Litchfield enquirer., 1840-10-22

Union, has ever rejected, dlSoWned, dlsaVoW- l cd the power of removal for opinions sake.-l Loud cheers.) 1 do honor to Virginia in this respect. That power has been far less practised in Virginia than in certain States where the Spells doctrine is known to be more popular. But this power of removal, sanctioned as it is by time, does exist, and l have seen it exercised in every part of the country where public opinion tolerated 1t, with most remorseless hand.
 I will now say, however, that which l ad- init to be very presumptuouS, because It IS said, notwithstanding the illustrious authorl- ty of one of the greatest of your great men a man better acquainted with the Constitu- tion of the United States than any other man "a man who saw it in it's cradle-who held it in his arms. as one may say, in it's infancy --who presented and recommended 1t to the American people, and who saw it adopted very much under the force ot his own req soning and the weight of his own reputation -who lived long enough to see 1t prosperous ito enjoy its honors-and who at last went down to the grave among ten thousand olcs- sings for which morning and evening he had thanked God :-I mean James Madison Yet even from this great and good man, whom hold to be the chief among the just interpreters of the Constitution, am con- strained, however presumptuous 1t may be considered, to differ in relation to olie of his interpretations of that instrument. l refer to the opinion expressed by him, that the power of removal from office does exist m the Constitution as an independent power.- wish he had taken different view of it, do not say that he was wrong; that m me would be too great presumption. | advert to this now, to show, that 1 am not now for the first time preaching against the danger of an increase of Executive power for when the subject was in discussion before Con- gress, expressed there the same opinions which have now uttered, and which have been only tbe more confirmed by more re. cent experience. Tho power ot removal places the hopes and fears, the living, the daily bread of men at the disposal of the Ex- ecutive. and does, thereby, cause vast aug mentaton of Executive influence and con trol. Then, again, from the very nature of things the Executive power ncts constantly; it is always in being-always in the citadel and on the look out and it has, besides, uniformity of purpose. They who are in, have but one object, which is to keep all oth- CTS out; while those who are not in office, hnd who desire a change, have variety of different objects, as they are to be found lh different Iarts of the country. One com plains of one thing. another of another; and, ordinarily, there is no strict unity of object or of candidate; and, therefore, 1t IS that
 those welding power within the citadel are able to keep the others out, though they may
 be more numerous. Hence we have seen an Administration, though in a minority, yet by the continued exercise of power, able to bring over the people to the support of such n measure as the Sub- b-Treasury, which, when it was first proposed, received but lit- tle favor in any part of the country.
 Again: though it may appear compara- lively inconsiderable, yet, when we are looking at tho means by which the Execu- tive power has risen to it's present threaten ing height, we must not overlook the power pf-I will not say pensioned-but of pat ronized Press. Of all things in popular Government, Gouernment Press is the most to be dreaded. The Press furnishes the only
 means of public address and if Government by supporting comes to control it, then they
 take to themselves, at the public expense, the great channel of all communication to the People. Unless France be an exception,
 where the Minister regularly demands so ma ny thousand francs for the management of the public press, l know of no Government in the world where the Press is avowediy pat roniZed to the same extent as 1t IS m this country. Have not you, men of Virginia, been mortified to witness the importance which is attached at Washington to the election of Public Printer! Co observe the great anxiety and solicitude which even your own friends have been obliged to exer- else to keep that appointment out of the hands of Executive power? One of the first things to be done when new Administra. ton shall come into power will be to sepa- rate the Government Press from tho Politics of the country. Cloud Cheers) l don't want the Government Printer to preach poli- tics to the People; because know before hand what politics he will preach-it will be one 10 Iriumphe from the beginning of the first page to the end of the last para graph. am for cutting off this power from the Executive. Give the People fair play
 Isay, Give the People fair play. If they think the Government is in error, or that better men may be found to administer ii, give Aheki a chance to turn the present men out and put better men in; but don't let them be compelled to give their money to pay man to persuade them not to change the gov ernment. Slaughter and loud checring)
 Well, there are still other modes by which Executive power is established and confirm ed-the first thing it seeks to do is to draw Strict lines of party opinion, to appeal to the party feelings of men. This IS topic which might lead me very far into an lnqui. " as to the causes which have overturned all popular Governments. It is the nature of men to be credulous and confiding toward their friends. If there exists in the country a powerful party, and if the head of that party be the head of the Government, and ayowing himself the head of that party, gives thanks for the public honors he has receiv- ed. not to country, but to his party, then we can sec the causes in operation which, ac- cording to the we'll known character and tendencies of man, lead us to give un-