Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1838-01-04
MIR. FletCIRer's Address.
WAsHINGToN, Dec. 23d, 1897
, THE PEOPLE OF BOSTON -

II FELLOW CITIZENS Effected II member
of the 25tb Congress by your unsolicited sut
frages, attended tie late extra session and
although | took no very active part ~ i's de-
bates, was far from being an indifferent OF
careless observer OF It's proceedings.
III Returning home after the close of that scs-
, Sion, I delivered, NJ you oil know, speech al
Il public meeting in Faneul Hall. III which
dwelt OF length and with earnestness on Ger.
tain proofs had seen, during my late resi-
dencc at Washington, Of what | regarded as
Il great and alarming extent of executive IN.
i!ucncc. In particular, made IL statement
upon this subject respecting the proceedings
in the committee of ways and iueans, of
which had been member.
>, In making that statement | was Al ,atod
by no feelings OF personal hostility towards
any member OF that committee. Nothing had
transpircd To create any personal nnkinGness,
and felt none. My attention was arrested
by what thought violation of the !unda.
mental principles upon which our govern
mcnt rests. saw in the interference rt the
= executive with the business of tha. commit.
tee, what appeared 10 me as'dangcrons en-
=, croachment. There is no more necessary
guarantee for public liberty, than the entire
! IsephratOn and independence of the different
/ de partncnts Of government. The union ol
all power in the hands OF single department
L. despotism. Nor is 1t material, whether
this union be sanctioned by law, or be imper.
ceptibly brought about by usage and prrce.
dent. lfit in fact exists, the result is the
same. Liberty is destroyed. Int govern
ment like ours, the great danger is, that while
the form still remains fair and attractive, the
spirit may depart, by gradual and i'm,
pecepiible decays the life Of liberty may be
distinguished, and nothing be left but tho
dead letter Of dlsrcgarded rights. Cons,an,
watchulncss and care against these dangers
is the price of our freedom.
Il Entertaining these views, ] felt myself
bound To communicate to my constituents
CT rtaln facts respecting the proceedings ir
the commttsc Of ways and means, which t,
Inc were alarming. These facts were i'm
por;ant and proper to be made known; and
must and shall at all times declare whatcve
truth seems to me to affect the public veal
5 No fear OF reproach shall keep me silent.
e The speech was mine with the prrpara
tlon OF the printed report,I had nothing to Go
GiI Mt lcvisc it. never saw line of
TIL after Us appearance in print. After it wa
published read it, though without giving
I any critical examination. Upon this reading
a 1t appeared io me substantially correct, an,
$ accordingly did not hesitate to circulate CO
pies OF It. Upon u severe scrutiny, one o
wv" Inaccuracies in IL have since been point
ed ont, which | he'd not before observed, snt
? whiCh now do not appear io me To affect q
; all the mntcral points OF the speech.
r During the second week Of the present scs
sion, six members of the late committee o
ways aud means published communication
IN the Washington papers Of the l2th inst.
IIcOmnilIuInu nf hp RI nf NV wb
referred TO the proceedings in that commit,
Zee. IT was judged proper by my friends tha,
should take some notice uf this coinmuuca.
ton IN the House, the same morning that il
appeared. Since the delivery of the speech
my attention hrd never been particularly cal.
led to the subject, ill this communication wa
shown to me. had no time To give the pa
ragraphs quoted III it, from the printed report
OF my speech, very accurate examination
The substance of the statements which ! hat
b made, was very strongly impressed upon my
memory and by the substance ofthosc state
Inents l was ready 10 abide. But there was
no necessity fN-, and it seemed To me, there
was no proprety IN my undertaking Ia be an
swcrablo for the exact words of n report.
which had not written, had not revised, had
not seen before its publication, and TO which
my attention had not been particularly cal
led, I'LL upwards ofa month after the speech
was delivered.
i Under these circumstances, esteemed it
due to myself, and due to the great question
of improper executive influence, which was
the only substantial matter ut issue between
me and the members Of the committee, to
dlsembarrass myself Of the particular phrase
o'ogy of report, which had not made nor
revised, and 10 re-statc, not the precise words
which did use. FOR, at such distance Of
time, that was utterly ont of my power but
the substance and the point of my statements,
which was ready then and at all times to
maintain.
Nothing could surprise or distress me more,
than to find that this disclaimer, which |
thought had distinctly limited TO the prepa.
ration and the original publication of the re-
port, should have been understood by many
as extending to its substance and its senii
mcnt. Had intended any such disclaimer
as that, the strong feelings which have been
excited upon the occasion, would have had
good cause. But such a disclaimer | GER
tainly never intended and if | understand
myself certainly never made.
In other observations which submitted to
the House. on The morning Of the 18th inst,
the following was my statement of what had
said IN my speech, touching the business uf
the committee OF ways and means. 81 had
stated, IN reference To the manner of con-
Quoting the business ofthe committee ofwuys
and means, that the bills reported by that
committee originated with the executive,
came 10 the committee, from the executive,
dawn mp in form. and were executive meus-
ures. had stated in terms, however, that in
calling them executive measures, ! had not
reference to the President simply, but also to
tie heads Of Departments"