The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1842-07-23


: patons of the Executive. He had already
twice refused his sanction to a bill pro-
vlding for the establishment of fiscal a.
gent, and designed for the restoration of
the currency, and he has now refused his
assent to measure intended to continue
the existing rates of duties until perma-
nent system could be adopted. in his
message, upon this last occasion, he has
given us to understand, that whatever
may he his Constitutional notion of Tariff
per SC, no such systemwll receive his
sanction which does not permit the res
toraton of the proceeds of the Public
Lands into the Federal Treasury. lie has
thus assumed the responsibility of defea-
ting the will of the People and their Re-
representatives. upon question confessedly
of mere expediency-wilh no Constilu-
'lonal objections, nor even the conscien-
tious scruples which he has sometimes
been wont to invoke. lie has thus strick-
en- down the three great cardinal measures
of the Wing Party, and left us no alerna-
tive but an abandonment of all principle,
or an abandonment of him. No true
| Wing can hesitate in the choice. lie has
compelled us to regard him as possess
ing not one principle Or feeling in COM
wa i.- -. ~ uDJcct Of our wa,"~-'
admiration, we could not finder such cir
cumstances, hesitate to renotince him. 1t
ffords lis, feIIOw-citzens, sincere gratifi
cation to be able to assure you. that SO far
as we can ascertain, there is but one opin
-, 4 Lo al. e he, N hir RI In
the course it should pursue. Upon all the
great measures ofpubic policy the Wings
of Maryland remain unchanged. They
go as they have ever gone, for the adop-
ton Of such measures as will give us a
sound currency, protect our home indus
try, and save us from the distressing fluc-
tuations resulting from dependence on
Foreign nations. They are for a limita-
ton Of the Veto power. and they insist u
pom distribution Of the proceeds of the
Public Lands.
Without pausing 10 comment upon the
last named measure, or to allude to its
acknowledged justice, or to the repeated
pledges of the President to support it, we
may be allowed, upon subject so inter-
esting to Maryland, to offer single re-
mark in reference to the argument now
chiefly urged against its operation. The !
distribution of these land sales has been
sought, and has been ordered, not as
boon which an overlooking Treasury
could afford to spare, but as all absolute
right which the States were authorised to
assert. Upon this assumption the bill
passed, and on this assumption it received |
the sanction Of the President. No one
pretends that these relative rights and
duties of the States and Federal Govern
mont have undergone any change but yet
1t is gravely asserted that change of cir
cumstances should prevent the proposed
distribution, and those circumstances are
the pressing want of the Treasury.-We
have your money, says the Executive to
the States, bat our Treasury is in want
OF it, and we hold this to be valid and |
Constitutional answer to your demand
a precedent, which if once established,
would become, no doubt, one of very gem
eral and convenient application. Blu. has
our State Treasury, unfortunately for US,
no pressing wants2 Is not the faith |
which we are bound to keep towards our
creditors as dear to us, and sacred in our |
estimation as the obligations of the Cen
cral Government can be in the eyes of |
any Of its funclionaries2 How ridiculous,
therefore, when applied to Maryland, as
well as many other States, is this reason
for suspending the distribution of this
fund.
Over-burtheneG as we already are with |
taxation, deprived of all those powers of
raising revenue with which the General
Government is so amply clothed, we are,
nevertheless, expected to reinquish for its
benefit the scanty means which we are
still entitled to, because she is in want of
funds, and her constitutional means of
providing them do not meet the approba-
ton of the President
But we did not design to go at length |
into the many topics connected with The,
present aspect of affairs, but merely toI
glance at some of the events of the dayl
which seem to require immediate action.
The first sensation produced in the Wing
party by the detection of the President,
left them for while in condition of
perfect paralysis. They were stunned
and confcunded by the blow. They
could find no parallel for it in any of the
many charges hitherto imputed to our
rulers, and connecting this with the re-
collection of their long and arduous
struggles, the glowing hopes which their
victory promised, and then to feel that
these were thus all blasted by the pcrfdy
Of one in whom they had confded, they
may be well excused for having for
while despaired of the Republic, and al
most justified in the conclusion to which
they seem to have come, that human ex-
crtions were unavailing, and human wis
dom insufficient to preserve the purity of
e IL