Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-07-27
COMMUNICATIONS.


A fair inerenc. may be Iaduced from the Treasury
pan, that it is the epinon Of the Secretary that
CONGRESS is without the I~wer 10 establish the Bank
or any OF its branches in the S;~tes by >r naked terms
of the Consultation, without the States o-Sent to H.
If they assent to ii, 10 the thing is accomplished -
Does The Constitution say THIS: Nowhere. The vary
Ioulish Of the doctrine TO be tins The Const-
luton is no longer be resored to, to ascertain the
powers of Congress- but the assent or dissent Of ,as
States in reference TO the powers u exercises IN TACT
Congress can do whatever the States acquiesc' n
submit Ii it can, 1t may at once seal up the Con-
stituton and with Davv Crockett, $50 ahead
When the Constitution has intended that ;hr powers
of Congress- or the State Legislatures, shall he cohh
gent dependent upon the conse"' u s"0S "'rt, ~
EFFECTIVELY, the Cunsh'"''oh mas sa'u 50, see Ho"'
tuition U 5 Art J, sec. :, paragraph TO- and 10. sec
TO- paragraph 2; and Art a. sec. 3, paragraph -
Where the Constitution is silent, the consent OF ne-
the can contribute any thing towards the power claim
ed Political parties, know, from the foundation OF
the Government, ,.t, differed as widely the poles,
in the construction ci IL powers The Federass have
maintained thai "inplirJ powers are giren where i'm
piled powers are rcedt8: bu, the Republicans have
sponded that imprd powers are mol ncedcd, because
the tex press powers plenarv and adequate 10 the
accomplishments Of all the objccs the Constitution has
aimed al or authorised Bat at no period OF history
has any party maintained that Congress exercise
I power neither given expressly nor implicitly. The
States confer powers on Congress, unless they
do bv amending the Constitution, and in the mode
therein prescribed. Is il the ''mode prescribed" that
Congress shall statute, and (having power
per Sc to give it efficacy leave it indefinitely in sus
pense allegiance, and without any faculty Of enforce
ment, except through the behests Of aStaes wl' If
the consent of the States needed to confer the power
of course Congress s without the power until the
sent given; and it must follow that aehen the con-
sent given, it is the States and not Congress- which
makes the law An admirable doctrine truly which
leads 10 such results
1t is the doctrine of the 9TH Article Of the Consti,u
ton Of the IT, S. ",hat Congress part WITH nor
the States take away nor either add to the powers of
the Constitution, bnt by the of the Legsla
lures or Conventions of e-ourths Of the States
Nor this ALL for, by the article that consent
withou. any effect whatever until the other Of
two nitiaory steps have been aken-iha is say Con-
gress must either have proposed through minority of
fwothrds of each House. have conferred such pow.
ers Convention called the instance OF thirds
of the States, must have made the like proposal Nor
could these proposals themselves have any effect,
., ratified by three fourhs of the S,ates-tlave all
any Of these things been done Have the proposals
been so made and SO ratified No such thing.
There is not among the most sanguine of its
friends, who magnes that this Bank bill canipass the
Senate by majority of sixteen votes, nor the House
by majority Of sersntyfrc votes and, did, those
majorlt,es VIII not have reached two-thrds of the
spectve Houses. What does it come then :-Plan-
ly this That major','es not large enough, pro-
pose to the States amendments the Constitution are
competent to make those amendments, and that too,
aoiDl0ut proposing them at ALL New powers are con-
ferred Congress, aud the Constitution remains all
the while unchanged Well, if Congress may thus
dispense with the 'nodc Of proposing and ratifying
the change must still take threehurths Of the States
give it esct-that is il have the assent of
least nineteen out OF the tceHSr Statesnor that
be manifested but in way, that is, Gy recer-
ing Branch Of the Bank ,cihn it--nor does the bill
contemplate that any State, under any circumstances,
10 DE bound aithout its assent and as coroary,
;he Constitution 10 become, by force of the Sc
cre;arys sagacity one thing in one State and another
thing others.
Bu, it has recently been discovered tina, the efficacy
Of States "asseRt is derivable from Sec and Sec.
10, Article Of the Constitution of the U. S. Ii de.
clares that stNo State SHALL ithou The consent of Con
gress, &c, enter into agreement compact, with
another State or foreign power, &c. Well, it is not
seen, what this clause could have 10 do with the mat,
ter unless it involves an "agreemen compact be.
tween States. If the of the State is to be
strued into a compact why then it is compact with
the Bank the Government and not with another |
State. The power to enter into such compact must
depend upen the general rights of sovereignty and the
intrinsic nature of the "comyact itself, and not upon
the consent of Congress- But what curious etinue OF
deductions we have here! We must have the assent
Of The States, and then the po1er is conferred on Con-
gressbut, that is not enough, for we must then have
the "ccnsent Of Congress to authorize the "assent OF
the States" This is reasoning in CIRCLE with a
If the "assent of a State" confers power on Con-
gress which It did not possess BEFORE then it IS denied
that the Constitution has given Congress capacity to
take poaeer so conferred. But when this power so
6y ,chom is conferred, How is the State
"assent" to be manifested? shall be answered By
the Legislature; and that when its assent" is given
the po,cer transferred Is it s"s Arc State Cons
fu,ioas nothing Where will you find in one of them
power delegated to their Legislatures to bar
Ter away any of their reserced poeers' State Legis'a
i.res can do what Stale Constitutions authorize them to
do and nothing more. State Generations alone are
charged with the reserrcd rights and poers OF the peo-
pie; and grants fpooer when they come at all,
come from them and them only. lfthe "assent Of the
State is needed for the grant the po~er, that
cannot be given but through Conrention Of the people
Of the State.
But would an ''assen," even given be binding upon