Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1837-10-25

"1I St@A ~ II 80 o1@h y N0i1i0 |
and powerful language by a report
made by the Senator bImself1 When
were they ~disbanded7 What has be-
come of prescription? Its victims may
be exhausted, but the spirit and the
power which sacrificed them remain
unsubdued. What Of the dlsmissing
power? What Of the veto1 OF that
practice of Withholding bills, contrary
TO the Constitution, still more repre-
hensIble than the abuses of the veto
OF Treasury orders, put in force and
maintained in defiance and contempt Of
the legislative authority? And, al
though last, not least, OF that expunging
power which degraded the Senate, and
placed it at the feet of the Executive?
Which of all these enormous powers
and professions has toe present Chief
Magistrate disavowed? So far from
disclaiming any n Of them, has he
not announced his intention to follow
IN the very footsteps of his p~redeces-
SORT And has he not done il? Was
It against the person of Andrew Jack.
son that the Senator from South Caro-.
lima so ably co-operated with US? No,
slr.no, sir, no. 1t was against his
usurpations, as we believed them, a.
galnst his arbitrary administration,
above all, against that tremendous and
lrlghtlul augmentation Of the power Of
the executive branch of the Govern.
ment, that we periodically but vainly
commended. The person of the Chief
Magistrate is changed, but there stands
the Executive power, perpetuated in
all its vast magnitude, undiminished,
re-asserted, and overshadowing all the
other departments of the Government.
Every trophy which the late President
won from them now d~ecorates the Ex.
ecutive mansion. Every power, which
he tore from a bleeding Constitution,
IS o in the Executive arnory, ready,
as time and occasion may prompt the
existing incumbent, whoever he may
be, to be Numbered against the liber-
ties of the People.
Whatever may have been the mo-
tlves or the course of others, | owe it
to myself and to truth to say, that, in
deprecatlng the election Of Gen. An
drew Jackson to the Office Of Chief
Magistrate, it was not from any private
considerations, but because | consider
ed 1t would be Il great calamity TO my
country and that, in whatever oppo.
sltlon | made 10 measures of his Admit
nlstratlon, which more than realized
my very worst approximations, | was
guided solely by a sense Of pubIlc duty.
And do now declare my solemn and
mistaken conviction that, until the Eek.
ecutive power, as enlarged, extended,
and consolidated by him, is reduced
within its true constitutional limits,
there is no permanent security for the
Liberties and happiness of the People.
A.. Lastly, pass this bill, and whate.
yer divorce it's friends may profess to
be It's aim, that p%erilous union of the
purse and the sword, SO justly dreaded
by our British and Revolutionary an.
%cestors, becomes absolute and com.
plete. And who can doubt it who
knows that over the Secretary of the
Treasury at Washington, and every
sub Treasurer, the President claims the
power to exercise uncontrolled sway {?
10 exact implicit obedience to his
will?
The message states that, in the pro.
cess both OF collection and disburse.
ment ofthe public revenue, the officers
who perform it act under the Execu.
tive commands and it argues that,
therefore, the custody also ofthe Trea.
sury might as well be confided to the
Executive care. think the safer con-
c%lusjon is directly opposite. The pos.
session OF so much power over the ma.
tlonal treasure is just cause of regret,
and furnishes a strong reason for di.
mlnlshlng it, if possible, but none for
Its increase, none for giving the achoie
power over the purse TO the Chief Ma.
gistrate.
Hitherto nave considered this scheme
OF b-Treosuries as if it was only
what lis friends represent ia system
solely for the purpose Of collecting,
keeping, and dlsbursing the public mo-
ney, in specie exclusively, without any
bank agency whatever. But it is man.
fest that it is destined to become, if it
be not designed to be, a vast and ra-
mlfied c%onnexIon ofGcvernment banks,
OF which the principal will be al Wash
lngtor, and every sub. Treasurer will
be a branch. The Secretary is autho.
rIzed to draw on the several sub. Trea.
surers in payment for all The disburse.
ments of Government. No law re.
STREETS hIm as to the amount or form of
his drafts or checks. He may throw
them into amounts suited to the purpo-
SEES of circulation, and give them all
the appearance and facilities OF bank
notes. Of all the branches ofthis sys-
tenn, that at New York will be the
most important. since ahont one- hoIroCl