Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-08-23
A Letter from lsr. COrWis.

: aElor- lis reasons Tor his position. are
: good and sa,isfaciory.--I BrooAriife liner
WAsuINGToN. oOlh July 1918.
Dear sir:-Your letter of th. -ith inst .
reached me half an hour ago, and avail
myself OF my earliest leisure moment to
reply. | have seen in the papers from
various part OF the country. contradictory
con lectures as 10 the vote Of this and that
!, person. and amongst others myself.
] have never doubted as 10 my duty As
a voter. since the nomination was made.
II is true. | did not wish General Taylor
T. preferred others to him. But a Conyen-
ton Of Wings was called. expressly for
the purpose Of agreeing upon one of the
five or six persons named. was in favor
of that Convention. and as il was fairly
conducted, ! feel bound TO sustain It's
nominee. Had the man been named that
| wished. and the friends OF General Tay-
Tor had refused to sustain him. am sure
! should feel warranted in chargin. them
with bad faith cannot apply one rule to
myself and Il different one to others. Had
the Convention named a man who was
not Wing. or who was infamous and un-
worthy. should feel IN that ease. absoIvcd
from any obligation to support such a man.
But Gen. TAYLOR docs not fall within either
Of these classes. lie is Il Wing. He is
above suspicion rcproach in his person
al character. He has proved himself
worthy Of every public trust con:idcd to
him. and that think is reasonable. guar
aniv that he will not fail in this. | know
the nonslavcholding States object to Gen.
Taylor. that he lives in slave State and
owns slaves. Did not Mr.. Clay live in a
slave State, Does he not how! Was
not Mr. Clay Shareholder! Yet we were
proud to vote for him. and would now do
more and sacrifice more to place him in
the Executive chair than | would for anv
man in America. And SO would thousands
of the purest and best men in the free
States. Thus. this objection is not insu
perable. as we have secn.-The Mons slave
holding States should ask this question:
VIII the man proposed. (whclher he live
in free slave State) use his power for
the extension of slavery to territory where
il does not now exist, On this point.
what is Gen. Taylors power! No more.
answer. than yours. unless he should
exert it through his veto. Will he do this. ,
answer, according to his pledges he can
not. He has said in his letter to Captain
Allison-'Thc personal opinions of the
individual who may happen to occupy the
Executive chair. ought not to control the
action of Congress upon questions of
domestic policy, nor ought his objections
to be interposed. where questions Of con-
s saf,os PoMsr haye been sstjsa hH ths
and acquicsced in by the people,
If slavery is extended any where in
territories. it must be done by act OF Con-
rress. Is it not question of domestic I
policv"' Clearly it is. Has it not been
settled that Congress has the constitution
al power to prohibit slavery! The Mis-
souri, compromise. and various other SINH
lar exertions of the power by Congress,
recognized by every department of the
Government, answer this question IN the
affirmative. And all know. that this has
been ..acquiesced in by the people" Thus
then. it is clear, that the people. if they
wish to restrict slavery to its present limits,
have only to elect the proper men to Con-
cress. & their will will be law, uncontrolled
bv tina, so much abused veto power. In
deed the doctrine of General Taylor on
the subject OF the veto. as laid down in the
letter above quoted, Gntended for pnblica-
ton and therefore to be considered
pledge) is in my judgment. Of more value
as principle. in our system, than any
which has been advocated by the Wings.
by its use and abuse. has for the last few
wears. extended It's tvrannIcal grasp TO
every. even the nnnutest question of le-
uisiation 1t has ranged. uncontrolled,
over our whole system OF domestic policy.
from the establishment of Bank. down
to the erection Of harhor at the mouth cf
creek livery act of the Congress of a
free people. has thus been made to square
,ft, I,pIn Il T..
MAN. Such government is an accu-
rate definition of despoti>m. 1t is true.
it only continues for four years in one
hand. but it is more the less despotism
while it lasts. and if it is to be longer
tolerated. will be continued. the only
change being the transfer of absolute
power. from the hands of one petty tyran,
to his successor. An honest man. as Gen.
TAYLOR is admitted to be. with such opn-
ions and reasonable intelligence. which
even his enemies concede. cannot make a
bad. or dangerous President. | have been
asked-how can YOU. who denounced the
Mexican war, vote for It's Hero! My
answer is TO me. plain and obvious: Gen
: TAYLOR was an officer OF the regular army
: He took his commission when a youth
d He contracted TO fight when and where
= his country called. and TO obey the order:
=, of his superiors in command. The Presi
;, dent was commander in-chef. lie order
e ed-Gen. Taylor obeyed. He acted a
Scott and hundreds of others did. 1t was
IN and is the view of their duty. taken b.
:. all officers Of the army and navy. II is
very different question with volunteers
The government requests-it does not
cannot command a citizen, TO voiuntee
y, ,e his services. in foreign war. The gov
r. eminent can compel the militia ''io repe
to INVASION" but il cannot force beyond tn
United States line. single man. exceT
g he is in the regular army. In the speech
re for which have been SO much condemned
til by men who never read it. took this dis
tinction. II is too obvious to escape an
one. who chooses to think
intended To say n word corcernip