Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1847-01-29

same school, frankly admits that 10 such author
ny exists in the Constitution. should not ex-
pecI the gentleman from Virginia TO give up his
opinion for lhaI Of any common man, but when |
bring another stric;-construcuouist-an older It
nOla better ono thau he is himseC-who denies
his doctrine, contend thai his opinion ought 10
90 .Or nothing. The gentleman from South Ca
roliu0, though he conicsses thag the Constitution
gives the President no authority to do those acts,
sill insists that they acre not Unauthorized. lie
derives the authority from the fact uf war, and
says that Il IS incident 10 conquest that the con-
quest places the President (he being the conque-
ror suppOSe) in loco PARENTS 10 the people of
the conquered territory. This is a new loco for
Mr. Polk 10 be in, should Judge, from the antics
that he plays over his bauuings. ] fear that his
parental londneSs is a liule indiscreet, and will
require 10 be restrained, 10 prevent It from spoil
ing the children. Seriously, sir, the authority
for which the gentleman contends, is nothing but
military authority after all, and trust that have
already shown thai military authority is incom-
petent to establish civil government over the con-
quered territory.
Another gentleman from Virginia, also Of the
strct-cons ructionist school, (Mr. Bayly,) reads
from book an opinion Of Sir Walter Scott, or
Lord Stowell, us he is sometimes called, in which
that learned judge held that, IN a case where
sovereign had in war conquered an island from
another power, he might before the end Of the
war establish civil government for il, or even
cede it to third power; subject, however, to the
losing States right to recOnQuer it if it could
And then, sir as if he had put an end tothe ques-
ton, he asks, who will question this authority
| need not question it, With Difference to the
learned gentleman, humbly conceived that it is
not a case in point. Perhaps it might be, if our
President were a sovereign, which he happens
not TO be by the Constitution, whatever he may
be by the suHerance of Congress.
1t is great pity, Mr.. Chairman, that all the
research and eloquence Of these gentlemen have
been thrown away, Since their opinions were
formed, the President has sent a message to Con-
gress, by which he disclaims, in good part, these
very acts which they have so warmly approved
and so earnestly defended. Still the gentlemen
occupy no bad position. They have the free
choice of Standing by their respective opinions,
or Of eXcusng them, as the President excuses
the acts OF his officers in attempting to establish
civil government over the conquered territory
and us the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Stan
ton) excuses the President for sending the army
10 the Rio Grandc, by aurlbutng them to an eX-
cess OF patriotism. Happy party, happy in your
leaders, whose tailings even clean TO virtue
side"
That last Message, Mr.. Chairman, is little
the queerest document that have seen since Mr..
Van Buren'stime. Twas long the admirer, though
never the political friend of General Jackson, and
the quality for which admired him more than
ntbRr t,i, al, T.,
himself, or got his friends into one, he never
lodged. No, sir he stood up like a man, and
looked the trouble square in the face, and not un-
frequently he look it out of countenance. This,
sir, was "Old llickory;" but his immediate sue
cessor in office was another kind of man. lie
was one of those who seemed to think that he
should escape danger if he should shun it; and
hence, during his administration, if any of his
measures proved unpopuar-and there were
many such-we all remember the celebrated mi
liua bill-he lodged behind his Secretaries; his
Secretaries caught the trick and lodged behind
their clerks; and the clerks lodged behind their
insigniicance-political insgnifcance, mean.
When "Ioung Hickory" went to the White
House, the spirit Of "Od Hickory" did not &c
with him, but the spirit of Kinderhook--no, oI
Underwood, did, and has abode with him ever
since. Mr.. Folks first dodge was onthe Oregon
question; then he lodged behind the Senate
His next was on the tea and coffee tax; then he
lodged behind the Stree ST." And his last dodge
IS on this business ofsetting up civil government
in the conquered territory; here he lodges be-
hind Mr.. Marcy; Mr.. Marcy lodges behind Gen.
kcarney and Commodore Stockton, and it re-
mains to be seen whether they will dodge at all
ornot | am inclined to think that they will not
but that proiltlng by the example of Mr.. McLane,
IN the Oregon business, they will come out, and
tell precisely why they did as they have DONE
That would put the President in another pretty
tX-"NOHS perrOnS."
Since the President has abandoned the defence
set up for him by hisstrc constructionist friends
other gentlemen, the gentleman from Georgia
| & Mr.. Seabon Jones) among the rest, have tried
to defend him in another way. They call one
witness TO prove good private character for him.
| admit the responsibility of the Witnesses but
sir, hewas not cross-eXamned, nor was the direct
examination full enough to be satisfactory
They manage these things better out Vest
Ihcre,when lawyer, whose motto is, never say
dlc,' happens TO have an unfortunate Client who
some how or another, has fallen under the sus.
plclon OF the grand jury, and no other defence can
be made for him, he summons lot Of witness
three will do, though more arc better-a colonel,
squire, and deacon are indispensable
though they may be as ragged as prairie colts
and wear noses as red as beets. The amount o.
their testimony usually is, that they are acquain
ted, with the accused, and for aught they know
h!s character is as good as that ofmen in general
Then the lawyer, by way of securing the conf
denco of the jury, very ingenuously admits, tha
his clients placed in rather suspicious circum-
stances; still he insists that it is preposterous tc
suppose that a man of his high standing in socie.
ty could commit such an offence as he is charged
with. The thing has been known to take il
some Of the oldest settlements, though not often
II is in law, what the Cesarcan operation is in
surgery, never to be resorted to, except in the