The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-07-16

tafnty Of infdGlity and treachery, with even the
highest funryionarv of the States and hence an
the restrictions, securities, and guarantees Whion
the wisdom of our ancestors or the sad,exPerience
oil history Had incucated, have been devised anu
thrown around the Chief Magistrate.
Here friends and fellow-citizens, let US pause
and contemplate this stupendous structure oil
Executive machinery and despdtism when mas
been reared in our vonng Republic. The Execu-
tive branch of this Government is'a unit; thro-
out ali its arteries and VEINS there IS Dnt one
heart, one head, will. The nuraoer oil inc
subordinate Executive officers and dependents III
the UNITED States has been estimated, in an ONT
cial report, founded public documents n,aoe
bv a senator from South Carolina, (Mr. Cat-
houn9 at one hundred thousand. Whatever 1t
may be, all of them, wherever they are sltua-
ted are bound implicitly TO obey the orders Oh
the President And absolute obedience TO ms
viii Is secured and enforced by the power OF DIS
missing them, at his pleasure, from their respect
iveeElaces. To make tiis terrible power OF as
mission more certain and efIcacIous, lts eNeIcise
is eovered up in mysterious secrecy, wlthout cA-
posure, without the smHllestre-ponslolllty. nc
Constitution and laws Oh the United states '@ie
To, he executed in the sense in Which the Fresi-
dent understands them, although that sense may
be AT variance with the understanding oil every
6ti.er man in the United States. 1t ollsVVs,'as a
necessary consequence from the principle dedu-
ced by the President from the constitutional IN
junction as to the execution Oh Jue ldNS, t'., -
an act of Congress 6e passed, in has 0p1ton5
contrary to the Constitution, OF ii a decision he
pronounced by the courts, In his opinion, contra
nv to the Constitution or the laws, that act 'or
That decision the President is not Obliged TO en-
/ force, and he could not cause't to be enioTes9;
without violation, as is pretended, OF his OH
cial oath Candor requires the admission that
the principle has not yet been pushed in practice
to these cases; but it manifestly compartments
them and who doubts that, If the spirit OF ustrP
alton is not arrested and rGbuked, they Will be
finally reachcd2 The march Of power IS ever
Onward. As times and seasons admonish, 1t
openly and boldly, in broad day, makes its pro-
eress: or. if alarm be excited by the enormity Of
its pretensions, it silently and secretly, Ii the
dark of the night, steals its devious way. 1t
now storms and mounts the Tar1parts OF the Tor
tress of liberty; it now saps and undermInes ITS
foundations. Finally, the command OF the ar
my and navy being already in the President, and
having acquired perfect control over the Urea
stry of the United States, he has contaminated
that frightful union of purse and sword, so long,
SO mucls so earnestly deprecated by all true low
eTs of civil liberty. And onr present Chief Ma
eistrate stands selemnly and voluntarily pledged
iIssthc face of the whole world, to follow in the
Footsteps and carry out the measures and the
principles of his illustrious predecessor!
The sum of the whole is, that there is but one
power, one CONTROL one will in the State. All is
concentrated in the President. He directs, OF
de~s, commands the whole machinery of the
State. Through the official agencies, scattered
throughout the land, and absolutely subjected to
his will, he executes, according to his pleasure
or caprice, the whole power Of the Common
wealth. which has been absorbed and engrossed
BY him And one sole win predominates in, and
aidmates the whole of, this community If this
be not practical despotism, | am incapable of
conceiving or defining it, Names nothing
The existence or non-existence Of arbitrary gov
erns1ient does not depend upon the title or denom
nation bestowed on the chief of the State, but
upon the quantum of power which he possesses
and yvields. Autocrat, sultan. emperor, dictator,
king doge, president, are all mere names, in
which the power respectively possessed by them
is not TO be found but is to be looked for in tie
Constitution, or the established usages and psae
tees Of the several States which they govern and
control. If the Autocrat of Russia were called
President of all the Russias, the actual power |
remaining unchanged, his authority, under his
new denomination, would continue undiminish- |
ed; and ii the President of the United Statts
were to receive the title of Autocrat of the Uni
ted States, the amount of his authority would net
be increased, without alteration of the Con- |
stitution.
General jackson was bold and fearless reap |
err carving a wide row, bat he did not gather
the whole harvest; he left some gleanings to his |
faithful successor and he seems resolved to sweep
clean the field of power. The duty Of inculca- |
ting on the official corps the active exertion OF
their personal aud Official influence was left by
him to be enforced by Mr. Van Buren,, in all pop |
ular elections. 1t was not sufficient that the OF |
fetal corps was bound implicitly to obey the will
of the President Il was not sufficient that this
obedience was cOereed by the tremendous power
of dismssion. 1t soer became apparent that this |
corp might be benefcialiy employed to pronsote, in
other matters than the business of their Offices,
the views and interests of the President and his
party. They are far efficient than any |
ipr of a standing
army would be separated, and stand out from the
People; would be object of jealousy and sus-
picion; and being always in corp or in detach-
nents, could exert no influence on popular cleo
tons But the official corps is dispersed through
out the country in every town, village, andcty,
mixing with the People, attending their meetings
and conventions, becoming chairmen and men,
bers of committees, and urging and stimulating
partizaas to active and vigorous exertiOn. Act
ing in concert, and throughout the whole Union,
.beyIng orders issued from the centre, their inlu-
ence, aided by Executive patronage, by the Post
Office Department, and all the vast other means
of the Executive, is almost irresistible.
To correct this procedure, and to restrain the
subordinates of the executive from all interior
ence with popular elections, my colleague, (Mr
Crittenden) now present, introduced bill IN the
Senate. He had the weight of Mr.. Jeiterson's
opinion, who issued circular to restrain federal
officers from intermeddling in popular elections.
He had before him the British example, accord
ing to which, placemen and pensioners were not
only forbidden to interfere, but were not, some
of them, even allowed to vote at popular cleo
tons But this bill left them free to exercise the
elective franchise, prohibiting only the use of
tn cir official influence. And how Yves this bill
received in the Senate? Passed, by those who
profess to admire the character and to pursue the
principles OF Mr.. jefferson? No such thing. 1t
was denounced as sedition bill. And the just
odium of that sedition bill, which was intended
to protect Office holder against the people, was
used to defeat measure Of protection
of the people against the Office holders Not
only were they left unrestrained, but they were
urged and stimulated by an official report to en-
ploy their influence in behalf OF the administra-
ton, at the elections of the people.
Concluded fo-ntofrotc)