Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1831-07-25

1
used. Such weapons are too frequently rcsorted tc
to hide the weakness of cause, aud pass cur ell
with those readers who think that ribaldry an
abuse are good substitutes for fact and argument.
shalt pursue diife ent course, and shall endeavo
to sustain my former reasoning to the satisactio.
| of every cdnd1d and disnterested miad. l shal
shcw, that "VERiTAS," with all his parade O
learning-his intimacy with State sccrets-his bold
ness OF assertion-and his t'unapproa enable" sci!
satisfied superiority, is ignorant of the subject abou
which he writes.
maintain, therefore, fearlessly, the4proposition
that Governor John Floyd committed 90 vioatio,
whatever OF the State Constitution, By ordering thu
u. s. Telegraph, or by disseminating the Balti,nor,
Republican. Whether governed by tn,
plain and literal meaning of the instrument, =. b,
Its spirit and intention ovinccd in the debate.
of the Convention this proposition is equally ten
able vigorous attempt was nado bya strong
party III that body, to continue the old order Of
things-to bind down the chief magistrate, by a
controlling instead of an advisory council but this
attempt was persoveringly and effoctuults resisted
by the LIST clause of the 18th article of Searonsti
tuition, 1t is declared that ''the Chief Erccutire
Po'oer shall be rested in Gorarnor;" andthe ID Sd
and 4th clauses of the article define and emu
nerate tho powers of that officer, without any ref
ereRce whatever, to council, without any Imir
tatfon or restraint imposed upon his authority II
is true, that the 9Th clause declares that tthcre
'shall be council of State and that before the
Governor EXERCISES ANY DISCRETION
AIRY POWER CONFERRED ON HIM BY
-,
''requiro the advice Of that Council" This advice
be remembered, tho Chief Magistrate is directed to
require-but that is all. If he prefers to follow
his own judgment, and act on his own responsible
ity, he may do so, though the Council be unaui
nous against him. "VERTrAS" asserts that the
Governor can exercise discretionary power
whatever, without consulting with his advi-
sers. But the Constitution says he shall
exercise no discretionary power conferred
by the Constitution and Lars, without such
previous consultation. Are there no discretionary
powers, except those which arc conferred by the
Constitution and laws? Are there no powers which
are incident to the Executive, we'll the 9TH
er departmcnts-and essentially necessary to its due
and proper administration w the ridiculous spec
taclo ever imagined, that the Chief Magistrate
should advise with his council in solemn conclave
on the proprety ofpurchasing bunch of quilts, or
4 qure of paper, 20 transact the business of the
government In Ike manner, is the Governor of
Virginia. dependent upon the tastes proiudIces of
his council, Tor the newspapers he shall read. Is
it not ms duty CHief Magistrate to consult such
sources of information he may think most desira-
BILE and proper, and if it be his pleasure to order the
U. =. Telegraph any other paper, is there pow
er In this Commonwealth competent to counter
lnand the order? With respect to the Baltimore
Republican, / maintain, that if the Governor con-
sidered the public money wasted in patronising the
scandal and billingsgate of that print, it was not
only his right but his duty direct it's discontinu
lnce. lie was hereafter TO authorize payment of
the subscription price, and not the OLD COCN-|
Judge whether 1T should longer contaminate tho
desks and tables of the Executive Chamber. How
otherwise could he have acted conscientious
nagistrate, than to have warned tho publisher of
the offensive journal, that he could no longer ex-
pect payment from the Treasury of Virginia7
'NEIlTAS" maintains, however, that if the
Governor can subscribe for one newspaper, and
discontinue another, without consulting his Coun-
ell, SO might he cmbody the militia and keep them
In service, without such previous consultations
hat ri .rhf to
embody the militia is expressly conferred By the xec
Constitution. upon the Chief Magistrate, and is
clearly discretionary power, which requires a
previous advice of Council Both tho Constitution
and powers which not. '''The Governor shall
convene the Legislature application of a ma
Jorty of the Members of the House of Delegates;
or, when, in his opinion, the interest of the COM
may require it," The latter power 10
Discretionary, and would require the advice of
;ounci The former would be exercised without
ny such advice, but upon the application of n ma
GRITTY of the House of Delegates. '.VERITAS"
fleets to ridicue the distinction between ordering
newspaper, and paying the subscription from the
Treasury. But despite of his ridculc, the distnc-
ton is to me perfectly clear one. To drd,C mon
y from the Treasury for any purpose is a recorded
Dcdt act, subject to be revised by tho Legislative
lower. 1t is palpable and visible transac tion,
or which the Chief Magistrate is necessarily re-
ponsible But, who has right to know, or in
uirc, If the Governor has subscribed for the IT, $.
to be ascertained? Is the Chief Magistrate then
o sit with folded arms, to do nothing and order
othing which, by possibility, may subject the State
o little expense, without previously consulting
us Counci,-althought that Council may perchance
IL be absent from the city? "a very possible case.)
IAN no not even direct Danforth to buy new wa
or pitcher, if the old one be broken or if the
eiiing of the Council Chamber should tumble
own, cannot the plasterer be called in without the
dvlce of Council7 If 1t be not so, then is the
thiei Magistrate trammeled by the meFcst mock
Try OF form, that ever invented.
But suppose, for arguments sake, that the act
vas unconstitutiona-aye, fagrantly unconstitu-
ional and imPeachablc! To whom is the Cover
Tor responsible? Does the Constitution give to the
Lieutenant Governor, or to the Council or to any
ther tribunal, except the Legislature tho right to
all the Chief Magistrate to an aCCount,-to revise
lis official acts, and blazon their Illegally to the
world? BY what authority did Lieut.. Gov. Daniel
INFORM Duff Green, that the Chief Magistrate had
,een guilty of improbable ofTcnsa7 I pass o.
'er the indignity offered to Governor Floyd. That
unless | am mistaken in his character,
IAN at all times, and III all places protect himself
rom injury or insult. But, ask, by what authority
he Chief Magistrate has been proclaimed beyond
he borders of this Commonwealth, rs Il violator Of
he Constitution, and that too by his subordindte
n Office! Was 1t not sufficient, that complaint
could be made to tho Legislature, at it's qsxt ses
sion, by any aggricvcd by his actsl Was it
necessary that the character of the State should
De humbCd,-the public ridicule excited and the
harmony of our public fIIucticnaries endangered,
by insignificant squabbc, about newspaper
put these questions TO the sober consideration
Of every unprecedented mind. ] put them 10 the
Lieut.. Governor himself, in the frankncss and in
dependence of a free citizen That his sub-excei- |
ency violated the constitution precisely in the |
same degree with Gov. Floyd--is what you, Mr.. |
Editor, have made 20 appaynut nd 10 uoorcover