The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1841-03-17

1
mer are unquestionably to be found in tn
defects Of the Constitutions. others, in m,
Judgment, are attributable to a miscon
struction of some of its provisions. o
the former is the eligibility of the sam;
Individual to second term of the Presi
dency. The sagacious mind of Mr.. JEFF
ferson earl y saw and lamented this error
and attempts have been made, hitherto
without success. to apply the amendatory
power of the States to its correction.
As, however, one mode of correction is
iii the power of every President, and con
|sequently in mine, it would be useless, and
perhaps invidious, to cnumerate the evils
of which, in the opinion of our fellow.
citizens, this error Of the sages who fran.
ed the Constitution may have been the
source, and the bitter fruits which we are
still to gather from it, if it continues to
disfgurc our system. It may be observ.
ed, however, as general remark, that
Republics can commit no greater error
than to adopt or continue any feature in
their systems of government which may
be calculated to create the love of power.
in the bosoms of those to whom necessity
obiiges them to commit the management
of their affairs. And, surely, nothing is
more likely to produce such state OF
mind than the long continuance of an Of
flee of high trust. Nothing can be more
corruptiDg, nothing more destructive Of
all those noble feelings which belong to
the character of a devoted republican pa
triot. When this corrupting passion once
takes possession of the human mind, like
the love of gold, it becomes Unsuitable 1t
is the never-dying worm in his bosom,
grows with his growth, and strengthens
with the declining years of its victim. If
this is true, it is the part of wisdom for a
Republic to limit the service of that Off
Ger, at least, to whom she has intrusted
the management of her foreign relations,
the execution of her laws, and the COM
mand of her armies and navies, to Pc
riod so short as to prevent his forgetting
that he is the accountable agent, not the
principal-the servant, not the master.-
Until an amendment of the Constitution
can be effected, public opinion may Sc
cure the desired object. l give my aid 10
it, by renewing the pledge heretofore
given, that, under no circumstances, will
| consent to serve second term.
But if there is danger to public liberty
from the acknowledged defects Of the
Constitution, in the want of limit to the
continuance Of the Executive power in
the same hands, there is, apprehend, not
much less from misconstruction of that
as it regards the powers ac-
tually given. l cannot conceive that, by
a fair construction, any or either of its
provisions would be found to constitute
the President part of the legislative
power: 1t cannot be claimed from the
power to recommend, since, although en-
joined as duty upon him, it is privilege
which he holds in common with every
other citizen. And although there may
be something more of confidence in the
of the measures recommended
in the one case than in the other, in the
of ultimate decisions there can
be no difference. In the language of the
Constitution, "all the legislative powers"
which it grants "are vested in the Con-
gress of the United States" 1twould be
a solecism in language to say that any
portion of these is not included in the
whole.
1t may be said, indeed, that the Consti-
tuition has given to the Executive the pow
er to annul the acts of the legislative
body, by refusing to them his assent: So
a similar power has necessarily resulted
from that instrument to the Judiciary; and
yet the Judiciary forms no part of the Le-
gislature. There is, it is true, this differ
ence between these grants of power
The Executive can put his negative upon
the acts of the Legislature for other cause
than that of want Of conformity to the
Constitution, whilst the Judiciary can only
declare void those which violate that in
strument, But the decision of the judi
ciary is final III such case, whereas, in
every instance where the veto of the Ex-
ecutive is applied it may be overcome by
a vote of two-thirds Of both Houses of
Congress. The negative upon the acts
of the Legislative by the Executive au-
thority, and that in the hands of one in
dividual, would seem to be an incongruity
in our system. Like some others of a