Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1841-03-17

only body constituted by the Constitution
llhe legislative body) the power to make {
laws, and the forms even direct that the
enactment should be ascribed to them.- ;
The Senate, in relation to revenue bills,
have the right 10 propose amendmentsi
and so has the Executive, by the power
given him to return to the House of Rep
resentatises, with his objections. It is in
his power, also, TO propose amendments
10 the existing revenue laws, suggested
by its observations upon their defective
and injurious operation.
But the delicate duty Of deyisino
| schemes of revenue shoulai be left where |
the Constitution has piaced with the |
immediate representatives of the People. |
For Similar reasons the mode of keeping
the public treasure should be prescribed
| by ITEM; and the farther removed it NAV
! De from the control OF the Executive, the
more wholesome the arrangement. and the
more in accordance with Republican prin-
ciple
Connected with this subject is the char.
acter of the currency. The idea of maxi
ing it exclusively metallic, however well
intended, appears to me to be fraught with
more fatal consequences than any other
(scheme, having no relation TO the person.
!. al rights of the citizen, that has ever been
Invested. If any single scheme could pro-
duce the effect OF arresting, at once, that
mutation of condition by which thousands
of our most INDECENT fellow citizens, by
their industry and enterprise, are raised to
fhoY Of hot I'll
: If there is one measure better calculated
; than another to produce that state of things
) SO much deprecated by all true republi-
+ cans, by which the rich are daily adding
} to their hofdes, and the poor sinking deep
er into penury. it is an exclusive metallic
currency. Or if there is a process by
: which the character of the country for
+ generosity and nobleness of feeling may
; be destroyed by the great increase and
: necessary federation of usury, it is an ex-
feIusively metallic currency
II Amongst the other duties of delicate
3 character which the President is called
> upon to perform, is the supervision of the
: government OF the Territories cf the Unit
: ed States. Those of them which are des.
i tined to become members OF our great pol
! itical family, are compensated by their rap
7 i'd progress from infancy to manhood, for
the partial and temporary deprivation of
| their political rights. It is IN this Dis
/ trict where, American citizens are to be
: found, who under settled system of poll
: Icy, are deprived of many important poll
t tical privileges, without any inspiring hope
: as to the future Their only consolation,
e under circumstances of such deprivation,
Y is that of the devoted exterior guards of a
# camp-that their sufferings secure tran
guilty and safety within.
a Are there any Of their countrymen who
: would subject them to greater sacrifices,
: to any other humiliations than those es-
!. sentially necessary to the security Of the
D object for which they were thus separated
ei from their fellow-citizens2 Are their
! rights alone not TO be guaranteed BY the
' application Of those great principles upon
!. which all our constitutions are founded
n We are told by the greatest of British
n Orators and Statesmen, that. at the com.
J mencement of the war Of the Revolution.
i the most stupid men in England spoke OF
# "their American subjects" Are there,
q indeed, citizens of any of our States who
y have dreamed of their subjects in the
!, Dstric of Columbian Such dreams can
T never be realized by any agency of mine.
# The people Of the District of Columbia
are not to be subjects Of the people of the
4 States, but free American citizens. Being
i in the latter condition wien the Constitu
: ton was formed, no words used in that in
: strument could have been intended to de.
J. prive them of that character. If there is
II any thing in the great principles of in.
II alienable rights, so emphatlcally insisted
is upon in our Declaration of Independence
b they could neither make, nor the United
D, States accept, surrender oftheir liberties
of and become the subjects in other words
y the slaves. of their former fellow citizens
l. If this be true, and it will scarcely be de
Is MED by any one who has correct idea o
s. his own rights as an American citizen,
Mt the grant to Congress of exclusive juris
" diction in the District of Columbia, car
id be interpreted, so far as respects the aggre
" gate people of the United States, as mean
ut ing nothing more than to allow TO Con
gress the controlling power necessary +
en- afford free and safe exercise of the func
n ton assigned to the General Government
be by the Constitution. Ia all other respects
lie the legislation of Congress should b
of adapted to their peculiar position and want
on and be conformable with their delibeIat
as opinions of their own interests.
he have spoken of the necessity of keel
lar ing the respective Departments of th
Tor Government, as well as all the other al
Try thorities of our country. within their az
I'D propriate orbits. This is a matter of di
'ur ficnlty in some cases, as the powers whic
gil they respectively claim are often not d
hni Coed ~, rprv diSfinct iinos Mischiouo,,