The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1848-12-07


ment OF great constitutional principles, exposing in
light too clear to be darkened by wing sophistry, the
and the swftcoming odium of their past conduct
and their projected policy!
But the Integencer fit further allege that such
constitutional views of public policy are specially
OF place and Of character in the message OF the
present Executive and that they introduced for the
purpose of casting mputaions upon the of the
luton" This charge is outrage. Is an mputation
cast upon Madison in the message when the pressure
of the peculiar circumstances under which he was most
reluctantly constrained at the close of the of 1912,
to commit the grave and acknowledged of changing
his first sound opinion against the constituonali,y of
bank, in justice 10 his memory fully set forth to guard
against similar in circumstances of the country
now in degree analogous' Is not new lustre
hected on the character of Washington, by the
evidence brought forward in the message, of the pro-
longed and painful hesitation with which, after waiting
till the very last moment, and having veto message
drawn for the emergency OF opposite conclusion, he
at length resolved to sign the first bank bl' Does
this proof OF his deeply seated doubts and scrupes upon
the question, and of the reluctance and regret with
which he yielded them, form tribute TO his pure
and spotless renown Is it injustice the planners
of the so-called american system alege that they
derived the power to establish every single branch of
from construction alone Is pretended by the nte
gencer that express authority be found IN the
stituton for any of all the which COM
pose t-taxes for -bank-land- money disr
bution--or internal Improvement Is not construction
undenably the mother of the whole brood Where,
them is the imputaon cast in the message upon the
men of the revolution The charge has shadow of
foundation. And with what grace does this charge come
from the Intelligence which in the breath malgns
the usous Jackson, not the least renowned or honor
ed of these revered men of the revolution as the
founder Of what ii accrimonousy styles "Veto Dynas
y"a statesman, too, whose very prouIes claim to the
homage of his countrymen and of freemen everywhere
is, that against monstrous money monopoly he acted
by the veto power, in the very spirit OF the principles
OF which this message gives mastery exposition
There IS no imputaon upon any past administration
They acted the counsels of their day We have seen
the developed consequences OF system which was, in
the hands of those who adopted it, experimentation
an experiment which, however forced upon them by
special circumstances, many of the statesmen who as
sented to it beheld with dlstrus and dread We live in
the light Of their experience And in this light the
present Executive finds himself summoned, by the pres
ent state of the country, to perform his high constitu
onal duty OF laying his views of our public policy be-
fore the nation, and OF solemnly recommending to
Congress- an adherence to those measures" which
shall enable to avoid the evils OF "system" which
experience has shown to be at war with national
prosperity How could he be justified in shrinking from
this constitutional duty? And is he to be charged
with assang past administrations because he has thus
placed upon mpreSnable constitutional grounds the views
which have guided his own
We will not condescend TO answer again the stale and
hundred-times exploded charge renewed by the In
ellgencer that the present Executive has violated the
constitution in the conduct of glorious war with
Mexico-a war 10 ng delayed, reluctant and rghul--a
entered but to repe attack, and which all the
efforts OF orbearance and all the of negotiation
were tasked to avoid-a which almost the whole OF
both houses of Congress commanded to go on--whch
while under that command it did go from victory to
victory, the wing party increasingly mali yned and de
famed; and which, when it closed in treaty of
peace, found that treaty opposed by the same wing
senators who had Arrays opposed the war; and its
complete execution defeated by the wing rep
resen,atves who had denounced, unconstitutional
and unholy, the which it was to close Let all
these thngs-le the war-le the executive conduct of the
war-speak for themselves! But when the wing organ
charges that the policy of this administration has dis
qualified its head to speak upon constitutional questions
and duties, we demand of that journal to what
administration earned by grander deeds, by nobe
results both home and abroad the right TO be heard
in exposition of principles upon which those deeds
were shaped and from which those results have flowed
What administration has ever spoken from higher plat
form of achievement What Executive, in our genera.
on has so set his mark on our national progress as TO
send his closing words, upon his retirement from power
farther forward into the history of the country, farther
downward into the settled convictions of "he sober sec
onj thought" of the people?
We would cheerully comply with the request of the
Delaware Journal by repubshng its long article respect
ing Mr. Clayton. if we had not previously stated the most
important facts 10 which refers. and quoted the verv
extract from Mr. Cayon's speech in the Senate which
the Journal requests us to repubsh 1t denies that Mr.
C the author OF the communication which originally
appeared in its columns, weeks SINCE concerning
national bank 1t asserts that this article was not writ
ten by the senator from Delaware but by citizen of
this county, resident of this city, Wilmington
and written far back near the close of the
session of Congress of 1s42"-but published until