Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-08-23
VIRGINIA. TUESDAY, AUGUST 3d. 1912

Chief are even casting upon Congress, without re-.
buke or restraint from him. The delays occasoned
by the patient and unwearied nvesg alton Of the hole
subject by The appropriate committees. As the period
approached when the so called Compromise Tariff was
to be consummated, leaving the Government without
any revenue tariff sanctioned by tie law, the prudence
of Congress, without precipating their decision upon
the permanent system which they fondy hoped to es
tablsh, provided and to The President temporary
exPedeni, limited in its operation 10 the space Of enc
month, during which to avoid, they thought, the
possibility of a COLLISION with Tie apprehcnded antira'
th,es Of the President, they had suspended for the
same month the distribution Of the proceeds Of the
sales of public lands, which, by previous law, was
to take effect the day after The expiration of the Com
promise. Not only was this most conciatnry measure
conteptuously rejected, but in total disregard Of The
avowed opinions OF his Secretary of the Treasury,
concurring with those, nearly unanimous, OF all The
most eminent lawyers of The land in solitary reliance
upon the hesitating opinion Of the Attorney General,
he has undertaken net only levy taxes 70 The amount
of millions upon tie people, but 10 prescribe regulations
tor lis collection and for asccr!anng tue value OF in
ported merchandise, which the law had, III express
terms, reserved for Ike legislative action Of Congress
And now, TO crown this system Of continual and un-
elenting exercise Of Executive Legislation by The al.
erEate gross abuse OF constitutional power and hch
assumption Of powers never vested III him by any law,
we come to 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 oil this Union, combined with that am
phibous productions the reasons for approving and
signing bill, und at the time striking, by judicial
construction at it's most important enactment, illus
trutcd by contcmpoaneous efhsians of temper ard oil
sentiment divuged AT cornwall festivals, and o5rnded
upon the public eye by The fatal friendship of sycoPhani
private correspondents aud stripped In liz naked nature
by the repeated and dorirg assumption both o. lcgisa
live and Of judicial power, would present anomalies OF
character and conduct rarely seen upon earth Such
an investigation, though strictly within the scope o.
! The instructions embraced in the reference 10 ihis com
mii,ee would require volrminnus report which Tie
scaniiness of tme will not allow, and which may not
be necessary for maturing the Judgment Of the House
upnn the document now before them.
The signed by The President for returning
to tie House OF III preventative, with his objections,
the bill toprovide revenue from imports, and TO change
and modify existing laws imposing duties and fer other
purposes, preced By brief dissertation rpnn The
painful sensations which any individual invested With
the veto power must feel in exercising upon import
ant acts oil the Legislature. The paragral IS @orGec
with extreme cau'ifn and with Obvious intent To AVOID
the asser,ion made in such broad and ucG".i'd terms
IN he .lier read al the Piadelp hia nGc pend nceday
dinner party, that Congress can enact 70 law wih'u
lie concurrence Of the Executive. There is in ihs
paper studIous effort to save any ndlyIIna! from
the impuiaton Of asserting, The unqualified nce
pendcncc Of the Executive upon the Legislature,
and the impotence If Congress 10 enact any law
withonl him. That assertion, mace in explicit
and unqualified terms, IN the Phlaccph letter, IS
here virtually disc 1iiDed md dsavowed. The
Of some Independence Of judgment, regard 10 all acts
of legislation, by any individual invested With The veto
power here curtacd ard narrowed down 10 the
privilege Of not yielding his we'll considered mos; deep
ly fixed, and repeatedly declared opinions matters
OF great public concernment, to those Of ordinate
department, without requesting that department ser
ously 10 rseSam.c lie subject of their d ileience.-
The coordinate department 10 the Legislature IS n"
longer The coordinate branch cfie Legislature. The
power of Congress 10 enact law without The ope
ration Of any individual Executive is conceded, not
merely b. unavoidable Inference for the closing para
graph OF the message, recurring again TO the same
troublesome "reminiscences observes that, after ALL the
effect of what he does is substantially TO call on Con-
gress To rfcOnSfder Tie subject If, such reconsI-
dera,ion majority two thirds OF both Houses SHOULD
b. in favor al ti,s measure, 1t will become law not
outstanding his objections. The ,ruiSm Of this re
mark may perhaps be accounted rrby The surmse that
il was new discovery mrte since The writing o tir
Philade phia dinner parry letter; and The modest pre-
sumption ascrbcd 10 the ConstitutIon that the Emcu
tive commit error Ut opinion unless two thirds
Of both branches III conflict with hm, is tempered
by the amiahe assurance That in ;hat event he VIII
chez rlnily acqu;esce in result which would be pre-.
csely The whether lac should acguIesce IN 1t or
not The aptitude nf this hypothetical position may
be estimated by the calculation of the chances that The
contingency which II suPposes is within the verge OF
possibility.
The reasons assigned by the President for his oEjec.
|
his anlecedrnt opinions and communications On the
subject Of distributing The proceed Of the sales OF the
public lands. lie admits that ii the opening Of the OK
ira session he recommended such distribution, but
lie ayers that this recommendation expressly eou
pftd with the condition TIM. the duties imports should
not exceed the rate "f 20 per cent provided by the
Compromise act Of l>.,:'
Who could imagine that; after this most emphatic
compiling az the rsycnue fem duties of mpos with reve
nue. cm the proceeds Of the sales If public lands
S.ggpft In
bill should be that ii uns two subjects, which, so far
from having any affinity 10 another, wholly IN
congruoms in their character which two subjects are
dcnicnly the with those which he had coupled To-
geher in his recommendation 10 Congress at the Extra
Session IL there affinity between tie partIes
why did he join them together, II the nnon was leg
mate, who was the administering priest of the unha
lowed rites' 1t is objected this BILL that il is both
revenue and an Appropriation bill What then IS not
the act Of September 4, S1l approved and signed by
the President himself, both revenue and nm Appro
priaton ball Does IT not enact that, in tic event oil
nsuilicency Of Impost duties not exceeding twenty
per ce ad vaoren, to deiray The current expenses OF
the Government the proceeds OF the sales oil the iahos
shall be cvird rs part 81 the revenue ard eppfo
prialed 10 the sane purposes: The appropriation o.
the proceeds Of the sales of The public lands to deifay
the ordinary expenditures Of the Government is be'
lieved to be system of fiscal anogement, unwse, nm
polite, improvident, and unjust and it is precisely lo'
that that The bill before the House provides
that they shall not be Appropriated The pnblic lanes
the noble aud napprccabe inheritance OF the whole
nation. The sale of them to Individuals is not tax
upon The purchaser, but exchange Of equivalents
scarcely burdensome 10 the grantee than u lie
should receive it as n gratni;ous donation. To sppro
pirate the proceeds of the sales dsfray The ordinary
expenses of The Government is to waste and destroy
The property. TINS property is held by Congress IN
trust Mr.. Tyler speaks of The distribution" as II II was
eicng array he property 1t is precisely tie reverse
1t is restoring the To appropriate the pro-
cecd defray the expenditures to give up
to dapdation aud waste 1t is in political economy
precisely the if an individual landhoder should
sell off, year after year, parcels of his estate, and con-
sumo its proceeds in the payment of his household eS
penses. The first principle ofpotca economy nece'
sary for nation is TO by oraon within the year
the whole required for the expenditures OF that