Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1846-08-08
THE LAST VETO.


The Presidential document which we to-day
place before our readers--the Veto Of the River
and Harbor bill, lately passed by large majorities
Of both Houses Of Congress-will Of course at
tract strong public attention throughout the coun-
try, not only for its instant effect in staying many
public improvements Of which the growing need is
every where felt by our commerce, and in consign-
ing to rapid destruction other great works which
were IN their progress, but in pr0nouncing, for full
three years to come, the irreversible doom Of the
"one-man power" against all further hope of like
measures under the present reign. Let the people
think as they may, without the extraordinary fact
Of union of both parties against the great deposit
tory Of favor and ofice--withott such an union as
may bring about not merely two-thrds vote III
the popular branch of the Legislature, but shake
into an equal change the less movable majority in
the other House-the monarchical principle so
unhappily introduced into our Constitution prevails
over the Peoples Will; and the People, whose
leave the President has asked before he plunged
them into the heavy debt "a debt of many millons)
for cruel and wrongful war, cannot have per.
mission to lay out only little more than one mil
lion of their own money, in the most needful and
AKA
With one hand the Executive has just struck
the Manufactures, and now, with the other, he
smites the Commerce of the country. His are
constitutional dogmas that SO much prefer in every
thing the Foreign to the Domestic, that ports and
harbors themselves must be those Of foreign trade.
or ne can find no warrant for them in the Constu-
ton! The very clause of that instrument to which
ne himself traces the power (which he admits) Of
improving the accesses Of external trade. gives pre-
cisely the same right over what belongs to COM
merce among the States'' and commerce with TO-
same means as to that which he holds perfectly
proper as to this!
Admirable and benefcent and sacred nicely OF
scruples! He can turn out of public employment
into beggary men grown gray in the public service,
and as competent they have been faithful, to re-
ward with places, forfeited by mere political opin-
ion, others whose political opinions are their only
merit; and for this he finds an express power
doubtless under the first amendment securing the
"liberty of speech" Nay, the same amendment
provides for unbounded freedom of conscience and
the non-interference Of the Federal Government in
what regards religion: but this scrupulous Execu-
tive can take Mormonsm under the public protec-
ton, and grant them the temporary use of the In
dian lands. provided always that FIVE hundred OF
them shall enlist as soldiers and agree to remain as
colonisfs, in region California; to which we have
not even the bad title of conquest or the shocking
pretence of a Texas statute ! Could their prophet
himself, autocrat and theo,rat as he was have ex.
ercised holder attributes! Such are the Executive
sensbilites about " the exercise of doubtful pow.
ers! Annexation and all its complication of out
RACES upon the Constitution could not give him a
moments pause; he can, not only in the face OF
the limitation of the war-making power to Congress
alone, but in contempt of their direct and legal in
structon to settle by negotiation all disputed ques-
tons of boundary with Mexico" march an army
into territory never out of her legal possession,
and make war for months without consulting Con-
gress, though in session All these powers over
mems conscience free citizens; all this right to
deal with even their religious faith; all these fatal
faculties of arms, invasion, and slaughter all these
wasteful faculties of spending millions upon mil
lions for purpose wicked as it is bootless, the
President finds smooth and easy things, exempt
from the slightest constitutional or legal hesitation
for surely in such perilous things the smallest doubt
would weigh more with good men than the greatest
in things pacific and beneficial only. On these
acts, however expensive disgraceful or bloody,
he has not grain of difficulty but approach him
with what can only make land smile or whiten its
waters within with the canvass of peaceful CON-
merce and 10 he deals us distractions and veto
We shall not at present examine the minuter
parts Of this constitutional treatise Of his. Just
now, we have only space to say that all its doc
trine comes to little but what great living states
man said, many years ago. of this whole system of
arbitrary Interpretation, calling itself "strict con-
struction - You will find the people of this
school always unable to deducs from the Consti-
tuition any authority for what is benefcent, but
never at loss to get warrant there for mischief
We shall recur to the subject to show that even
Gen. JACKSON approved and sighed during several
successive years, bills carry on the improvement,
OF rivers and harbors, in its greatest latitude.
'CossrIrurros, article /, Section g "Thc Congress
shall have power
"To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among
the several States, and with the Indian tribes"
AMERICAN IcE LoNDox.-A late London paper CON-
tslns an advertisement that cargo Of six hundred tons
this pure spring ice (Wenham Lake, has lust been
(s.~k "A