Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1840-08-21


were removed, and when necessary for tina
purpose, to call out the militia. No one ev
ei Imagined, prior TO the administration o
President Jackson, that President of tn,
United States was 10 occupy himself with su
pervislng and attending 10 the execution o
all the minute details Of every one Of The
hosts of.offices in the United States.
Under the constitutional injunction Just
mentioned, the late President put forward
that most extraordinary pretensiou that the
Constitution and laws Of the United States
were TO be executed as he understood them:
ami this pretension was attempted 10 be sus.
tanned by an argumL.A equally ex;rnordina.
ry, that the President being a sworn officer.
must carry them into effect according to his
sense oil their meaning. The Constitution
and laws wereto be executed not according
TO their import as handed down TO us by our
ancestors. as interpreted by contemporaries
Gus expositions, as expounded by concurrent
Judicial decisions, as fixed by an unlnterrup.
ted course Of Congressional legislation, bu,
IN that sense which President OF the United
States happened 10 understand tbem
To complete this Executive usurpalion.
one further object remained By the Con.
slluiioD the command ofthe Army and Ma.
w is conferred on the President If he
could unite the purse 10 the sword nothing
would be left 10 crafty The Unsuitable thirst
Tor power. In 1888 the Presiden, seized
the Treasury Of the United States, and from
that day TO this II has continued under his
control. The seizure was effected BY the
removal of one Secretary OF the Treasury.
understood TO lie opposed 10 the measure, and
by the dismissal ct another, who refused TO
vlo laie the law OF the land upon the orders
of the President
Ii Is, indeed. said that not dollar in the
Treasury can be touched without previous
appropriation by law, nor drawn out Of the
Treasury wiihoutihe concurrence and sigma.
lure OF the Secretary, the Treasurer. the
Register and The Comptroller. But are not
all these pretended secretaries idle and una.
railIng torms2 We have seen that, by the
operation Of the irresponsible power Of dis.
mission, all these officers are reduced 10
mere auiomatn. absolutely subjected TO the
will OF the President What resistance
wonld any of them make,wilh the penalty OF
dismlSslon suspended over their heads 10 any
orders OF the President to pour oul the treas.
uTe OF the United States, whether an act OF
appropriation existed or not DO not mock
us with the vain assurance ofthe honor and
probity Of President, nor remind us of the
he bhertadi6e pTiacibie
OF our system OF governmental al Tree
goyernmeut--is not merely the possibility, but
the absolute certainty ofinfdeli;y and treach.
cry, with even the highest functionary of the
State; and hence all The restrictions, securi-
lies and guarantees hich the wisdom -four
ancestors or The sad experience of history
had incucaled, have been devised and
thrown around the Chief Magistrate.
Here, friends and fellow.cilizens, let US
pause and contemplate this slupendous
Of Executive machinery and des-
polism which has been reared in our young
Republic. The Executive branch OF the
Government is unit throughout all lis ar
tciies and veins there is to be but one heart,
one head, one will. The number OF the sub
ordinate Executive officers and dependents in
the United States has been estimated in an
official report. founded on public documents,
made by Senator from South Carolina,
(Mr CALHOUN at one hundred thousand.
What ever it may be, all of them, wherever
they are situated. are bound implicitly 10
obey the orders OF the President. And alb
solute obedience TO his will is secured and
enforced by The power of dismisslng them
at his pleasure, from their respective places.
To make this terrible power Of dismission
more certain and efficatious. its exercise is
covered up in mysterious secrecy. without
exposure, without the smallest responsible
". The Constitution and Laws Of the Uni
ted States are 10 be executed in the sense
in which the President understands them,
that sense may be at variance with
the understanding of every other man in
the United States. Ii follows, as ueces-
sary consequence from the principle deduc-
ted by The President from the constitutional
injunction as to the execution of the laws.
that ifan act of Congress be passed, in his
opinion. contrary 10 tue Constitution, or if
decision be pronounced by The courts in his
opinion, contrary to the Constitution or the
laws, that act or that decision The President
is not obliged to enforce, and he could mol
cause il 10 be enforced, without violation.
as il pretended ofhis official oath. Candor
requires the admission that the principle
has not yet been pushed in practice 10 these
cases; bu, il manifrsiily comprehends them;
and who doubts that. il the spirit or usurpa-
ton is not arrested and rebuked, they will be
finally reached? The march of power is
ever onward. AS times and seasons admon-
ish, it openly and boldly. in broad day,
makes its progress; or II alarm be excited
BY the enormty Of its prelensions, It silently
and secretly, in the dark ofihe night, steals
its devious way. II now storms and mounts
the ramparIs of the fortress OF liberty; II
I -. found