Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1834-09-05
Richmond. Va. FRIDAY, sept. 5



and then we shall throw off only cursory srictres,
on the Wing, tchenSoecer fit. The first Ex-
position, indeed, will us the necessity of max
ing numerous criticisms hereafter; for, il we have
shown that the Wing has been blown abou, by eve
ny wind of doctrine; that il is guided by no fixed
principles thnt it has, in every respect abandoned
those tenets of State Rights which it now processes
TO support; that it has been the slave of faction and
not The proselytc of truth that to men, il has
ever been unsteady in its friendships and vrulent in
It's resentments the world may well excuse us for
the contempt in which we hold the Wing
We will once more test its general character for
principle and consistency. The Wing of Monday
las) AYERS, as " the golden maxim" of Mr. Leigh
THAT the federal agents shalt be restricted precise
powers conceded iha, Government by the Constitution
maxim which is The ground work OF Virgn principles so
called and contains within itself the substance and ay
of what she contend.d Tor in l79s what she conquered
1901, and what she has since with a consistency
without example, struggled TO maintain This ma kim we
were brought up 10 and that proclaimed aud
stood by at the Threshold of our poll ica lie the editor
Of the Enquirer we'll knows; for, inclined solely
from affection for it, TO bring forward Mr.
Monroe, Judge Spencer RoAns, Mr. Rches own cousin
SC. SC.
Now let us take any of those great measures
which have been universally considered as the tests
of the Virginia principles, and where do we find the
Wing? In what single respect has it shown its zeal
Tor them: In what has ii laboured to "reSfrici The
Federal Government 10 the precise po,cers conceded
by The Constitution ?" Take all, or take any-touch
it with the spear of Ithurel, aud see into what
monstrous Federal shape it starts forth.-For exam
| pie:
The TARIFF.--In 1896, the Wing expressly
avowed It's belief soften reiterated" that ga Tariff
| TO protect manufactures unconstitutional" So
far, so good-but let us carry it farther down in the
Chronicles, and see the wonderful vacilation of its
opinions. Three years after (lS29) the Wing MAIN
tains that Enquiry is busy, and many who have spe
culavely sci down to form an opinion for themselves,
have ended their investigation in conviction of the
utility of the Tariff. There arc now enlightened adj
vocates of the Tariff all over the State and the num-
Der is daily increasing" In 1880, il boldly declares
that tle political hostility OF Virginia the Tariff is
! greatly reiaxed-that the friends of projecting du
ties are multiplying in all quarters-and that the time
cannot be far distant, when this State will range her
self with that immense majority of the people of the
u. States, who have, irrevocably decreed, that the
protecting system shall constitute part of the per-
manent policy of the naon'-''We rejoice i'm it, for
two reasons: first, because after the most deliberate
examination which we are capable of making, we
believe IT good for the country" &C.. sc. And in
| 1881, what have we?
zone observation, how ever we cannot helm xpressng
coupled with regrct-ii is, the superior discernmeH
and acueness OF the politicians, who figure over
those great and wise who laid the foundations of the
American Government! !! For example, The first Con.
in 1883 pass act TO duties protect manu-
aetures 60 O'ne the power Is exercised Admnisira
ion alter Administration, by Washington, Jefferson, Ma
dson who all recognize and approve it, from 1859 to 1921
when. behoM Mr.. p. p Barbour discovers ii to be I'm
Constitutional Again this Judiciary is also passed by
The first Congress In 1889, aud remains the Statute
Book and in constant application until 1873 when behold
Gen Gordon and MIR. Warren Davis discover il TO be
plainly unconstitutional and that ought be repealed
One would really p'i0Ti, have imagined, whether truly
or unlruy, that the iustrous who actually framed
hei Constitution OF the United States, many OF whom
in the frs, Congress 1888, wouid have been as
likely TO know what constitutional or otherwise, as
MIR. p. p Barbour Gen. Gordon; hut this would have
been great nsske-ln this modest age, the credit OF
belonging TO particular school OF politics, gives every
splitting egotis every whip syiabub iu,oyer every
deinogogue Of sir months standing, tile TO dispute
me consfiufiondiity IF the most venerable Institutions
redred6y The hands Of the Fathers Of country, and
c0nsecTated by time and user
G...I a.. ~.
of the Tariff on Constitutional principles-and three
years after, rdiculing p u. Barbour and the hair
spltters who assert its nconsiitutionality "A pref
~ sample, indeed, of the Old School maxim of al
lowing no powers but what are precisely conceded
by the Constitution
The JUDICIAL ACT.-The same bold assertions
from the Whg-he same contemptuous disregard
OF The Principles of Virginia! Let the reader com
pare the expressions in the last extract we have
made from the Wing, with the decisions of the
Court of Appeals, in the case of Martin and Fair
fax, and with the doctrines there laid down by
Rome, Brooke Cabell, &c. Where does he rule, in
this respect, the Federal Government to the powers
precisely conceded by the Constitution?
TIE BANK THE u. STATES" If any question
could ever be finally decided and put to rest, we
thought that this of the Conslutionaity of the U.
States Bank was decidedly the one SO placed"-
Whig, Dec. 1899 Where do find in his that iea-
ous care of the Constitution Where the great soli
citude that the Federal Government should be ex-
uctly confined to the coded powers?
9NuttOHut IUlPFOCeHeftS.-UIon tDIS immense QueS-
ton, the Wing has changed like the moon-until at
last we find it declaring with the most contemptuous
sneer "l'he distribution of the surplus revenue
among the several States according their ratio of
representation was supposed (ercep 6y The politicians
Of the Richmond SchootD to dsentange the subject of
much of its difficulty; but we find that President
Jackson enerains doubt even OIL this branch of
the question."-And does not the Wing itself? Or,
are we in this respect too, to allow the government
to depart from the powers which are precisely con-
ceded TO il by the Constitution?
The Indian QueStion-Here again are the Rights
and Sovereignty of the States TO he sacrificed by
the Whg, TO its loose consructons-u utter vio
Iaton of its golden marin!
.Ntliifcdtion.-First it is decentralization
accursed thing" that the States Right party of Vir
gDia would neither taste, nor touch, nor handle"
The Party WHO advocated it, were traitors worse
tban the Hartford Convention men, But, in these
latter days, it was the rghuul remedy, even if we
take according to the extreme reading of the South
Carolina Nulliliers.
The Wing is devoted to the golden maxim
Of rigid Interpretation. II is oil for States Rights
even far rs Modification itself The other day
(26ih u) IL hailed the Signs of The Times with ac-
CARNATIONS
ave regard these indications OF the greatest political
interest. They show The tone OF the public mind They
exhibit the popular bent, aud the returning belief that
safety Zoe tie Public Liberty is only be found in abb
ding jealousy Of Federal power in eeGserss zig lance
upon us movements, and UncompT0misDg deterDIi.
nation 10 hold h TO The very letter Of its agency"
Now, how long has this new-bIown zeal for State
Rights been exhibited ? Where was all this ardor,
when the Virginia Legislature, the then only rally