Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1840-01-30
ADDRESS


TO THE ELECTORS OF CONNECTICUT.
| Fellow CITIZENS
selecting the candidates TO be supported BY the Whg
party The next election. we now beg leave 20 pre-.
sent your consideration, as briefly possible, some
OF the questions which now agitate the country and
which are be decided by your verdict al the noIe
| No one who 10 acquainted with the people of Con-
neccut, can doubt that, as body, they are honest
not among those, who "know the right and vet the
wrong pursue" We have reason therefore TO hone
that exposition of the principles OF the great party
which has united in opposition tothe present national
administration, cannot fail to produce favorable ef-
feet upon the minds Of all candid inqurers after TRUTH
The annual election which IS soon TO take place in
this State, to be contested not only upon questions
of domestic policy, but also upon the great
topics of national interest, by which our whole Union
is now convuised' To some o. these therefore. we
! Within the last ten years. cnange has taken
place in the mode of administering the General Gov
ernmen which, if persisted ~ wIll destroy the spirit.
publican institutions The Inauguration Of the prede
cessor Of the present Chief Magistrate, seems to have
marked the commencement OF new era "a our hlsto'
our country has witnessedwhen the storms OF party
spirit ragged with the most ungoverned fury, and the
pillars Of the sacred temple ct liberty seemed almost
| times guarded their own rights with seeplesS vigil
lance. No intentional usurpations Of power-no en-
The SIb Of hnS oP
been submitted to by the people. Upon the accession
Of the individual the Presidency, in whose footsteps
to follow The Argus eyes with which the Executive
had bcen watched seemed luled 70 Sleep with the
most lavish professions of regard for the popular will
made only to be broken, q system Of encroachments
upon the constitution and upon the rights Oh the peo-
pie, was at first, and unperceiv-
ea oS S and
land with suffering and despair. Al the period to
which we ollude, for the frs. time, the patronage Of
the Executive was from u; hx
which the President has been able to control and
bend to his own will every other department Of the
government. prescription OF honest men on ac'
count OF their political opinions alones was commen'
ced and continued, and individuals were appointed 10
office as reward for partizan services, with the
avowed understanding that an Understanding sup
port OF the administration, was the tenure by winch
their places were held. The officers OF the national
government have been compelled to contribute from
their salaries, for the purpose of influencing elections
been enormously increased, till by the corrupt and
corruptng influence of the patronage thus created
the Executive is exalted above the legislature; "a
the powers OF government in effect concentrated IN
the President, and the just powers Of the
Representatives Of the people, and especially Of the
Of the sas reduced ssph
grown into prerogative more formidable than any
which British monarch has ever dared to- exercise
and right has been claimed by the President to the
custody Of the public money, independcn, Of the will
Of the people expressed through their Representatives
The Investigations which have been attempted by
Committees Of Congress have been opposed Interrupt
ted and rendered nugatory and unavaihng, by the
open efforts Of the President to- shield the suspected
officers from inquiry-and finally, after the wretched
failure Of those experiments which we were told at
period universal prosperity, were TO give bet
ter currency"-the President OF the United States
persists in urging measure upon the people, which
by their Representatives they have three times reject,
Nor is this al A change not less mighty and dis.
astrous has come over the business OF the country,
; reducing our citizens in many instances from state
unparalleled prosperity, to wretchcdness and want
The men who for the last ten years have had the
mana cement OF our national Lffairs, have not been
satisfied with enrching themselves at the expense Of
which The constitution had created for the good of the
people, into vast system of rewards and punish.
ments. It was not enough to embezzle the public
money, or to lavish 1t upon worthless favortes II
was not enough to usurp power-to invade the rights
of the states-to expunge journas--to conceal abu.
ses-,o interfere with the freedom Of elections-to
Ito dsrunchse whole staes and TO corrupt the very
fountains Of Republican institutions and SO far lay
in their power bring them into disrepne throughout
Ia more ingorious honor. At time when we were
so prosperous that we conld no. drenmof advcr
atty, they laid their unholy hands upon the currency
what already perfect. they destroyed tho beaut
full machinery by which the business OF the country
had been SO admirably conducted. Iii sunnecessary
TO remind the citizens OF Connecticut OF the state Of
things tho commencement Of the administration Of
the predecessor Of the present incumbent. There
was then but currency in the country no dis
solvent banks unless it were in favor Of The latter
As q natural consequence, every branch OF business
was aourishing and lucrative. The golden age seem
ed literally to have visited the land The people felt
the benign influence Of q pure and constitutional I'D.
mnslaton, and the poor, instead starving for want
Of employment, could impose their own terms upon
their employers. Against an administration which
thus scattered blessings far and wide throughout the
land the only OF complain. that could be found,
was the extravaganza Of the public expenditures So
happy and prosperous was the nation, that those who
were most 10 want Of grievance, could only discover
thu and the ears Of the people were stunned by the
uproar that was raised against the. extrayagance,
which could support the government WiM less than
half the present annual expenditure!
These days Of prosperity passive trust not for.
ever 10 not too much to say, that the course OF tho
past and the present administration has spread ruin
and devastation throughout the whole length and
breadth of the land. Hundreds and thousands who
have been reduced from comparative euence to. po-
endifis wants further confirmation countless mnl.
titude who depend their daily labor for their daily
bread, and who deprived by the fatal experiments
sad and bitter testimony 81 sheir own experience
So universal and so long continued has been this dis:
tres: that has now come to be almost considered
the Executive coidly replies tn. they are acens.
toned TO expect from their government TOO much !;
and IN the minds Of some an impression seems to pre-
vail that our only remedy against OH these over:
whelming evils Is silent submission IN the bosom of
true son Of Connecticut an impression like this can
tlnd no place. The remedy is in our own hands and
As remedy for the evils under which we are suE
fering the President Of the United States in his last
annual Message. presses upon Congress continue
ton Of the measures which have reduced US TO- our
present condition. He introduces the subject Of the
Sub. Treasury scheme with the remark, that "the
continued agitation OF the question relative 70 the best
method fkeeping and discussing the public money
still injuriously Affects he bmsiness Of the country
With The deep regard which he affects to entertain for
the popular will not little strange that he shonid
country" by "aratne q question which the people
have repeatedly set at reat by their. decision. We
told, however, by his adheFents. that this iavoriie