Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1842-08-24

the most eminent lawyers CT the land IN sol-
tary reliance upon the hesilating opinion Of the
Attorney General, he has undertaken not only
to levy taxes TO the amount of millions upon tha
| People, but TO prescribe regulations for rs col-
lection, an d for ascertaining the value of IN
! ported merchandise, which the law had, III eN-
press terms, reserved for the legislative ac,l5E
OF Congress.
| And now, TO crown tais system of coatlnn7i
and unreleaiine exercise u FxscItlvc legIsla-
ton by the alternate gfoss abuse of c0nsfta-
| tional power and bold assumption Of powers
never vested III him by any law, we come 10
the Veto Message referred by the House to this
committee.
A comparative review Of the four several
vetoes which, in the course Of fifteen months,
| have suspended the Legislation Of this Union,
! combined with that amphibious production, tho
reasons for approving and signing bill, and at Z.
the same time striking, by judicial construction,
at its most important enactment, illustrated by
contemporaneous illusions ofteinper and of sen
tlment diyuiged at conrivial festivals and o5
truded upon the public eye By The fatal friend
| ship of sycophant private correspondents. anil
stripped to lis naked nature By the repeated and
daring assumption both of legislative and Of
| judicial power, would present anomalies oi
character and conduct rarely seen upon earth.
Such All investigation though strictly within
| the scope of the instructions embraced IN the
reference 10 this committee, would require a
volumiaous report which the scanfiness time
will not allow, and which may not be necessa-
ry for maturing the Judgment Of the House upon
the document now before them.
The reasons assigned by the President for
returning to the House Of Representatives, with
his objections, the bill TO provide revenue from
imports, and TO change and modify existing laws
! imposing duties and for other purposes, are
preceded by brief dissertation upon The pain
full sensations which aay iHdi0sdua5 invested
with the veto power must feel in exercising il
upon important acts Of the Legislature. The
paragraph is wordcd with extreme caution, and
with obvious intent TO avoid Tie assertion, made
in such broad and unqualified terms in ;he le;lsr
read a; The Philadelphia Independence e-day din
ner party, that Congress can enact 10 tGlCS with
out the concurrence 0? the Executive. There
is in this paper a siudious effort to save aay IN
diulduq! from the inlputation Of asserting the
unqualified independence Of the Executive upon
the Legislature, and the impotence of Congress
10 enact any law without him. That assertion,
made in so explici. and unqualified terms in the
Philadelphia letter. is here virtually disclamed
and disavowed. The exercise of some indepen-
dence of Judgment, in regard TO all acts Of egis-
/ lalion, by any individual invested with the veto
power, IS here curailed and narrowed down to
the mere privilege of not yielding his well-con-
sidered, most deeply fixed, and repeatedly de-
clared opinions on matters of great public con-
cernment, to those Of a coordinate department,
without requesting that department seriously TO
re-examine the subject their difference. The
| i ~ r =,
longer The coordinate branch of the Legisla-
ture. The power Of Congress 10 enact a law
without the cooperation of any individual Ex-
! ecu,ive is conceded, not merely by unavoidable
Inference, for the closing paragraph of the mes
sage, recurring again 10 the same troublesome
"reminiscences observes that after ALL the effect of
what he does is substantially to call ON Congress
to reconsider the subject. IT, on such reconsider
alton, a majority of two-thlrds of both Houses
should be in favor of this measure, it will become
law Notwithstanding his objections. The truisr
of this remark may perhaps be accounted for By
the Surmise that it was new discovery made
since the writing Of the Philadelphia Ginner-party
letter; and the modest presumption ascribed 10 the
Constitution that the Executive can commit no er
ror OF opinion unless two-thirds of both branches
OF the Legislature are in conflict with him, is TEN
pered by the oinlabe assurance that in that event
| ne will cheerfully acquiesce in result which
would DC precisely the same Whether ne Should
acquiesce in it or not The aptitude of this hypo-
thetieal position may be estimated by the calcula
! ton of the chances that the contingency which il
supposes is within the verge of possibility.
i The reasons assigned by the President for his
objections to this bill are further preceded by a
narrative of his antecedent opinions and commun-
lcations on the subject of distributing the proceeds
of the sales of the public lands. He admits tha,
al the opening of the extra session he recommen-
ded such a distribution, but he AYERS that this re
commentator was expressly coupled with the
ditlon that the duties Oh imports should nOl exceed
the rate Of 20 per cent. provided by the compro-
mise act Of 1888.
! Who could imagine that, after this most emphatic
coupling of the revenue from duties of mpost with
revenue from the proceeds of the sales o the pub
| lie lands, the first and paramount objection of
the President to this bill should be that it unites
two subjects, which so far from having any as
fnily 10 one another, are wholly ineongruouI
| in their character-which two subjects are