Litchfield enquirer., 1831-09-08

whose voice can silence aii Oiscontent. The utmost extent, then, of the power IS, that State. acting in its sovereign capacity, as one of the parties to the Constitutional compact, may compel the Government. created by that cOn1pact. to submit a question touching its infractiOn. tO the parties who created it; to avoid the supposed dangers of which, it is proposed to resort to the novel, the hazardous, and, must add, fatal project of giving to the General Government the sole and final right of Interpreting the Constitution, thereby re- versing the whole system, making that in- strument the creature of it's will, instead of rule of action impressed on it at it's creation, and annihlating in fact the authority which imposed it, and from which ths government itself derives its existence.
 That such would be the result, were the right in question vested ID the Aeg's'atu'e' or executive branch of the Government, IS con- ceded bv all. No one has been so hardy as to assert.that Congress or the President ought to have the right, or to deny, that if vested finally and exclusively in either, the conse- 1 uuences which I have stated would not nc- cessarilv follow: but its advocates have been reconciied to the doctrine, on the suPpos'tlon. that there is one Department of the Gen. eraI Government, which. from its pecu- liar organization, affords an independent tri- bunal through which the Government may exercise the high authority, which is the sub feet of consideration, with perfect safety to all.
 yield, trust, to few in my attachment to the Judiciary Department. am tusly sensi-
 bIe of it's importance, ,and would maintain lt 10 the fullest extent in it's constitutional powers and independence, but it is impossible for me to believe, that it ever was intended by the Constitution, that it should exercise the pow CT in question, or, that it is competent to do SD. and if it were that it would be safe de- pository of the power.
 Its powers are Judicial and not political, and are expressly confined by the Constltu- ton "to all cases in law and equity arising under the Constitution, the laws of the Unl- ted States and the treaties made under its au- thority ;" and which have high authority in asserting, excludes political questions, and comprehends those only, where there are parties amenable. to the process of the Court. Nor is its incompetency less clear than its want of Constitutional authority. There may be
 many and the most dangerous attractions on the part of Congress, of which it IS conced- ed by all, the Court, as judicial tribunal
 cannot from its nature take cognizance. The
 Tariff itself is strong case in point; and the
 reason applies equally to all others. where
 Congress perverts a power, from an object in-
 tended. to one not intended, the most insldi-
 ous and dangerous of all the infractons; and
 which may be extended to all of its powers.
 more especially to the taxing and apprOpriat- ing. But supposing it competent to take cog ni2ance of all infractions of every description, the inseparabIe object still remains. that 1t would not be a safe tribunal to exercise the power in question. ,.. : It is an universal and fundamental political principle, that the power to protect, can safe- iy be confided only to those interested Tn pro- tecting, or their responsible agents, IS a max i'm moi less true in private than in public af- fairs. The danger in our system is, that the General Government, which represents the interests of the whole, may encroach on the States, which represent the peculiar and iocai interests, or that the latter may encroach on the former. In examining this po'nt' we ought not to forget that the government, all of its departments. judicial as wei. as others, is administered by delegated ana and responsible agents and that the Po'reT ,chich really controls ultimately aN the mooe-
 aents IS not in the agents, bi1t those '0ao e'ecs or appoint them. To understand then its real character, and what would be the action ol the system in any supposable case. we must raise our view from the mere agents, 10 this high controlling power which finally impsis every movement of the machine. By Golhs SO, we shall find all under the control o1 the will of a majority. compounded of the ma iority of the States, taken as corporate bo- dies, and the majority of the people Q. the States estimated in federal numbers. ihese united constitute the real and final power, which impels and directs the movements or the General Government. The majority oI the States elect the majority of the Senate of the people Of the States, that of the House of Representatives the two united, the Pfes- ident; and the President and a majority or the Senate appoint the Judges; majority ot whom and majority of the Senate and the House with the President, really exercise all of the powers of the Government with the exception of the cases where the constitution requires greater number than majority.-l The Judges are, in fact, as truly the Juqlciai of this united majority, asthe majority of Congress itself, or the President is it's legislative or executive representative and to confine the power to the Judiciary to finally and conclusively what pow CTS are delegated. and reserved, would be m reality to confde it to the majority, whose agents they are, and by whom they can be controlled in various ways; and, of course. to subject (aganst the fundamental principle of our system, and all sound political reason ing,) the reserved powers of the States, with
 all of the local and peculiar interests they were intended to protect, to the will of the very majority against which the protection |