Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1840-07-14

/ blo of European powers, upon n question OF
minor importance, ercop, as matter OF pm
I ciplc, question where We are clearly and
! indispuiably ia tho righ,, and the whole dill
Guilty OF which grows out OF virtual coocBs-
/ ION ri the pnin, in dispute by Gen J1ckson's
cabinet What has the present Executive
/ done to retrieve this deplorahlo error Of liis
I predecessor Have we any good reason to
believe that the question is nearer favorable
settlement than II was ia 1890
Again. let Va look a, the war with the Flor
ida Indians. The whole disposable military
+ force OF the nation is employed for many sue
ccssivo years, at an expense which threatens
10 equal that OF the late war with Great Brit
ain, IN dislUdging few hundred naked s1va-
ges from their swamps, as yet with absolutely
no success, except petty advantage gained
over an Indian chief by the ,reachery OF an
Ame rican officer
The army has been domoralzed, by making
appointments and promotions depend, not upon
professional ability and fidelity, but upon po.
liticsl subserviency and efficiency, and the
administration is now recommending the crea-
ton Of standing army oftwo hundred thou
sand men, under the prctence of organizing
[ the militia.
ITO promote the general welfare"
This is perhaps the most comprehensive
| clause in the preamble which we are consid-
ering, and il is by virtue Of a similar express
sion in the article of the constitution which
defines the authority of Congress-, thai that
body claims and exercises its largest powers 3
| The practical exposition of this clause appears
| to have been that Congress, when not other
wise restricted by the fundamental law OF the
/ land, may legisla,e on all subjects, in which
the choie people have common interest.
With the exception of comparatively unimpor-
/ ,.,tI, Ind rib 90
have enjoyed a period of about twenty-five
years of profound peace. The harvests
have in general been exhuberant, foreign cap
tal has flowed in abundantly for permanent in
vestment, the public revenue of the nation has
! IN general greatly exceeded the wants of the
/ government, and the people have been order
| ly and Industrious With these elements, it
| should seem not difficult problem so to gov
ern free people as to render them prosper
Gus and happy. What then have the present
and late administration done to promote the
the welfare. OF people, which ten years since
was the ireest and the most prosperous upon
the face of the globe ? To what cause but
the acts and neglects Of our government can
we ascriOe the notorious facts, that the nation
al Treasury, which lately overlooked, is now
bankrupt that every branch ofindustry is pros
trated: that the price of every article of Amer
lean growth or produce, and even of labour
itself, is reduced TO rates ruinous alike TO the
! labourer, the agriculturist and the manu- fac
| turer: that the pecuniary credit of the union,
and of the states, is at the lowest possible ebb
| that we are wholly without an adequate circu-
lating medium, and that spirit of mutual for
bearance alone has hitherto saved both cred
! ilor aud debtor from common ruin 1t isfdle
to ascrbe the universal pros,ration of the en-
ereies of youthful people the trifing, partial,
aud inadequate causes by which the subsid-
lied presses and partizans of the present dy-
nasty attempt to explain it. The people know
the causes and the authors, and they will re
dress themselves by the speedy removal OF
both.
$40 secure the blessings of liberty, to our
selves and our posterity"
We come now to the chief grievance OF
which the American people have to complain.
The other evils to which we have alluded are
endurable, because they are in their nature
temporary, but when the foundations on which
res, all our free institutions are Slapped, wher
the constitution itself is shaken, when the ut
ter perversion and msapplcation of all the
powers conferred upon the federal government
lead men TO question the utility ola centra
power, and to calculate the value of the union
IT is time to recur 10 first principles, and t.
inquire whether it is yet too late to repair wha
rebuild. We use no idle words, when we sa,
that the downward progress and tendency o
! our system OF government has for the last ter
J years filled the friends of rational libert,
! with dsmay, and that many Of the wisest oh
servers among us do now look forward with
more of fear than of hope. The prodigiou,
increase OF the power and patronage ofthe fed
eral government, the daring usurpations of tn,
executive and OF Congress, the reckless ant
profigate expenditure of the public moneys
the shameless adoption and avowal ofthe prin
ciple that public office is the appropriate re
wa:d for party services, their regular and con
slant employment OF the entire power and re
sources the government in maintaining tn
ascendancy OF party, and, in the late case o
New Jersey, the abandonment of forms of pro
oeedng to which obvious necessity and loni
use had given the force OF law, and indeed
when considered as the fruits of but ten year
OF msrule by government elected by the PEG
pie, are enough 10 excite the jealousy, anC
rouse the vigilance, Of the most confident ant
sanguine admrer ofrepublican institutions.
But the past ten years have been years o
J ieyerlsh excitement, and the people are nov
awaklng as from distempered dream.-Th,
, whole nation had been infected with reck
iessness and impaiience ofspirit, which FINAL,
found vent IN a career of reckless speculation
, and the propensity To indulge in these adyen
3 iurous schemes was most unfortunately coun
'enanced by the policy of the government i
y relation TO the public domain, aud the curreu
: cy. ' asst tracts OF land were thrown int
e the market, and made subject To entry az gov
c eminent prices; settlers were induced TO occu
J. pv these as well as unSlrveyed lands by ia
d promise Of presumption laws; emigration
II the more inaccessible and remote teniiorie