Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1840-07-10

tagc gained over an Indian chief by til,
trcachcry of an American officer
The army has been dcmoralizcd,by making
appointments and promotions depend, notup-
on professional ability and fidelity, but upon
political subscrvicncy and efficiency, and the
administration is now Recommending the crca
ton of STANDING ARMY or TWO HUN
DRIED THOUSAND MEN, under the
pretence of organizing the militia.
"To promote the general welfare"
This is perhaps the most comprehensive
clause in the preamble which we are consid-
erng, and it is by virtue Of similar express
sion in the article of the constitution which
defines the authority of Congress, that that
body claims and exercises its largest powers.
The practical exposition of this clause APP
pears to have been that Congress, when not
otherwise restricted 10y the fundamental law
of the land, may legIslatc on all subjects, in
which the whole people have a common inter-
est. With the exception Of comparatively
unimportant difficulties with the 1ndiantrlbes,
we have enjoyed a period of about twenty
five years of profound peace. The harvests
have in general been eXuberant, foreign cap
ital has flowed in abundantly for permanent
investment, the public revenue of the nation
has in general greatly exceeded the wants Of
the government, and the people have been
orderly and industrious. With these ele-
mcnts, it should seem not difficult problem
so to govern free people as to render them
prosperous and happy. What then have the
present and late administration done to pro-
mote the welfare of people, which ten
years since was the frccst and the most pros
porous upon the face of the globel To
what cause but the acts and ncglccts of our
government can we ascrbc the notorious
facts, that the national Treasury, which lately
, overlooked, IS now bankrupt; that every
branch of industry is Frustrated; that the
price Of every article of American growth or
, produce, and even oflabour itself, is reduced
to rates runous alike to the labourcr, the
, agricuturst and the manufacturer; that the
pecuniary credit of the union, and of the
/, states, is at the lowest possible ebb; that
we arc wholly withoutan adequate circulating
medium, and that spirit of mutual torbear-
y ancc alone has hitherto saved both creditor
i and debtor from common ruin! 1t is idle to
i ascribc the universal prosraton of the ener-
/ gies ola youthful peopleto the trihing, partial
n and inadequate causes BY which the subsidized
= presses and partizans Of the present dynasty
8 attempt,o explain it. The people know the
- causes, and the authors, and they will rcdres
=. themselves by the speedy removal of both.
a "To secure the blessings of liberty, to our
}. selves and our postcrlty."
d We come now to the chief grievance O
(. which the American people have to complain
in The other evils to which we have alluded ar
&c cndurable, because they are in their natur
n temporary, but when the foundations o.
10 which rest all our free institutions are Slapped
% when the constitution itself is shaken, whe
,e the utter pcrversion and misapplication of a
the powers conferred upon the federal gov
crnment lead men to question the utility OF
central power, and to calculate the value c
- the union, it is time to rccur to first principles
and to inquire whether it is yet too late
&c &c repair what it may otherwise soon be out c
" our power to rebuild We use no idle word,
- when we say tina, the downward progress an
tendency of our system of government ha
y, for the last ten years filled the friends of ra
~ tional liberty with dismay, and that many {
=" the wiscst observers among lis do now loo
~ forward with more of fear than of hope
" The prodgious increase of the power an
~ patronage of the federal government, tn
, daring usurpatlons of the executive and {
- Congress, the reckless and proiligatc eXper
~ dturc of the public moneys, the shamclc:
vs. adoption and avowal of the principle tn;
=, public Office is the appropriate reward tc
~ !" party services, the regular and constant en-
~ ployment of the entire power and resource
- of the government in maintaining the ascer
- dancy Of a party, and, as in tho late case
y New Jersey, the abandonment Of forms
~ proceeding to which obvious necessity ar
=. long use had given the force of law, these il
., deed, when considered as the fruits Of bat te
~ years ofmisrulc by government elected |
" the people, are enough to excite the Jealous
y and rouse the vigilance, of the most conlide
~ and sanguinc admrcr Of republican inst!t
u tons.
But the past ten years have been years
>, feverish excitement, and the people are no
awakng as from a distcmpercd Dream
o. The whole nation had been infected with
ITS recklcssness and impotence of spirit, whi
n finally found vent in career of rcckle
G., speculation; and the propensity to indulge
pa these adventurous schemes was most info
y, tunatclS COulltcnaHtcu ny INC IoliNl vi u
he government in relation to the public domai
and the currency. Vast tracts of land we
ma thrown into the market, and made subject
H. entry at government prices; settlers we
We induced to occupy these as well as unsurve
les ed lands by the promise Of prc-cmpti
IS laws; emigration to the more inacccssiI
TO and remote territories was encouraged by I
raj expectationtha rail roads, canals, and ariGc
Dr. harbours would be constructed throughc
ne the mighty west at the national expense, a
ed for all these enterprises the means We
Oh abundautly supplied by the mushroom banl
which it was the policy of the dominant pa
re, ty to substitute for the Bank of the Unit
i'd States. Ovortradng with Europe was pr
OF NOTED by connivance at frauds on the re,
of nue. laws so extensive as to be Of thcmsclv
ry sufficient to ruin all the manufactures of t
ole nation. But these decisions have pass
ual away with the administration which usher
en-. them in, and the approaching crisis will sh
cnt our rulers that there is point, beyond viii
Hal al l.