04-14


statesman to imputations ofmo,ives ana ooJee's'
which, a. we have already suggested, arc 'e''
probably entirely without foundation;
Rn, II ;s IN the case Of Mr.. VAN BukES, par
ticularlv that we desire to direct the a''en'io"
of our re .eers, s even his own attention. snou,'
he find our crude suggestions worth tne 'ea
inp In his speech at the Charleston D''" ':
an account Of which is copied on the precealn,s
n,oe Mr. VAN buren,, associated oy a eo"'P''.
;nsn,arv toast with STATE Sovereignty, "a Ver!
indefinite idea, as it is expressed, but Inc in'en-
ton Of which may be guessed at,) ackno"'e"ee.
the application Of the sentiment 10 MS P'e'
on;nions The festive board he SAID, was no'
The place for political essays. IL ne I'd" &c"
allowed to follow the bent oil his lnchha'lo"' III.
stead OF the example oil the talcn'ca Se"''ea.
who preceded him, we should nave nau so.
rare "Signs Of the Times" Our woro lo' nv ~
he would have denounced the Na'ionai i"'c"-
eencer at the dinner table, as he haa oe'ole
done a, tie council-board. But, thougn NOV
the place for political essays, MT VAN n c.
contrived 10 make one, sufficiently sis"'uo@rn'
and quite adapted to the meridian OF oou'" "a
ro,;na- where. we are told, "consu uction con-
s,rued" is becoming so popular, that' lor any
him we know. we shall have the Legislature
of that State, ahead even Of Virginia, voting the
cor,. i, Charleston harbor TO BIZ uncoBs,ltuton-
al and the light houses in the bays and rivers
70 be gross usurpaliohs upon State rights. IL
bas even been whispered that the present
Governor of the State is infected with horror
of the General Government, and was elected
par,lv on that ground--a thing that we VIII mol
believe upon any authority short oil his own oral
70 stimony: for we well remember the time, MI
teen wears ago, when he, in one House oil l on
rress. conlemporaneously with Mr. CRAWFORD
in the other, ridiculed all such s'raighl-iaced
notions of the Constitution as are now coming
in vogue. We should be sorry 10 hear MN
confirm what has been told TO us, because, II
wrong, his errors not being political, or the r.
suit Of cool calculation, but conscisntiouS' the
fact would show that the prevailing disease is
deeper rooted in the body polite than we wish
10 believe.
In Mr.. Senator VAN BUREN's letter, oil recent
date, to the Senate Of the State Of New YORK, 10
which we have heretofore had occasion 10 al
lude, he says: "and to justify their confidence,
it shall be my constant and Jealous endea'or 10
protect The remaining rights reserved 70 the
States BY the Federal Constitution; 10 restore
those of ,0hich they haze been divesfed by con-
struction," sc.
In the same spirit in which he delivered HIM
self at the Charleston dinner, he ailedges mat
the States have been deprived OF some OF their
rights, and that their restoration, and the pre-
srrvalion Of what is left, shall be his constant
and Jealous endeavor This is serious charge,
and such as no one ought TO make on light
grounds. 1t is to be regretted that 1t has not
been conveyed in more specific terms. but we
presume all our political readers will under.
stand Mr.. VAN buren, 10 refer 10 the cause OF
Internal Improvement and the Protection OF
Domestic Manufactures, against which, as VI
olations of State rights, resolutions were lately
rh'mInarrS ny the Legislature OF NirglnIa-lhe
two great interests, the overthrow OF whch n
The repeated declarations Of the Richmond En-
ouirer are to be .believed) will be the effect OF
the success Of the "Combina,ion," and which.
as far as concerns the Enquirer School, Got
which Mr.. V. y. appears to be promising
pupil is the avowed aim Of IT.. Now, in regard
10 these two vital interests, after such denun-
citation Of usurpaiion as the honorable Sc
nator has allowed himself to make in
his letter to the Senate Of New-York, that
gentleman, the reader will expect 10 learn, has
ALWAYS been perfectly consistent. He will ma.
turally suppose that, on every occasion in which
an exercise Of power, on the part OF the Gene
| raj Government, has been attempted 10 foster
| our Home Industry, or to execute any object oil
National Impro, ement. the Senator from New
| York has been firm and decided, at least, ii not
able and eloquent, (Which he can be-in good
cause) in opposing the usarpation. The read
er will not suppose it possible, that, in the two
most remarkable instances in the legislation Of
| Congress, in which the power over both those
subjects, was exerted, Mr.. v. B. voted in favor
Of diUesting the States Of their rights. 1t is
| true, nevertheless.
In May, 1922, (not FIVE short years ago. bill
was before the Senate of the United States, en-
titled Gan act for The repair and preservation Of
the Cumberland Road" That bill proposed
the erection Of toll gates Oh The road, and the
collection OF tolls to repair and preserve it. I,
contained. therefore, an assertion of the nc plus
ultra Of the power. We certainly think tina,
The power Of the General Government is COM
petent to the collection Of tolls for The sole pur-
pose of repairing and preserving road which
has been made at the expense, and under the
authority of that Government, But that is the
extreme limit Of the power, beyond which we
should oppose its assertion. The question at
that period, (May, 1929 and repeatedly during
the six preceding years, had been ably and Ella
boralely disc ussed in and out Of Congress-
Any one, therefore, who voted for that bill, must
have been perfectly acquainted with the ques-
ton which it involved. On the Sd day Of May,
| 1922, the bill was before the Senate on its final