The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-09-14
From the Pennsyiranian,
THE PIPE-LAYER'S BILL.

Among the charges made by the Wing party
against President Tyler, is that Of putting in his peck
ct two bills passed by Congress few hours before
the close of the session. The was for the dlsr-
button of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands
the other called "the Contested Election bn Very
little has been said by the Wing presses of the char
acter of this last bill. They have not told us the
wrong the President has done by not applo, ing tit
is enough for them thai he dared to refuse to sign
what their majority in Congress had passed And
yet we will venture to say that more dangerous in
novation upon the letter spirit of the Constitution
never before attempted, than by this same con
tested election bill. The Constitution expressly de
clares that "each House shall be the Judge of the
election, returns, and qualifications of its mem
bers, and that "each House may determine the rulcs
of its proceedings and yet in the face of these plan
PROVISIONS these whig ie slaoIs would ave pas ed
law tina, required tn. action of both Houses and the
President, giving to clerk of a former Congress
the power of judging of the returns" Of me be-.
of the House Of Representatives, and establishing
"ru.es" by which the defunct clerk uf a de unct
House. should determine who were and who were
not members of the House Of Representative.
The object Of the bill, doubt, preparatory to
some more enlarged system of fraud than any here
tofore practsed-under the broad sean system, to
introduce into the next subsequent Congress-
a majority of spurious members to control The legs-
lative action Of the Government, attempted in
the case Of the New Jersey members in 1889 and
in the Legislature Of this State in 1S3S-to give CO.
lor of law" to what then attempted to be done
in violation Of law. What would not the Wing ma
jority in Congress do, if they had the poweri They
have already destroyed all healthy action in the
House of Representatives. They have, by their gag
and caucus laws, defeated the leading objects Tor
which it created. 1t intended to be a deli
berative body-one in which and through which the
people, the whole people, might be heard and until
the present Wing majority took ossesson of its Hall
had always been so but they have broken down its
free spirit and have placed all its action under the
control Of caucus dictation All its prominent
measures have been discuss,d first in Whig secret
caucus, and when thus matured, caucus decree is
made that all further debate and consideration in the
House must cease and do cease Thus have they de-
stroyed the eDergs and debased the character Of the
House OF Representatives and would now, by the
bill to which we have referred sink il still deeper IN
degradation, by taking from it the first and essential
element of lis beng-the right TO judge Of the returns
and election OF its own members without which It
will or may soon become mere packed jury of pipe
layers inst ad of the representation Of the American
people. OF all the yetoes of President Tyler and
they have all been good, we think the country
him much for his quiet veto Of the contested cleo
ton bill, as any Of them.