Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1841-10-08
RICHMOND WING.
MIR. CUSlIING'S AppSESS
TO Hib e NSrtrvrNrS

cares ct the busiest Congress o. oar times, 70 his
been impossible Tor me 10 Discharge ty ntrNtcua
letter, IS IN order to render to all an account VI
my = eSariship thus far IS your ropreSenIauNe,-
tp address YOU in this form, on the great public
questions which now occuNy tie thoughts o. the
people ct the United States.
a few words only, beforehand, IN a personal re-.
latiou.
Il has been my anxious endeAvor, a, tho late i'm.
portant session. So to set in al things as 10 guard
your honor and interests, and those OF our crentcom-
mon country.
My votes in the House Of Representatives, on
the several measures before Congress, speak for
themselves.
In respect to all but one OF these measures, there
was, you know, perfect concord Of action on the
part of the two Houses of Congress and the Presi-
Gent.-Concernlns one of them, he ami they dit.
fcred.
ON the great political question, as to what course
ofconduct should he pursued 10y Congress IN view
OF this difference, what judgment ought to be pas
scd on his action, and on the consequences OF that
difference, II would have been easy for me to shun
apparent responsibility, leaving events to their own
course.
But contingencies arose, thcreupon, in which to
be passive was to yield way, as it scemcd to me, TO
bad and foolish counsels, and inaction became IN its
effect the wor,tOf action, and TO acquiesce taucly in
wrong doing was to make Cn-'s sell as truly re-
sponsible for 1t rs to parlke in lis perpetrstinn.
Besides which, IN my estlma ion OF the duties of
one in public station, It he have clear convection OF
right, lac s bound, time and place fitting, 20 strike
IN tehnlf OF the good cause.
~ ~ W Nf ftAAN W NNNNN "A NNAN Nl-
volving as they do great personal and political IN.
tcrests, and stirring the passions of men, much o5.o
guy has been cast upon me 10y presses out OF my dis
trici, ana fr the most part out of the common
wealth o! Massachusetts,, which have volunteered 10
i"nuence or to anticipate your judgment on your rep
Tesentatve.
BE it so. | have nothing to say in that regard. |
coutented.y submit myself, therein, to the sober
sense OF the people, ana the all-recutylns influences
ct time.
Its the public question, and that alone, which
demands immediate attention. | proceed at once to
that.
A caucus DICTATORSHIP has been set up in Con-
Cress, which, not satisfied with ruling thlt body, to
the extpgushmeni Of individual freedom Of opinion,
seeks to control the President IN his proper sphere
Of duty, denouncts him before you for refusing to
surrender his independence and his conscience to
its decree, and proposes, through subverslon OF
the fundamental provisions and principles OF
the constitution, 10 usurp the command OF the gov
erlmcnt.
1t q question, therefore, in fact, not of lesisla.
tive measures, but OF revolution.
What the visible and only professCd origin OF
these extraordinary movements
The Wing Party in Congress have heen extreme
" DESTROYS TO cause a law To be enacted at late
session, Incorporating a National Bank.
Enrouricrns, IN the Veto of the President, a
const tu,ipna' obstacle TO the enactment Of such a
law Ut no Int session, a certain portion Of the
MIX Parry, re- presented Oy the Caucus DICTATOR
ship, proceed. then, IN the beginning, to tcnounce
the President
VIII you corcur in this denuneiaton Of The Pre-.
sidcni
The answer to this inquiry resolves itself into,
frs, a question Of * Pedicncy; and, secondly, one OF
principle.
Fms, as n question of expediency, it involves
the following lumong o'herl points OF the eui DO
no:
To do so, dissolves the Wing Administration,
composed oftwo necessary parts, namely, a united
Wing President and Wig Congress.
Is not a Wig Administration of more impor-
tarcs than to have a Bank at a gwen moment of
ime!
Is it not worth,more1fo other purposes of good it
nav accomplish, Than any mere corporationi
Tao Wig odmin strauCn dissolved, will any 9TH
or administration give you a bInkl
In what does II advantage the Wing party 10 sink
i~;seliin,o a minority in all or any Of the states OF the
Uninn2
Separating from the wing Administration, wha,
is 10 be The condition OF the Wing pariyl Is TO
hc m Administration or opposition
Party organ.zI ton i Il secondary or incidental
fact; hut constitutional order, in the regular action of
government and laws, l. a necessary tact
This regular action OF government and laws Sc.
coed WhIgs-be they ever so many-cannot stop,
it they would. 1t must and will 90 on. Do hey
desire 1t TO 90 on without Iheml If so, by and
through whoml
when Lord Greenvilc broke up the whig party
Of England, in 1907, by the unreasonable pressure
ri some great question, and us consequent loss
"Why," sad Sheridan, 'did they not put it off, as
Fox ord? have heard OF men running their heads
against n wall; tut this is the first time | ever he ard
OF men building a wall and squarIng it, and clamp
ing il, for the express purpose Of knocking out Their
rains against ~ This bon mot OF SheuGan's will
apply to the wing party IN Congress, If, on account
ut the failure Ofthe bank bill at the late session, they
secedo from the Administration, and set up a. a Ter.
hum QTid IN the Government, neither Adm,nlsIra-
lOo, uCr opposition.
As such l. rtium Qud, neither administration nor
opposition, having no substantial issue WIKI the Pc
sii,nt but the bank question, IN how many of the
states can the seeding wings expect TO maintain q
majority 10y means OF the merits exclusively Of tie
bank question:
The bank question apart, is it possible to build up
or maintain O. political party on : { basis oiTesent.
mcnts or Of surmlscs, suspicious Or gossip injurious
to the administrator Is not Inc country at pre-. ent
DESTROYS OF political representations to attend to bu-
.inessi Is il possible TO work up the people into a
political fever, and keep them IN II for three or four
years To come, IN I'D oflhe resentments and person
OIL b.ckerrngs o. a few politicians here3
The first access Of passion over, will the Wings
continue to think that the occupation Of tempting
10 bite Of ones nose Is pleasant or prChtabei
Wi II aid tue bank question 10 heap on II sun
dry great projects OF revolutionary change in the
constitution OF the Federal Government Is he
party strong enough to carry such an accumulated
DurtheH2
Is 1t wise for the Wing party to throw away the
arfuaIty Of power for the current four years IT
go for what oJjcCt2 For some contingent posi-
I,lty four years hence Ii so, what one :
j. the contingent possibility Of advancing to pow.
or four years hence any one particular man ~ rs
ranks, whoever he my be, or however ominentiy
deserving, a sufficient object 10 induce the Wing
party TO abdcate the power wh ch ItssIf as a body,
possesses now
# so, sill this addiction Of power now terd to
promote that object! Is 1t not, ON the contrary,
Inc very means TO make sure the success Of some
candidate Of the democratic parry
Secondly, us a question OF principle, the inquiry,
whether the Pre-. IJent shall I've denounced Uy the
Wing party, becomes this Ought he 10 be? II so,
lDr what causGs2
lie vetoed the bank bill in each Of the two forms
30 which 1t was presented TO hrmj aud this, It Is
charged, rs perfdy to the Wing party.
Yet, cOniessedIy on an hands, the President was
not nominated or elected on a pledge tJ tins parIcu.
Jar form Of bank, or 20 any bunk.
Nor I'D the Wing party come into power in viz
tue Of such a pledge.
In refusing TO sign those bills, thee, he violated
no engagement, and committed no uCt Of pcrhJy in
the sense of = forfeited pledge.
IL those bonk bills were, by q distinct understand
ing before the election, or M any other wav, the
sole and exclusive essence OF WhIgism, then there
would bo something Of p.ausiblity IN this charge of
pefidy 10 tic party. Bot On any, The strongest
poiut Of view, they were but one Wing measure
among many.
OF thir.y-one Wing measures, a member Of the
parry cDucurs in thirty, but dsopproves one. Is be
Tor that cause 20 he uuchurched2 Surely not; fr
81 80, there are lew who could stand the test. And
yet that IS The precise fact m this matter so far as
regards the President.
Bot, in lhis particular, the President, as an upright
man, could do 90 otherwise than he DID,. lie con-
arart0ut|y tre.uurpyfu those bills. Aulthe Con.