Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1849-08-20
EXECUTIVE PATRONAGE.

one OF the cardinal points of the Democratic par
" from the adoption Of the Federal Constitution
10 the accession OF Jackson. The pernsal Of the
Madison papers, and of the debates in The Virginia
Convention which adopted the Federal Constitu-
ton will sufficiently show 10 what unreasonable
lengths ,his eaousy was carried, and how near
III the dread that he might abuse it, we came
To have Federal Executive with power at
all The old Constitution of Virginia nanfests
the same jealousy. II gave little power and pat
ronagc to the Goycnor--nor was the amended
Constitution more liberal. The cause of this fear
and distrust was obvious enough. Our loreiath
ers felt oppression only through the exercise OF
the royal prerogaye. They naturally, there
fore, looked with alarm upon the one man pow
or. From The day the Federal Constitution went
into operation, the Republican party of Virginia
and the South has been clamorous against the
augmentation of The powers Of the Federal Cow
eminent, and, especially, of those pertaining to
the Executive branch. 1t would be waste of
time To illustrate this by reference 10 quotation
no one, we presume will deny the posltlon.-
The writings of Nh. Jefferson abound in passages
denouncing Il slfong Executive and doubtless, he
had much 10 do in shaping public sentiment in
Virginia in favor OF clothing the Governor with
the least possible amount OF authority and patron
age, and oil still further csscnlng his importance,
! by making hlm elective by the Legislature instead
OF the people.
But all these principles are abandoncd on the
occasion OF the late action ofthe Legislature upon
the law appointing inspectors. They have been
virtually rcnouuced by the leading Democrats in
the House and by the Democratic journals of the
State The code, as reported by the Rcvisors
and Committee, and as ii passed the House, made
no change in the mode OF appointing Inspectors
of Flour, Commissioners of Election &c. This
a,
hands OF The county and corporation courts. The
Democratic Senate amended the law and gave
the appointment To the Governor. The House
agreed To the amendment by ma orty OF two
some five or six Democrats voting against it
The amendment was a party measure-lntro-
duccd as such-paSScd as SuCh-and defended
by the Democratic press as such. All that has,
heretofore, been said against investing the Chief
Magistrate with power and patronage is recanted.
We are told that jealousy Of Executive patron
age is n mere 'bug-bcar.' We are asked in
what possible manner can the liberties of Nr.
ginla be endangered by an elective Governor,
whose term Of office is prescribed, whose duties
are accurately defined aud whose official powers
are strictly limited" We might ask the same
question substituting for Virginia" and "Gov-
ernor' the word So nitcd States" and "Prcsidcnt'
and then call upon the shade OF the Democrat
&c party for the answer. We are told that 1t is
"absurd 10 talk of danger TO popular liberty from
constitutional Executive II tins be so, Jeiler-
son. Madison, Roane Taylor, all the great lights
of the Democratic party of Virginia, were guilty
OF abSurdty. They talked of it Oft and loud and
either felt or ieigacd the liveest sense of danger.
How many hundred columns of the Enquirer
have been filled in the endeayor to impress the
people with the sense of this same danger, now
pronounced "absnrd." Executive patronage is
styled "thc raw-hcad and bloody bones of Wing
orators and editors Just now
We find the following IN the Enquirer:
The Governor is elected by the rcpresenlaytsof the
people. lie owes his li'n cNslence 10 the exercise If
the hnbcsi privilege ut The ciiizen. the night Of suffrage
and is emncnllH responsible inl his TO Them Ills
shur term Of Office Will always prevent any danger from
him. The dignity of his rslllon prevents him pcrpe IA
nrg lhSe petty political III noes sometimes attributed to
Wing magistrates
All that is said of the Governor applies with
lar greater force TO the Prcsident-ior he is, in
| point of fact, elected directly by the people, and
IS rc-ehglblc, which our Governor is not. Sub
stltutc the word President and then compare this
argument in favor OF his being the safest of all
possible repositories of power, with the countless
essays which have appeared in the same journal
illustrating the danger of increasing his power and
patronage.
The fact IS, tins movement is in strict accor-
dance with the principles acted upon by the Dem.
ocrahc party for years PAST. They have done all
they could 20 magnify the Executive branch of
The National Government. Systematic efforts
have been made to Witty and degrade the Senate
and the House. No evcrton has been spared TO
dragon both into compliance with the Executive
sll,w hlStby the free use of the veto and the un-
bounded applause consequent thereon, the wishes
OF the people, as expressed by THEN representa-
tves, are thwarted. The direction OF party zeal
has been towards augmenting the power, patron
age and influence OF the President 1t would be
dlilcult to perceive in what the late incumbent
could have been more absolute than he was.
---
We gave extracts, in our last, from the Sub
Treasury law, by which it appeared that, if any
oIhccr OF The government, having charge of the
public funds, should use the same himself or lend
them to another with or without interest, he
should be deemed guilty of felony, and be sub
Jected 10 fine and imprisonment, DIR. Lane, the
Pension Agent OF the u. S. at Louisville, Ky
the candidate, in the recent election, of the
Democratic party in that Congressional District
lie was removed and, after the lapse of two or
three days, TUNED over the books, papers, funds
Nc, to his successor Just previous 10 the cleo
uon,t Louisville Journal charged him with be-
ing deiaulter, and that he had lent public money
IN his possession TO a relative. His party ndg-
nantly denied it. He pubshedan address TO the
public, IN which he denied being n dclauter and
explained why the delay OF day or two took
place IN turning over the Office 6af does not dcny
Me tending the moncy, and thus virtually admits
ne charge. The Journal says the money was