Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1841-03-12

privilege of frcemen under he dictates Of their own
unbiased judgments. Never with my consent, |
vices out Of their pockets, become the plant insru-
ment Of Executive will ~
THERE'S no part of the placed in the hands Of
the Executive which might be used with greater ei-
feet for unhsowcd purpose than the control of the
public press The maxim which our ancestors derl-
we'd from the mother country, that the freedom OF
the press is the great bulwak Of OWL and religious
liberty" is ono Of the most precious lcgocies they
have left us. We have learned too, from our own as
well the experience of Other countries that golden
shackles by whomsoever or whatever prelcnce mpo-
sed are as fatal TO IT as the iron bonds oil Despots
The presses in the neccssai employment OF Govern
meni should never be used tn clear the guilty or to
varnsh crimes" decent and manly examination
Of the acts Of the Government should be not only toll
Upon another occasion have svenImy opinion, at
some length upon the improperly of Executive inter
FERENCE in tbs legislation II Congress- That the aru
Gle nthe Constitution maklngt the duty OF the Pres
idcnt to communicate Information, and authorizing
him to recommend measures, was not intended TO
make him the Of legislation and in particular,
that he should never be looked to for schemes of f.
nance Ii would be very strange indeed that the
constitution should have strictly forbidden oncbranch
of the Legislature from interfering in the originator
of such bills and that i should be considered proper
that an altogether different department of the Gov
eminent should be permitted to do so Some OF our
bestpolitical ma ims and opinions have been drawn
from our parent Isle. There others, however,
which cannot be introduced in our system without
singular lnCOnnrulty, ana the pTOuuCtlOn Oh uluCH
mischief And this conceive to be one. No matter
in which of the Houses of Parliament bill may orr.
ginate nor by whom introduced, minister, OF MEM
Der Of the oppostion by the fiction of law or rather
of Constitutional principle the Sovereign is supposed
to have prepared il agrceably TO his wl and then
submitted it to Parliament for their advice and con-
sent r.. ....
with regard to the principle, but the forms prescribed
by the Constitution. The principle certainly assigns
to the only body constituted by the Constitution the
Legislative body) the power to make laws, and the
forms even direct that the enactment should he ascr
bed to them The Senate, in relation to Revenue
Bills have the right 10 propose amendments ana SO
has the Executive, by the power gwen nm 10 return
them to the House of Representatives, with his oh.
lection. 1t is in his power, also, to propose amend
ments in the existing revenue laws, suggested by his
observations upon their defective or injurious opera.
ton. But the delicate duty of dcvislng schemes OF
revenue should be left where the Constitution has pla
ccd it-with the immediate representatives of the Peo
pie For similar reasons, the mode oil Keeping the
public treasure should I've prescribed by them and
the farther removed may be from the control OF the
Executive the more wholesome the arrangement, and
the more in accordance with Republican principle.
Connected with this subject is the character OF the
currency. The idea OF makingit exclusively metallic,
however well intended appears to me to he Taught
with more aa consequences than any other scheme;
having no relation TO the personal rights OF the cltlzen
that has ever been devised. If any single scheme
could produce the effect of arrestng, at once, that
mutation Of condition by which thousands OF our
most INDECENT feow-czens, by their industry and
enterprise raised to the possession OF wealth, that
ia the one. If there is one measure better calculated
than another o.produce that state OF things so much
deprecated by all true republicans by which the rich
daily adding to their boards, and the poor sinking
deeper into perjury, it is an exclusive metallic curren-
cy. Or if there is process by which the character
OF the country for generosity and noblcness of feeling
may be destroyed by the great increase and necessary
liberation Of usury, 1t is an exclusive metallic curren-
cy
Amongst the other duties of delicate character
al. H.,
supervision Of the government of the Territories of
the United States Those of them which are des-
tined TO become members of our great political family,
are compensated by their rapid progress from infan-
cy to manhood for the partial and temporary deprl-
walton of their political rights. 1t is IN this District
only where American citizens arctic be found who,
under settled systcnuf policy, are deprived of many
iinportan, political privileges, without any inspiring
h ope to lhe future. Their only consolation, I'M
er circumstances o! such deprivation is that OF the
de voted exterior guards Z! camp that their suffer
ings secure tranquility and safety Within
| Are there any Of their cOntrymen who would sub
lct them to greater sacr ces, to any other humila
tons than those essentially necessary 10 the security
of the object for which they thus separated from
their fellow citizens Are their rights alone not to be
guaranteed by the application OF those great principles
upon which all our constitutions are foundedl We
told by the greatest OF British orators and states
men, that, ut the commencement of the war Of the
Revolution the most stupid men IN England spoke
Of their American SUBJECTS Are there, indeed, c
tzans OF any of our States who have dreamed .'of
their si,iacis' i'm the district of Columbia Such
dreams can never he realized bv onv agency of
nine -
The people of the District of Columbia are not the
subjects of the peopc of the States but free Amer-
can citizens. Being in the latter condition when the
CONSTITUTION was formed, no words used in that in.
s,rument could have been intended to deprive them
of thar character If there is any thing in the great
prncipes of lnaienable rights, SO emphatically in
sisted on in our DECLARATION of Independence, they
could neither make nor the United States accept a
surrender of their Liberties, and become the subjects
in other words, the slaves, of their former fellow
citizens this be true and il will scarcely be denied
by nny one who has coIrec, idea of his own rights
as an American citizen the grant 10 Congress of ex-
elusive Jurisdiction in the District of Columbia, can be
interpreted, far respects the aggregate people of
the United States, as meaning nothing more than 10
allow to Congress tho controlling power necessary to
afford free and safe exercise of the functions assigned
to the General Government by the Constitution. In
all other respects the LEGISLATION of Congress should
be adapted to their peculiar positions and wants and be
conforInablc with their deliberate opinions of their
own interests.
| have spoken of the necessity of keeping the re-.
.pectiye departments of the government as we'll as
all the other authorities of our country within their
appropriate orbits This is n matter of difficulty in
| snnmc cases n the uowcrs which thew Respectively