Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1830-05-20
TWENTY FIRST CONGRESS-
SPEECH OF MIR HOLMES. or MANN
IN SENATE UNITED STATES
APRII IS 1880
FIRST SESSION

/
names, &c. of officers removed by him sine,
the last session Of the Senate. with the rea.
sous for each removal. being under considera
/ ton
! Mn. HOLMES addressed the Senate a.
i fpl!oWs:
Mr. PREsipENT Ii was. perhaps. fotunat,
lor'me that the seaator from Illinois, Mr.. Kane
snaiched the resolution of the Senator from
Missouri lMr. barlon) out Of my hands aud
placed 1t beyond thu reach Of debate. And
/ although II was no mark oil hbrraliiS aud, al
other periods, would have been called by a
very different name, yet Il has given ne an
! opportunity 10 discuss the question on a more
extended scale. | have been waiting Tor This
opportunity (not Tor the ed,ticalion al the
| senate, but for the Instruction of the lblIcl
I" give my views ui the power otthe President a.
create vacancies aud iiI them in the recess OF
TIE Senate, and 10 i'u,tate my remarks by a
"riel historical sketch OF The Practice Of the
| Government SINCE the adoption oi the Consti-
tuition. Notwithstanding The able argument OF
my friends from Delaware and Missouri
tMessrs. Cluytu and Barton,) and others " no
nave touched upon this topic, sui the facts
more IN detail. are ncces ar, Ion full under
| ''a' ding ofthe Subject The people wan,
more light, and, so far as my feeble taper will
reject IT, they daA haze u.
Bni, sir, will come directly 10 the question
! raised by the resolutions, ahd any position Ia
ths--that the President oil the United States
may, by removals in the recess ol The Senate
abuse the power that ms has abused il; aud
hat the Senate, a coordinate branch oil the
| Executive, ID the only elTectual tribunal to
re- strain or correct him and that, constd0en,
| ly, THIS is the one which was intended by me
| Constitution.
Before proceed to tho discussion Of this
proportion, will make two brief remarks !:
The first is, that though The Constitution has
given the appointing power 10 the President
aud Scnale, aud TO the President alone To I'll
| vacancies which MAJ happen in tho RECESS,
II says not one word about therem0uiRc power.
Vow, as there is no provision for this removing
power il would be fair to infer thai ii belonged
TO the appointing power. or that IL was 10 be
defined by iGD. No law has defined il, and
II might seem 10 follow that every removal
since the adoption OF the constitution, was lie
gal and unconstitutional. The trainers and
rxpounders Of this Constitution, before II was
ratified by the States and the people, were OF
HE opinion that the removing and appointing
powers were CO ordinate. The practice uu.
der it, however, has been, that the right Of re
moval wa, vested in the President alone.
Tbs ifcOnd remark is, that, except Of Judi
cary officers, the tenure OF Office Is no mfeYe
defined The questions, therefore which would
naturally arise, are, can Congress define il by
law or is il vested in the dissection OF the Press
.ienl alone Is II inlelfihe thai because ihp
Constitution has defined the tenure OF a Gel
tain class OF officers, that therefore IL has plA-
ced all others at the will oi The President II
would, in my view, be far fetched Gouelu.
SION.
But, Sir, supposog that the power of reno
val, Ia the recess of the Senate. be vested d,
The Constitution in the President, sHll the
question recurs, cannot the Senate correct an
abuse OF this power , II would seem 10 me
thar there was no other adequate corrective.
If the power is moi here, where else are you 10
look for II 7
Sir, il is not merely The loss Of Office, which
has created such individual suffering, aud
winch (as my friend from Missouri remarkr,D
makes the land pale'-It is not the disiresses
which witness asound NE, that most aiillcls
met is the prtlctpfc upon winch this IS at
tempted TO be justified II ~ the danger 10 the
public interest, from new and inexperienced
officers, To manage our complicated concerns,
and above all, the alarming doctrine
Ct absolute EIecutiue UR These nre not ouiy
afillcttng bui alarming. The STATES nave hllh
erlo looked to The SeHGis their chief security
Bv the Constitution, IT was established for the
very purpose of guarding against the popular
branch OF the Legislature on the one baud, aud
the President, vino, by his election, is chiefly
IA popular Executive, on the other. II was just
as necessary that The Senate should hold an
eLecutiue DIS tegisLatiCc check. Suppose some
great political question should arise. Suppose
one parry should wish 10 diminish, and even
annlhale the powers oil the States, and Trans
C.r, 1
that, to accomplish the views OF the popular
branch and the President all the nominations
of judicial aud other officers hould be made 10
the Senate. the guardian OF State rights, from
this party-woud il then be contended that
we could inquire farther but into the
aual Gcaiions II the officer nominated that
we could not look hey oud his talents and in
legrity Imagine, further, that We should be
eugRged in a disastrous war, aud threatened
with entire conquest, and that there was bat
one vau-One Washington, who. as Cumman-
der-Yn Chief Of our armies, could probably save
us. but the President should nominate another
qualified to be sure, but not pre-emnently SO,
nor so equal to the crisis as the oher-should
we then be told we cannot look behind the
qualifications of The candidate Sir, 10 tesi u
principle, il is a fair illustration 10 imagine a
crisis, and then apply to it the limited powers
OF tue Senate, which are contended for.
never expected TO witness the time when
n majority Of the Senate should surrender lis
mowers to the Executive chief, nor even when
=, should be slow 10 stand for its rights. What,
Sir, the Senate OF the United States, the re-
presenlatives of, twenty tour soveregn,ies
once The most august assemblage in the world
once The inAexible gardans OF ate rights gdinst
federal encouragement, now yielding to tibet
President almost The last vesIIge OF ITS esecu-
tive power, What patriot who observes the
sip os OF the times but must deplore this obse-
ouiou.ness and hHmiidtto. of the Senate of
the United States
Sir, see in this symptoms Of IN on archy NOR
strong aud palpabe Than those which disturbed
The nerves of the Senator from LOUISIANA, (Mr.
Livingston) He has given US a vivid descrip.
ton of the first nsug uraton of the FIRST Presl-
dent of The United States and be then imagin-
ed that he saw, in the extravagaut and enlhu
siastic adulati0n Of The man, symptoms of a mo-
narchal tendency. LOO, Sir, think that extrav-
agant adulation or Alteration of men should hot