Southern Argus., 1837-10-10

time said.-.'The TORIES are lot
STRENGTHENING the General Erecutice
GoveTnment. The WHIGS cherish
the RepresentataUe branch as the pull
wark against CoNsoLIDATIoN5,, y 1Gnte~ 4I21,,
must ultimatelv end in MONARCHii
Time has flown upon the "~IngS o. u 'lie
wind;"-parties have arisen and ial1en' B
but the immutable principles OF Re
publicanism stand as firm as the rock
that has breasted the surges oI Of ola
ocean for centuries unnumbered. lhose
measures. which in the times OF the
"patriarch of Monticello" would have
given strength to Executive power are
as much to be detested nO'o as lhey
were hen;-Eforts to consolidate pow
er in Executive hands which was then
made and heroicaIIy combatted, If n0'o
made, must arouse patriotism to the
battle. The Sub-Treasury System,
proposed by Mr.. Van Buren,, and sup
ported by Messrs. Benton, Wright and
Calhoun, as we understand it, is one
which every lover of Eepubhcanlsm,
every lover of his country, must oP-
pose. 1t strikes us, as a measure, that
must ultimately give to the Executive
more power than that possessed by
Constitutional Monarchs. In the first
place, it creates in addition to the thou
sands who now hold office by the will
and favor of the Executive, thousands
more, who, like them, will hold their
appointments according as their poIltl-
cal sentiments tally with his own. Mr..
R1vEs in opposing the Sub-Treasury
scheme, on the floor of the Senate, on
the 10Th September last, stated, that
the Sub-Treasury system now in Prac-
tice in France, takes ONE HUNDRED
THOUSAND OFFICERS to carry it on, and
asserted that it would take AT LEAST as
many in this country! In the second
place, an expense is created, which the
government is poorly able to sustain.
Say it requires 100000 men to carry
into operation the system, and that their
salaries average $500 per annum.-
Here is an annual expense Of one mill
ion fUs hundred thousand dollars to
perform a duty which has heretofore
cost nothing. In the third place, the
risque of loosing the government funds
is increased in the ratio of nothing to
one hundred thousand every year. The
heads of Departments, under the pres
ent system, report numerous defauIters.
Postmasters, Receivers Of Land Off
ces, Pursers, &c. &c. became defaul-
ters daily; and, if we recolleCt Alright,
Mr.. Kendall lately reported about four
hundred postmasters who, during the
present year, had withheld the govern
ment funds. With an increase of 100
600 government receiving and disbur-
sing officers, can it be expected stlar-
wise than defalcations should occur in
the same proportion? Now, if all these
evils are to arise from the Sub-Trea-
surY System, it cannot possibly be sup
ported by State Right men. We
care not who supports tive care not
what party originated tive, as an in
citizen of the United States,
attached to the principles
which actuated those who barred their
breasts to the shafts of battle on the
summit of Bunker's Hill,-on the
plains Of Monmouth, and on the sands
of the sunny South; devoted to our
country, our 1ohole country, cannot and
will not lend such system, a system
which we believe, was conceived in
SIN" our humble appreciation. 1t is at
war with pure Republicanism;-It is
another stepping stone to Executive u
surpation, and is the very means which
TORIES have always used in
Strengthening the Executive govern
ment." We may hereafter understand
the subject differently; but. according
to the Sights now before us, it must
and will, conscientiously and patrioti-
Gally,receive our unqualified opposition.
In conclusion, we will express our o.
Plnlon that a change in the manage
ment of the government funds must be
made, so as to remove them farther
from the Executive control than thew
now are; but, as to what plan, we must
leave 1t to older and wiser heads than
ours. We cheerfully adopt the Ian
guage of the Alexandria Gazette: that
III the public purse can be kept out of
the hands of the Executive, we 90 for
any thing rather than the Leogue of
Pet Banks. But we must be sure that
that can be done before we move"