Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1839-07-19

appo tment OF subordinate executive Off.
GERS, which was, in the contemplation of
the trainers Of the constitution, a high and
delicate trust. To be executed for the single
purpose Of n faithful execution of the laws,
has been converted into an instrument of
executive ambition. The check of the
Senate has been rendered almost mug atory
by the power which The President has been
able to exert over that body by his influ-
ence. brought to bear upon the election Of
its members. and upon themselves person.
ally after their election. The subordinate
executive officers, multiplied to vast extent.
and located IN every State and Territory,
and in almost every town and village, IN the
UCion, have by the avowed principle of
their appointment and liability to removal,
been brought into a s,a,e Of such complete
dependence on the Executive, as to attach
them most strongly TO his interests, in OPP
position TO the other branches Of the gov
eminent. Thousands of officers have been
removed because they would not become
the parlizans Of the executive, and thou.
sands put in their places, because they
,oouid. The spirit Of Executive partizan.
ship has heen thus infused into the whole
corps Of Executive officers, and been armed
with their whole influence to aid 10 giving
the executive a control over the popular
mind. The President has, in fact, an
agent, faithful to his interests. in almost
every town and village in the Union. 10
the fearful enlargement Of his power, the
character of his high office has been
changed from that of an upright unambl
Iious republican Chief Magistrate, to the
mere head of party. He wields q patron.
age of millions; and that patronage has
been found to give to men IN his service,
an activity, an energy and perseverance
which patriotism would be powerless to
impart.
II is bv such means that there has come
to be a Presidents PARTY in the United
States. and that 1t is dls'Ingushed above
all other parties in The country for it's unity
Of purpose the comple' eness of its organiza.
ton, and the vIgor and efficiency of it,
operations.
1t is against this party, fellow citizens.
that we are conendlng. We are fighting
ne battle OF the Constitution against the
daring encroachmenrs of power.
1t were comparatively, an easy task to
MAINTAIN the true principles of the Consti
ton IN heir conflict with abstract error.-
1t It stood only IN lts owD strength, there
would be little to fear from it. But when
| other means than that Of argument are
used to sustain It; hen patronage comes
! ~. with It's appeal to the selfish passions,
and It's long tram Of sinister influences
truth struggles with q fearful odds. Let
the party against which we are contendng
be stripped of lis Expcu,v. armor; let he
power Of making aud unmaSlng thousands
OF executive officers be placed 10 hand-
where it shall cease to have conneX,on
with party-where it can exert no political
influence, aud find no motives of ambition
to stimulate it 10 encroachmeni. and our
work ss party will be accomplished. -
Our very name will cease to have pracll.
cal signlficancy. If the unrighteous as.
sumptions Of power by BRUSH King had
been seasonably abandoned. and our revo.
luiionary fathers had been permitted the
enjoyment Of their just rights, The name OF
Wing would never have been consecra,ed
in their seven years struggle for liberty
But power sought to govern them withou,
their consent. and the Wings of '76 resist.
ed it. Power usurped. now seeks to gov.
ern the people of the United States. and
The Wings of 1889 grid on lhlr armor to
meet it. 1t does not cross the ocean in
armed leglons, to crush US by physica
force; but It rises up in the midst of us
less imposing, indeed, but more dangerous.
Ii is rot the power Of arms, but of infu
ence-not the influence of truth acting on
the reason Of men. but Of patronage acting
on their sefshness and credulity.
The great question at issue between the
Wing and Executive parties, is a vital
question. 1t goes TO the foundation Of the
Constitution, and is of an importance in.
comparably greater than can be connected
with any measures affecting merely the
credit the currency, the manufactures, or
the commerce OF the country. The Wing
party are resisting encros chments of power
which. ocqulesceh in, will subverl the Con
slitution. A functional arrangement of
the human system may be cured with com
parative ease but how formidable Is an
organic disease, firmly seated. Who shall
restore the Constitution. after it has been
essentially changed by usurpa'ion, and
popular acquiescence? Who shall admin.
lister remedy, when the same operai ion
that diseases the patient, infcts a paralysis
upon he only physician that has the power
Of healing.
Looking only at the abuses of Execu.
tive power in their fragrant enormlty, as
violations Of the Constitution. there would
seem IN them enough to warrant the hope
Of an immediate correction by the popular
will. An administration far less usurplng.
and far less regardless of Constllu, iona
restraints than The present, was put down
in 1901. And shall this administration
triumph in its augmentation Of the same
abuses? Can it live with the "federallsm''
of '98 broadly stamped on its front, and
spread out there in full and ma,ured pro,
portions? Thus should we reason, fellow
citizens, had we not considered the nature
and tendency. and marked the pracilcal