Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1840-08-25

states, whether an act OF appropriation existed
or not Do not mock us with the vain assuI-
ance ofthe honor OF President, nor remind
us of the confd encc which we ought 10 repose
In his imagined virtues. The prevailing prin-
ciple Of our system Of government-of all free
governments rs not merely the possibility, but
the absolute certainty Of iniideli,y and treach-
cry, with even the highest functionary Of the
State and hence all the restrictions, securities,
and guarantees which the wisdom of our an
ccstors or the sad experience Of history had
ioculcated, have been devised and thrown
around the Chief Magistrate.
Here, friends and fellow-ciizens. let us
pause and contemplate this stupenduous struc-
ture OF Executive machinery and despoism
which has been reared in our young Republic.
The Executive branch Of the Government is
unit; throughout all its arteries and veins
'3''ere is but one heart, one head, one will
cfie member of the subordinate Executive of.
ficers and dependents in the United States
have been estimated in an offic ial report ,foun-
ded on public documents, made from a sena-
tor from South Carolina, (Mr Calhoun.) at
one hundred thousand. Whatever it may be,
all of them, wherever they are situated, are
bound implicitly to obey the orders of,he Pres
ident. An absolute obedience to his will is
secured and enforced by the power of dismiss.
tive places. To make this terrible power of
dismission more certain and elficacious, its
exercise is covered up in mysterious secrecy,
without exposure without the smallest respon-
slbllity. The constitution and laws of the
United States are to be executed in the sense
in which he understands them, although that
sense may be at variance with the understand
ing of every other man in the United States.
Ii follows as necessary consequence from
the principle deduced by the President from
the constitutional injunction as to the eXecu-
ton OF the laws, that, il an act of Congress be
passed, in has opinion, contrary to the Const.
tuition, or il decision be pronounced by the
| courts,ln his opinion, contrary TO the Cons,tu-
ton or the laws, that act or that decision the
President is not obliged TO enforce, and he
could not cause it to be enforced, without
violation, as is pretended, OF his official oath.
Candor requires the admission that the prin-
ciple has not yet been pushed in practice to
these cases; but it manifestly comprehends
them; and who doubts that, if the spirit of
usurpation is not arrested and rcbuked, they
will be finally reached The march of pow
er is ever onward. As times and seasons ad-
monish, it openly and boldly, in broad day,
makes its progress; or, if alarm be excited
by the cnormty of its pretensions, it silently
and secretly, in the dark of night, steals its
devious way. II now storms and mounts the
ramparts of the fortress ofliberty it now saps
and undermines it foundations. Finally, the
command of the army and navy being already
in the President, and having acquired a per-
feet control over the treasury of the United
States, he has consumated that frightful union
OF purse and sword, SO long, so much, 80 earn
estly deprecated by all true lovers of civil lib
erty. And our Chief Magistrate stands solemn
ly and voluntarily pledged, in the face Of the
whole world, to follow in the steps and carry
out the measures and the principles of his il
lustrious 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 di-
reefs, orders, commands the whole machinery
ofthe State. Through the official agencies,
scattered throughout the land, and absolutely
subjected to his will, he exerts. according to
his pleasure or caprice. the whole power Of
the Commonwealth, which has been absorbed
and ehgrossed by him. And one soul will
predominant in, and animate the whole Of this
vast community. II this be not practical des-
potism am incapable of conceiving or defin-
ingt Names are nothing. The existence
or non existence of arbitrary government does
not depend upon the title or denomination be-
slowed on the chief of the state, but upon the
quantum of power which he possesses and
yields. Autocrat, sultan, emperor, dictator,
king, dodge, president, are all mere names, in
which the power respectfully possessed by
| them is not 10 be found. but is TO be looked for
! in the Constitution, or the established usages
and practices of the several states which they
govern and control. II the autocrat Of Russia
were called President of all the Russias, the
actual power remaining unchanged, his au-
! thorlty. under his new denomination would
continue undiminished; and if the President
of the United States were to receive the title
Of Autocrat Of the United States, the amour,
of his authority will not be increased, without
an alteration of the Constitution.
General Jackson was a bold and fearless
reaper. carrying wide row, but he did not
gather the whole harvest; he left some CLEAN
/ ings for his faithful successor, and he seems
resolved TO sweep clean the field of power
! The duty OF intoxicating on the official corps,
the active exerlion OF their personal and Off
cial influence was left by him 10 be enforced
/ by Mr. Van Buren, in all popular elections. 1t
was not sufficient that the official corps was
bound implicitly to obey the will Of the Presi-
dent. twas not sufficient that this obedience
was coerced by the tremendous power OF dis
mission. Ii soon became apparent that the
corps might be benefcislly employed TO pro-
mote, IN other matters than the business OF
their offices, the views and interests OF the
| Presiden, and his party. They are far more
efficient than any standing army Of equal
numbers. A standing army would be sepa-
rated, and stand out from the people; and
would be an object of jealousy and suspicion I;
and. being always 10 corps or detschmenis,
could exert no influence on popular elections.
But the official corps is dispersed throughout