The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-03-18
LEGISLATIVE Powers-Lending the Peoples Money

The extent of powers vested in the Legislative
danartment of our State Government by the Con
s,itution. is involved in much doubt. There are
,nnarently irreconceable differences of opinion
upon the subject, and it may therefore not be
sifered presmpiuous in us to offer a few remarks
concerning it, The tendency of the age is towards
! a limitation of the powers of government, more
especially of the legislative branches. The people
are rapidly arriving at knowledge of the truth
| that the greatest danger which can menace our
| republican institutions is not TO be found III the
Zone man power much dreaded; but IN the
| eucroa chment and assumptions of the immediate
representatives of the people themselves. The
States of the original contederacy were so evil
IDENTIFY possessed of this idea that not content with
the specific enumeration of powers granted to Con
grpss and designated in the Constitution they con
sidere,l it expelent and necessary fortity them
| selves against the probable entertainments of the
Congress by adding an amendment declaring that
that body shall have poarer to legIsate, except
! ing upon those subjects actually mentioned. Sev-
era of the States which have lately formed Con-
stitutions have to some extent initiated the Federal
Constitution in the restrictions imposed upon the
| mowers of the Legislature. Our own State has
adopted Constitution, which doubtless i'll
tended by its trainers greatly to abridge the eXer-
else of legislative functions; but the authors OF
that instrument have left large field for the viola
ton of its spirit and intention if of its letter.
In the system of taxation which has been adopted
by the Legislature, there are some features which
are palpably an infraction of both the letter and
spirit of the Constitution.
Our attention forcibly directed to this par
! ticular branch of the subject upon reading the
| able report of Mr. Iarue upon the taxation power,
which published in this paper few days
| since Although the document to which we refer
! is not by any means elaborate. would refer the
| reader to it, convincing exposition OF the I'M
! constuonality of the present mode in which the
revenue of the State is raised There are other
objections TO our taxation system, to which we may
| hereafter allude, and which glanced at in the
report; but our present article concerns mostly
the louers of the Legislature, omit referring to
these objections at present.
But this is not the only subject upon which there
seems to be misapprehension among our legisa-
tors, in regard to the extent of their powers A
BILL which had previously passed the Senate
brought up in the House, having for its object to
lend $4,000 to the Barataria and Laourche Canal
Company. The evident VIC lation of the spirit of
the Constitution implied in this bill, appeared to
have been entirely overlooked by most of the MEM
bers. They seemed to consider that although Art.
ll3 of the Constitution declares that 1.-The Iegs-
lature shall not pledge the faith of the State for the
payment of any bonds bills, other contracts or
obligations for the benefit or use of any person OF
persons, corporations or body polite Whatever
and that the State shall not become a subscriber
to the stock of any corporation or Joint stock com
pany;' yet still they have a perfect right to give
OF lend as much money as they please TO such
corporations, persons, companies! Now, it is
perfectly evident to mind, that the only object
of the Convention in imposing the restrictions
above mentioned, was to secure the State, or the
people of the State, against such criminal and
useless squandering of the public money. as had
but too frequently been witnessed in former years
But how snperluous would he the prohibition to
pledge The filth of the State. if the Legislature is
to consider itself invested with the power and pr
vilege of lending giving away the money of
the State in advance, We are convinced that
the Convention intended that for the future the
State should abjure all come con with corpora
tons joint stock companies-that it should be |
free from all alliance with them-and that its re.
venues should be applied strictly to the support of
its government, and the payment of the debt al. /
ready contracted The tenor of the Constitution. |
tention of its trainers. Not So however think
our legislators; for during this short session of
sixty days, they have appropriated immense
amount of money to objects in no way connected
with the support of the government of the State,
or the payment of its debt.
In view of this state of affairs, we believe that
it would be expcdient and necessary to amend the
Constitution. that it should include specific
enumeration of the powers of the Legislature, and
also the amendment to the Federal Constitution,
to which we have above referred.
1t was we'll said by Thomas Jefferson. that g the
best government is that which governs least
The people have discovered the injury done to
their interests by the almost unlimited power re-
posed in the State Legislature. Perhaps no State
has suffered more. in proportion from this cause.
than own 1t legislative extravaganza
that induced the people to prohibit that the faith
Of the State should be pledged but notwthstand-
ing this restriction there seems to be almost
wide a latitude ever for the squandering of pub
lie money. 1t therefore behooves the people again
to nterpose, and impose such limitations upon le
gisatve excess, as it will be impossible to trans
gress.
We have made these remarks through no feeling
of dsrespect to the Legislature. We believe that
that body sincerely supposes itself invested by the
Constitution with those powers which it has so
literally exercised but we desire to see the Con-
stiiution so amended that there can be no mistake
no msconception, to the true extent of the
rights of the Legislature.
GREAT BRITAIN-CUBA.-Ihe recommendation
of Lord George Bentinck, in the British House of
Commons. to take possession of Cuba has appeared
in the newspapers in the United States pretty gene
rally, without having excited much comment. The
policy thus recommended is grounded upon two
considerations: first that the possession of Cuba by
England would break up one of the chief marts Of