The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-02-09


and being In the language of the Constitution neces
sary and proper for carrying into execution the de-
egated powers, If this cannot be done, the mea-
sure must of course be abandoned but if il cam the
measure is fairly within the purview of the Const-
tuition.
Such, then, is the rule by which the various acts
OF every Administration can be made to stand the
test of rigid Constitutional investigation.
The plan Of finance, as recommended by the Sc
cretary proposes to give to the Exchequer board the
power to issue drafts and certificates, upon depo-
site Of gold and silver or the notes Of specie-pay-
ing banks. This power, it is commended by Messrs
Buchanan and Benton, is violation of the provisions
OF the Constitution. We ask is il necessary potcer
to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to perform
the fiscal operations Of the Government Is it per-
tinent to the granted powers For the solution Of
these questions we need not look to the Constitution
for precise terms to justify exercise of power be-
cause it is but an emanaton of first principles. All
we have to do is to examine whether in what Con
gress may do, they fall in the plain meaning of the
Constitution. In the enumeration of specific powers
given to Congress by this instrument the first is to
:" lay and collect taxes" Here is clear and une-
quivocal grant of power to lay and collect taxes,
imposts and excuses" In constituting the general
power, afterwards given, to make all laws neces-
sary and proper" &c., &c., the sound construction is
to refer to the powers previously gven-one of
which is, we stated, to lay and collect taxes. The
mode by ,ohich they collected is not designated in the
instrument The authority given in the Constitution
to make all laws necessary and proper to carry that
power into effect this is undeniable. The power of
laying and collecting taxes is specifically given, but
the mode is not stated To collect is not merely the
individual receipt, but the substantial collection into
the Treasury. 1t does not merely impart power to
the collector of port to receive the revenue but it
gives power to collect the revenue into general de-
poste or focus
The Erchequer board 10Th this poeer Of issuing drafts
and certificates, is then instrument 10 dra,c together
Nth greater facility and less than tares If there
are those who think So they be at loss to find
express authority for it. The Congress of the United
States have the right to lay taxes-the manner of
laying and collecting them is not prescribed; and
when lodged in the hands of the different collectors
how they TO come into the Erchequer is no
chere prescribed Is the instrumentay of such an in
stitution necessary for the speedy and less expensive
collection of the revenue? If it be, all who think
that the establishment of such fiscal agent as re-
commended by the Secretary of the Treasury, is a
speedy, safe, and economical mode of collecting mo-
ney into the Treasury, must give their hearty co-ope
ration and support to this useful and valuable system
of finance To have given po,cer TO collect ares, and
not the best means Of getting them into the Treasury in
the most correct manner, would indeed have been an
extraordinary feature in the Constitutional would
have given the end without the means to attain it
| he DIV 10 tha m.
stitution to say that il had done so.
When an express grant was given, all the subordinate
powers to carry it into effect were contained in the
grant of the power itself-the power to lay taxes
contained the power of appointing officers to collect
them, to compel the officers to pay the money,
to furnish them for delinquency, Sc, &c. These
naturally arose from, rather were component
parts of, the general power They were neither in
cidental, nor resulting from doubtful implication.
Now we affirm, first, that the Constitution does
not designate the kind Of money to be received by the
collectors Of the revenue-2d that the mode of coec
lion is not pointed out in the instrument If then the
Constitution be silent on these points, in other
words, there is nothing restrictive or prohbitory in
its provisions, why is it not in the power Of Congress
to say, that collectors shall receire in payment 9TH tares
drafts and certificates drawn by the Exchequer board
one of its branches, upon deposite of gold and
silver There being then no constitutional nhibi-
ton, advert TO the necessity Of migrating this
feature upon the financial scheme, with the view of
facilitating the collection transfer and disbursement
of the revenue.
Under the proposed system of finance the revenue
will be collected from remote points to the central
point by operations of commercial exchange, and
IT,, ,lroct no
of Messrs. Benton and Buchanan, both of these are
excluded and said to be unconstitutional. Now, Of
the little revenue collected South and West of the
City of Washington in ordinary times, not one
half is probably expended at these points
This is serious grievance of considerable mag
niude but it is to be aggravated by the schemes
of policy advocated by the Senator's which, if adopt
ed, would require that the balance shall be remitted
not by the operation of the mild of recpro
cal commerce, but by the violence Of direct shipment
OF specie to the points of expenditure. But adopt the
plan presented to Congress by the Secretary Of the
Treasury and you relieve the country from this harsh
and embarrassing operation. Suppose the Govern
mont required 500 900 at ST. Louis, why the directors
Of the Exchequer, aware that this requiston would
soon be made on them, would anticipate the funds,
not by the slow and expensive mode of shipping spe-
Gle from New York to st. Louis, but by the selling
of draft and thus meet the requsition The same
economy and convenience will be found in transfer
ring funds for the payment Of Army and Navy at
the most distant points. Even in this view of the
subject it facilitates the transfer and the disbursement
T Of the revenue. 1t would both enable the Go
vernment to collect its taxes and dues with facility
and liquidate its engagements with more fidelity, by
the restoration of sound and uniform currency-for
as long the currency is depreciated SO long will the
fiscal action Of the Government be embarrassed, and
difficulties attend the collection of its revenue.
Then it is safe and valuable institution to the Go