The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-03-17


occurred TO the member from Louisville thata dom'
nant party in Congress may be guilty OF svs" n's.-
| lawless acts than popular Chief N.xsste.e !.
| he believe that the spirit whicn ahiha'e' VI.
Chief does not pervaJa The Represen auves OF giea'
! and trumpha.. party Does he imagine that mum
bers increase the of responsibility, and that Two
hundred men, who cloak to each other, nave
more tender conscences than single individual ex-
posed in his Dinutest action TO the gaze and SCRUTINY
| of whole nation2 Henous as was the offence OIL
General Jackson in removing the depostes, MAORI
~ of Congress, with The same spiriI, and under the
same circumst ances would, at The same time, have
| done the very same deed The gentleman Las read
the history Of republics with little advantage If he
fanciss that power exempt from abuse and the Con
stuon safe from violation in the hands of any ma jo
rity. If there be any tyranny more odious than ano
the and the restraint Of which requires all the checks
aud balances which human wisdom devise, IL IS
the crushing despotism OF dominant party flushed
with victory and resolved the destiuc of then
political opponents.
Mr. Chairman: In one of his mournful pictures OF
the past and gloomy forebodings of the future, the
member from Louisville exclaimed that We were
now grooming beneath the weight Of the most odious
tyranny, and that in consequence of the abomnable
abuse of the Veto power the purse and sword were
now in the hands Of the Executive. The idea that
this great nation should be dependent on the nod
of so contemplate creature as John Tyler, filled
his mind with Indignation, and which he could not
find language to express, and which time ITSELF fear
produced no effect upon myself yet, regret the dis
tress that it will afford the Chief Magistrate himself
If 1t be not unpleasant to the gentleman to withdraw
his mind from the realms of fancy and confne it to
the regions of fact would ask him how this union
of the purse and sword was produced' Has John
Tyler violated the law transcribed the Constitu-
ton? Has he, by fraud or violence, seized on the
public treasure contrary to the wishes of the people
and the oaths of his Office Who repealed the Sub
Treasury before they had provided suitable depos-
lite for the public moneys' Was not the national
treasure placed under the control of the Executive
by the operation of the law of $780, and the acts of
those whose eulogy the gentleman has often pro-
nounced? take no pleasure in awakening the gen.
tleman from his pleasant dreams, in recalling to
his mind facts which he would willingly forget The
removal of the deposites, for which jackson at
the time and has again in this debate been bitterly
denounced, has been actually pshed by the OPP
Grafton of law and the votes of Wing Congress-
More fortunate than Caesar who forced from Metel-
lus the keys of the Roman Treasury the custody of
the public money has been imposed upon John Tyler
without his consent and against his remonstrances If
the gentleman breads Executive that will forcibly
grasp, what does he think of Congress that will
Peaceably surrender the control of the public money!
Does he not perceive that, in all the denunciatons
which he has poured upon the President, he has ut
tered the keenest invectives against those whose
euogy it is the main business of his life to pro-
nounce.
Mr.. Chairman: The member from Louisville ex-
presses great surprise at the course which | have
pursued in the introduction of this resolution Sur
prise, 1t is said, is not only of wit but of
pleasure and am happy to afford him all the graf
llcatlon which our relative positions supply.
He is amazed that representative of Fayette
ty, and protesting to be Wing, unfedged politi-
clan, and man of Wanting ambition, should differ
from Henry Clay Mr. Clay is one of my constitu-
ents, and whatever opinion may entertain of him is
matter OF no consequence to this House, and see
40 necessity for me to express In my action in this
House regard him in the same light with the hum
'lest OF the twenty-five hundred freemon whom
ave the honor IN part to represent upon this floor
f. by an unhedged politician, is meant who is
10 yet hackneyed i'll the ways Of those who aspire to
public office who is equally unskilled in the arts
hat minister to popular prejudice and pander to the
purposes of great men, rejoice that distinction, in
this respect, exists between the member from Louis
vile and myself. regret that the feeling of
prise which he expresses at my course, am unable
te reciprocate to his As as l saw the amend
ments introduced by the Senator from kentucky,
knew the position which he would assume upon this
subject l knew that he was not 80 unf1edged as to
think for himself. knew that bird which had first
broken the shell in the neighborhood of Ashland,
would sound its notes responsive to the orders of its
tenant. That trait which prevented
famous character in famous play from standing up
right in the presence Of great man, does not seem
to be confined to the Scotch Treason no longer
consists in violation of the Constitution, but in poll
teal individuality. Whatever offences may be LAID at
the door of the member from Louisville, this is
crime for which he can never justly be arragned
That he not only pulls fairly in the traces but is
more richly caparisoned than any other steed, is
fact in which he gories and which even his enemies
are forced to admit.
Mr. Chairman: Abuse of the Chief Magistrate
comes with bad grace from the member from Louis
vile. The course and character of that high func-
tionary, / do not deem this suitable occasion Ell
ther to attack defend. If philippe against him
had been pronounced by Democrat, there would
have been no ground for surprise or complaint In
reving the President the gentleman inculpates HIM
SELF By his Jealous exertons in the great struggle
of l84O he either supported man with whose po-
litical sentiments he was not acquainted or whose
moral character he never understood. protest
against the appeals which the gentleman has made to
the memory of Gen. Harrison to rouse the prejudi-
Of this House and the country against his success
sor. The very same men " no now abuse Mr. Tyler,
denounced Gen. Harrison up to his nomination by the
Harrisburg Convention; and, as / believe with the
same motives. The fragment of the Wing party to
which the gentleman belongs had kept us in hope
less minority for twelve long years, and under their
auspices we should have remained in hopeless m-
nority forever. 1t was not the member from Louis
vile and his political associates that accomplished
the civil revolution Of 1910. We carried Harrison
and Tyler their heads, and in spite OF their OPP
position and abuse Having found it difficult to de-
tect any feature in the tribuntian power it exist
ed in the Roman republic which was not purely de-
mocratic he tells us that the Veto power cannot
boast of such ancient and honorable descent, and
that it derived from the arbitrary negative OF our
colonial governors Is the member really so defci-
ent in discrimination does he think this House pos
little discernmen not to perceive the diff
ference between the veto Of ordy proprietor
lonal governor appointed by foreign despot and a
constitutional Chief Magistrate chosen by the unbiased
sutfrages of great and magnanmous people? Is he
really serious when he asserts that Congress- and not
the President, occupies the position in Con-
stitution with that filled by the trbunes in the Ro-
man republic
(To be continued)
The Maryland Legislature adjourned sine die on
Thursday last. The committee on engrossed bills
reported that they had examined 1896 bills and 50
solutions Among the bills passed was act to
provide for specie payments by the Banksn The ACT