The Arkansas banner., 1845-03-12

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 clause. How. then, tIitl each side stand upon
 this sabiect2 Upon this side they stood as
 they had always stood-suPPerilng the con-
 st,ution i'll is express grants. Wherever
 they were express. they wished To carry them
 ent, How did they stand on the other side;
 They stood not upon the words of the coll
 stituiion. but upon whatever implication or
 construction they chose 10 make from It.
 This was building upon an implied meaning
 in order t0 batter down an express one
 Which of the great parties of thIs country
 had always stood up fer the rlghs oi the States and of Congress against executive en- ereaehmeat He would tell gentlemen that the very contest here was d contest between the poWeEs of Congress. Us given to Con- gross hy the people, and the powers of tie executive at the other end af the avenue. It was we'll known that gentlemen on the other side always had the disposition to increase the executive power We did not contend that Congress held in its hands the treaty making power. One would suppose, from the arguments, that the Senate and House of Representatives were trying to steal from the executive the power to make treaties. What was the contest? il is whether you shall arm, by construction, this executive with the power to repeal thc express language of the constitution, and give him power which belongs to the two Houses of Congress lie intended to meet the arguments from the other side with firmaess. He would neither dodge nor finch. Why did they argue that tf. ftt
 CT 10 the executive Had 1t ever been denied that the executive had the power to make treaties Had we denied t from the ioanda- ton of the goyernments
 In order to show that he stated the very same thing which gentlemen had urged, he had before him 3Ir. Aladiaon's resolution, showing that the House of Representatives did not claim any agency in making treaties. l Mr. ". here quoted from the Madison pa pers the extract ta which he referred.
 And npon what grounds, then, did the honorable Senator from Virginia say that the House, in passing these resolutions, Wereas- saming all executive power2 In adopting these resolutions, did il not leave the ratiIi- cation of treaties to the Senate as Il was be- fore Gentlemen will say how can this be when the Senate refused to fatify the treaty of Texas at the last session, when the matter was referred to them? He would explain the difference. h that case the attempt, by treaty, was not to admit Texas into this Union. No such proposition was ma5e.- Ne might buy one acre or a million of acres of territory by treaty, but that was not admit- ting her into the Union as a State. There was no proposition in that treaty to admit her info the Union as State. He said then, when that treaty was pending, that il evershe was admitted as q State, t must be by Con- gfess. That Was what was now undertaken To be done. Do we proposd 10 admit her as a Territory, not as Stale On the contra ", the treaty Is fepHdiated, and we proceed 10 admit her as q Stafe by this resolution. At the last session of Congress we were act ing under the grant in the constitution given to the tfeaty-l1 akiRg power. He need not talk of that Ne were HOW acting upon the power conferred upon Congress and not 0p- on the treaty-maaiRg power, 10 admit new States. Gentlemen, therefore, made nothing by saving that We refused 10 ratily the treaty presented 10 Us at the last session of Con- gress. There was no treaty before Us How. Il was an entirely different subiect-that of making Texas q State. l. was different in substance as well as in form. Now the at tempt is made to deny to Congress this eX- press grant. The gentlemen talked about this section of the constitution as being a short one. He asked the honorable chair man of the committee, llr. Archery how long is the section which gives the treaty. making power to the President? and how many express grants are there in that clause He had 1t before him. ''The President shall have power, by and with the advice and con sent of the Senate, 10 make lreaties.o Just two and a half lines Where was the eX- press grant to bring in a State, or even ter ritory Upon what did he found that eX- ploss grant: This merely conferred the power to make treaties. But treaties upon What2 That was the question. On looking into the report, he saw that the inference was, that this power could be exercised upon all matters connected with the general welfare. Only let Us make treaties in what concerns the general welfare, and that whole clause, which had been known from the foundation of the government, gives an express power tp Qo d4IA tlItlS BA d tl6AtN 414 t4G SStt1lll welfare That clause in relation to the gen. eral welfare is given 10 Congress and the peo- pie, and not to the President and the Senate. "Congress shall have power to lay and eol- leet taxes, duties, imposts, and exeises, to pay he debts and provide for the common de- fence and general celjare of the U. Stales.n If any inference can be drawn from that. 1t is all inference in favor of the power of Con- gress; whereas, on the other side, they have drawn an inference in favor of the grant of ihe power to the President and the Senate. Was there any ground for objection against this express grant to admit new States, be- cause Il was embraced in so short space :; Why, he must tell the honorable chairman of tie committee that this report covered double, treble the space of the whole consli- tution itself, and that many of the most im- portant grants in this instrument are in three or four words.
 The gentleman from Virginia said that the grant was lid in an obscure corner. It was