Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1848-09-26


For his explessions of appreciation oil nus pro
vision we refer generally TO his ls.'eis w.. e,
ahout The date OF The Constitution. And 10 le'-
Ter 10 John Adams, written in 1871, nc Gnu
meraled this as one Of the fundamental piinciP'e'
which ought 10 be Incorporated IN 'he ooN
s,itu,ions Of the South American Repho'cs.-
"Represenlalive Government, native luhc.i'u.
aries a qualified negative on their laRs, WIN
nervous security by compact Tor lfeedoin u eou'
merce, freedom OF the press, ha6eaS corpus, n"'
Trial by Jury, would make good oesnnn'ns
ri, fIlrson's Cores oLdence, vol. q, p. 339
Gen. Taylor pledges himself 10 his party, 'hal
II elected President, he will not, except ID inc
enumerated cases, exercise this poker Ves'eu III
him by he Constitution, which he will be sworn
10 support. To remove This difficulty, ne ana ms
friends contend. that in pursuing Inc course "
which he is pledged, he will observe The rue IN
tent OF the Constitution. He says that The Ve'o
is high conservative power, which ousn' nv
10 be exercised except in cases OF clear Vlo'a',o',
ul the Constitution, or manifest hasle ana wan ~
consideration by Congress. II Gen. iayioi
View had been the view 0. Inc trainers VI 'i's
Constitution, how easy il would have oeeh 10,
them 10 have expressed il in appropriate Terms
Those who have udied the debates and proceed
inas of The Convention that formed The Consu-
lulon. know with what carceach proposition was
considered The general propositions were mrs.
adon,ed 10 committee Of The whole then The re-
port Of that committee was referred 10 Commit.
lee of Detail, who drafted Them into practical
form. This report was again considered by Inc
c. invention, and The whole finally referred 10 a
Committee on Style. Il was thus that the remark
able accuracy Of construction, which chatacer.
yes the Cons itulicn, was attained. And this con.
sideraon gives peculiar Importance 70 every
expression in that instrument. The language 81
Inc Constitution in reference 10 The veo is suiil'
ciently explicit. Every BILL before j, becomes
law, shall be presented 10 The president. "Jhe
approves H. h shall sign il; but, u MT,
he snail re urn with his objections" &c &c,
l, is here expressly provided, that ne shall
approve The bill before he signs II, II mol, ne
shall return il. But when we Trace The history
OF This clause through The proceedings OF The Con-
venlion, lis meaning becomes still more apparent
The original resolution referred 10 The Committee
oil Detail yeas as follows:
"Resoved, Thai the National Executive shall
have a right 10 negative any legislative act;
which shall not afterwards be passed, unless BY
| lwo.thirds OF each branch oflhe National Legs
a;ure" madison papers, l224)
The Committee OF Detail were Of course not
authorized 10 modify The sense OF any proposition
referred TO them. They were simply 10 put these
general resolutions into practical operating form.
Their report affords US authentic testimony OF
what the Convention intended the veto power 10
be. The Committee reported The veto clause as io'-
lows:
Every hill which shall have passed The House
81 Representatives and The Senate, shall, before ii
becomes law, bc presented 10 the President OF
the United STATES Tor his revision. II, upon such
revision, he approve o. H. he shall signiy his
appreciation by Signiag IT, But il upon such revi-
SION, i. shall appear 10 him improper for being
passed into Ian, he shall return il, together with
MS objection" &c. -(Madison papers, 1921
THIS section thus reported, was adopted By The
Convention without the slightest objection TO il as
not depressing in this respect the meaning Of the
resolution that had heen referred L the committee
| And in this form this veto clause remained, until
| the whole Constitution was referred to a commit
| lee on Style, who were 10 revise and correct the
| language OF Inc instrument. That committee
| reported Inc clause in is present form. The
clause reported by the committee on Slylc is den-
| lica in meaning with that reported by the com
nilice on Detail, and was acquiesced in by the
Convention without remark While The clause
o. The committee on Style is more concise and
| nsaer than The other, that oil the committee on
| Detail expresses The meaning more fully. II is,
hence, manifest that he trainers OF the Cons itu-
| ton intended ha! The Presidents signature 10
bl! should express his appreciation OF IL; and hat,
when i appeared 10 him improper for beng
fdSScu lUlU INV, III SUtiIlu ltlHiH III WIN VI,
objections Thus speaks that Convention; and,
Is reference 10 inc debates, i; will be seen that
The veto was declared by individual members 10
he designed in the language OF Mr. Madison,
| "as an additional check against the pursuit Of
those unwise and unjust measures which consli-
tuIe 50 great a portion oil our caami!ies. Us See
| .iadison papeIs-llbl, HILL
The candidate Of The Whis party in 1910 was
! for extending the veto much farther than General
| Taylor. Ia his leller 10 Sherrot Williams, Ge-
| neral Harrison declares that The veto "is
| conservative power, Intended only to be used 10
! secure The Constitution Itself from violation and
u protect The ,ishts 81 tie minority ard The lccaker
nenljefs Of The Union l. not The erasurc ul this
latter clause from General Taylof's view VI the
| purpose Of The veto Significant Ii was inserted
! by General Harrison 10 assure the Southern mi
nority that their rights should be protected Is il
not stricken OUT by General Taylor 10 assure the
North that This veto shall not be inerposed in de.
fence Of those rights?
| We have thus, ieow.cilizens, considered This
subject at some length, because we regard the
veto as the great provision OF defence for your
peculiar rights and interests, and because we be-
| lieve that, in The present condition OF affairs all
your dclences should be strengthened The ag-
gIessive spirit of the enemies OF The South
has never been displayed in holder and more
uncompromisng forms than AT The present
emergency. They are uniting their strength Al
| the North. and confidently expect 10 have con-
trolling majority OF Congress The Presidential
veto is the obstacle that stands between them and
! her purposes. To remove this is The object OF
all their Iabors. This done, they believe that their
| designs against The institutions OF the South can
| b, easily accomplished. Mr.. Corwin The great
orator and leader Of The anti.slavery parry, has
declared in recent speech, (fepublished in most
/ nj lh,.t w prirtS NJ This
| Taylor was nominated, he only "wanlcd 10 knO,r
| his opinions Npon vet0es." Yes, fellow. ciz2ns,
| there is The only pont from which your enc
mics apprehend that you can make successful
resistance. Wllyon, under The persuasuns Of un-
suspecling or apoSiale friends, surrender il before
he combat opens2 You may be ia a minory-ii
! the calculations OF your adversaTies are correct
| you will b. in a minority in the next Congress;
and The veto will be your only resource. il thai
be moi interpoSr TO secure you, the political con.
;csl will be closed. Arms will be substituted Tor
argument. The arena may be changed from the
| halls OF Congress 10 Your own homes and your
| fields may flow with The blood OF yourselves and
| your neishbors shed by serye hands in civil
war. la view of The serious responsibility that
may attach 10 your course, we impIore you
| 10 look well 10 the opinions OF these candidates
| upon vetoes. Which OF them will inIerpose the
veto in your defence, and which will refuse TO do
So
Upon this subjecr, Gen. Cass declared senli-
menls affdrd every guarantee which The South
can require. Adopting Inc language OF the Bal
limore resolution, h. declares, that all efforts
made 10 "induce Congress 10 interfere with
questions OF slavery, or 10 take incipient steps
in relation thereto, are calculated 10 lead 10
Inc most alarming and dangerous consequent
ees, and ought nut 10 be counlenanced by any
friend OF our political Institutions" lu his Letter
10 Mr.. Nicholson, he is equally explicit. awe
have neither the right, nor the power, TO touch
!! slavery where it exists; and if we had both,
their exercise, by any means heretofore suggest
en-, might lead to results which no wise man
would willingly encounter, and which no good
man could contemplate without anxiety
Speaking of the Wilmot Proyiso, he says tina. he
IS opposed to the erereise Of any jurisdiction by