Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1831-04-12

@u,Hu' contained IN one OF the letters YOU
'aoie' woich has been read, and despatch troop o
dplomatsts to Armenia and another to Persia or
> MISSIONS 10 which am very confident the Senate
"ouiu never give their advice az consent. If the
matter should end here, altho' | and the very few
'hers VINO still think do, might regret this un-
expected extension of Executive patronage and
useless waste OF the public treasure it would
De productive probably of much other positIve mis-
chiei al present But it might not end here.
Sir' we ilVe IN strange tiUes-Rcvoutions of 90
IVerhment and the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of empires
events which formerly were almost of as rare occur
renee In the political world, those terrible convul-
siohs OF the natural world, which sometimes have
shaken To lis centre the globe we inhabit have of
iate oecome quite common incidents We now feel
surprise II our newspapers 60 furnish us daily
with the details of some sanruinarv civil conflict Of
some new change III long established governments
or OF some dlvusion of ancen, states and er,p,res
ga dommions, are almost hourly tottering to their
ava new s,,yeregnties springing from their
ruIo are claiming TO be recognized AnGapeiite,t
| members Of The great family OF Nations At sucb
! 4 season as this, while the thunder rolls and the
lightning gleams in the distance only, ii becomes us
to look well to the ship in which all embarked
Our country expects every man to do his duty; and
the hrst duty she enluGs, faithful Observance
the mandates of her Conslitufion-If the President
alone, without consulting either house of Congress-
may institute an original mission to Turkey so he
may To Greece, to Egypt, to Belgium or to Poland
| Now we ali know. not only what might be, but Ger
taihly would be the result of this 1t would be lust
cause of war; and the l. 5 would at once be inVol-
we'd III that dreadful conhcl. which seems but to
wait the return of spring, to deiuge Europe onc,,
more with blood, and threaten the repose of all
ChrIStendom, perhaps of all the wurd-Here then
wonid De another anomaly our govrrnrncnt for
while Congress alone is authorized By the Con-
stuton TO declare war, by the mere exercise of
this ''triflng power of dspac ching Minister to a
new state, the President alone would be authorized
10 Drino aOout that state OF things, which the
wise authors ofthat instrument, certainly amended to
COMMIT to the discretion of Congress or!j.
'oGch Is the nature, and such may be the effects,
OF the triing lower, that has been exerted by the
FIeSHent opon this occasion, and which We are now
ASKED TO approve, TO sancIty, and to pcrpetuate
IN MN and MS successors-Let not be tol3 as has
been more than lnsinuated by some, that tins vast
power will be lodged IN the discretion of the P-es
dent; and that should have so much confidence
IN The wisdom and virtue of this officer as to believe,
that the power will not be abused exercised ndis-
cFeetIy. Sir, never had, and never can have, so
much confidence in any President, as willingly to
conlde to his unchecked discretion, any important
power, with even i hope that will net be abused
1t is IN the nature of man 10 covet power, and TO
abuse that which he has, III order acquire more;
ana OF all forms o. government, tins elective monar-
chy OF ours Is leust calculated to repress this natr
al proc!lvlty OF its temporary Chief especially If he
desires to retain his place for another term. Conf
dence the discretion of their Executive has ever
oeen the bane of Repubcs from the earliest day; and
speak In the spirit of our own Constitution when
say that instead of such confidence it incucates
distrust IN every line. Under the influence of this
spirit, denied the claim to his identical power
when 1t was asserted by the immediate predecessor
OF the present incumbent of the Presidential chair
and under the same Influence now deny it to him
in the discreet exercise of all the powers conferred
upon him by the COrsti; l:on, he ever has had and
ever shall have, my sincere and cordial support: but
whenever he oversteps the limit there prescribed
Will oppose his lawless acts, with the same zeal and
freedom, have ever heretofore manifested upon 9th
CT ike occasions. Has be done so in the instance
before US? This Is the question, to which now in
vte the attention of The Senate.
MIR President, whatever may be the opinions Of
ti,1 i,,I,,
Joyed by this body, other departments of this
government, think must all agree that the Elk
ecutive has no such inherent and underlined author
lty. All MS powers must be derived under some eX-
press grant contained in the Constitution. Inherent
power in him. would be but c0urily term to denote
prerogative; and the exercise of any ungranted a-
thority by him, is nothing else than mere usurpation
Let US then turn 10 the charter 81 if that contains
the concession OF any such power, has been here
eXerted
1t is true, that the LIST Section Of the I'd Article Of
the Constitution, vests IN the President 'the Exc
cutlve power;" and equally true, that the power
which has been exercised upon this OCCASION IS pro
perry an Executive power. Therefore, if here was
no other provision in the Constitution upon the sub
Ject than this, doubt would exist that the Pres
ldent was thereby authorized to do that which he
has donc.-But the Constitution does not stop here
VERY soon after this general grant of the Executive
power, and in the next section Of the same article
which contains the grant, the Constitution proceeds
/ to check and restrain the power so granted. by
prescribing the in which alone the President
must exercise lt.ThHs, in the Cd paragraph of the
Cd Section of this Cd Article, it declares that
The shall have power. by and with the advice and
consent OF The Senate, to make treaties, provided
two-thirds OF the Senators present concur and then
tlat che shall nominate, and BY and with the advice
and consent Of the Senate, shall appoint am5assa-
doris other public ministers and consuls iudges of the
Supreme Court, and all other officers of The United
States, whose appointments not herein otherwise
provided for and which shall be established bv law"
Icrce II is obvious, that although the Executive pow
er Is vested IN the President alone he is expressly
Inhibited from making treaties, IF indeed that Is an
Executive Power) or appointing to any Office OF the
United States, (which certainly is SUCH without the
advice and consent of the Senate But the officers
in question, never have been nominated to the Sen
ate. nor has this body advised consented TO their
appointment in any way-Ther-iore. the act of he
President in comforting these appointments without
the concurrence ofthe Senate can derive no sanction
or support from this part Of the Constitution.
II this act can be justified at all its justification
must be sought for in the next paragraph ofths same
section, which declares, that "thc President shall
have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen
during the recess Of the Senate, by granting commits
sons which shall expire at the end Of tbelg next
session" This is the only part of the Constitutions