Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 182?-183?, 1832-02-24
DEBATE IN THE SENATE.
ON MIR. VAN BUREN's NoMINATIoN.
REMARKS OF MR.. SMITH

bate on the nomination of Martin ' al
Buren, several times. The whole O
his remarks are, however, embraced
in the following speech:
Mr.. PRESIDENT:
have said, chat the Secretary Of
State is not responsible for instructions
given By order of the President that,
the President is the only responsible
person to the constitution. In England,
agreeably to its constitution, the king
can do. no wrong, and his advisers are
held responsible to Parliament. Our
constitution is different, as / understand
Department in 1889, is that under
which every Secretary has acted, and
must continue to act. This law saws
"the Secretary for foreign affairs shall
perform and execute such duties as shall
from time to time be enjoined on or in
trusted to him by the President Of the
United States, agreeably TO the constitu-
ton, relative to correspondence, com
missions, or instructions, to or with pub
lie ministers or consuls from the United
States. or to negotiate with public min
listers from foreign States or Princes and
furthermore, that the said principal of
ficer, Secretary of State, shall conduct
the business of the said department, in
such manner as the President of the u.
States shall, from time to time, "order
or instruct "
Such, Mr.. President, is the law. The
Secretary can do no act without the d.
Tection of the President; and, whatever
he directs, if agreeably to the constitu-
ton, the Secretary, under the oath he
takes, must perform. What is the oath?
"W ell and faithfully to execute the trust
committed to him" What is that trust2
Obedience to the instructions Of the Pre-
sident in all cases where the constitution
is not to be violated.
have, Mr.. President, been thirty
nine years in Congress. and this is the
first occasion have ever heard any 9TH
er construction seriously urged, than
'that the instructions given to the min
listers abroad are the act ofthe President"
ALI the instructions, remember, com
menced thus: 81 am instructed by the
President to give you the following
1 well remember case in point, which
transpired while / was in Congress more
than thirty years past. | was called
from my seat by the then Secretary of
the Navy. He asked me what the
House ofRepresentatives were doing. |
replied, that they were discussing the re-
port of Mr.. Pickering. Do the House
considar ~ a. tho raDorf of tho Drac;Jan+
or the Secretary ofState? 1t is consider
ed as the act of the President, who sent
it, and how could it otherwise be consi
dered? | come, said the Secretary, from
Mr.. Adams, to request you to say, that
he disavows it, and trusts that the House
will consider it as the act Of Mr.. Picker
ing, and not as his, Mr.. Adams act.
returned into the House of Representa-
tives, and, in the debate, took occasion
to comment upon the report, as severely
as the report reflected upon MIR. Gerry
for remaining in France. | was called
to order three times. then asked the
Speaker in what respect | was out of or
der. He replied, you must consider the
report as the act of the President; for the
Executive had made it his by sending il
to the House" | answered, that the
President disavowed it, and, therefore,
1 could not treat the report as the Pre-
sident's. ] took my seat. An appeal
from the Speakers decision was had, and
the vote of the House sustained the OPP
inion of the Speaker by large MAORI
ty; thus establishing, that the President
was responsible and not the Secretary, for
acts done under his authority. In the
ease before us, the President gave his d.
Tections the instructions were put into
form by the Secretary; the President
read and approved them, and they were
delivered to Mr.. McLane. How do we
know but that the paragraph which has
offended the delicate sensibilities ofgen-
tlemen, had been actually dictated by the
President / do not think it at all i'm
probable; and if so, is it not an act Of
gross injustice to make Mr.. Van Buren,
responsible for til The paragraphs so
frequently alluded to in debate, are sub
Stdntially true. admit, they might as
well have been omitted. Some one has
said. that he "did not believe that Cen
eral Jackson had ever read the instruc-
tions." Little does that Senator know,
the President, if he believes so. / can
assure that Senator, that the President
read, g. carefully too, the instructions to
Mr.. McLane, and approved Of them"
[ wish that Senator would converse with
the President upon any Of our national
affairs. and he will certainly find that the