The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1849-01-02

., able time TO accomplish, il, ends; has. mad
: our country what ], is, and has opened to u
o a career of glory and happiness to which al
d other nations have been sndngerS. q a1l o.
d lpothe exercise of thepowereofo the Veto
y the President is responsible not onlylto Al
! enlightened public opinion, but 10 the pso
g pie who elected him, as tho Representative,
c in the legislative branches, who differ will
. him III opinion, arc responsibleto the peo
] PIE ofpartlcular States or Districts, r. To tn.
: President the exercise Of this power woult
} be 10 repeal that provision Of the Consiiiu
, tion which confers il upon him. To chafc,
!, thai its exercise undulyi controls the legis
! la,ve will, is 10 complain of the Constiiu
! ton itself.
If the Presidential veto be objected to or
] The ground that il checks and ibwafts the
public will, upon the same principle ibe
equality Of representation Of The States in
the Senate should be stricken out of the
+ Constitution. The vote Of Senator from
Delaware has equal weigbtin deciding upon
the most important measures, withthe vote
Of Senator from New York: and yei the
one represents a State containing, according
to the existing spportionment Of representa-
Itives in the House, but ono thiriy-fourh part
Of the population of the other. BY the
Constitutional composition of the Senate, a
majority in that body are from the smaller
States, containing less than one-foirh oflhe
people Of the Union. There ore thirty
States; and under the existing apportioli-
ment ofreprescntaiives, there are $50 mem
bers in the House Of Representatives. Six
teen Of the smaller Suites coistitute amaior-
ity OF the Senatej sothatth President may
recommend measure1to Congress- and il
may receive the sanction and approval of
more than lhree-iourihs Of tho whole popu-
lation; and yet a measure will! be defeated
BY the vote of the Senators from the small
or States. None, II is presumed can be
found ready 10 charge the organization of the
Senate on this account, or to strike that body
practically, out Of existence, by requiring
that IFS actions shall be eorformed 10 the
will OF the more numerous branch. .eyg
Upon the same principles that the veto OF
the President should be practically abolish
ed /, the power of the Vice President to give
casting vote upon an equal division Of the
Senate, should be abolished ALSO The Vice
President exercises the veto power as effcc-
tually by rejecting bill by his casting vote,
ds the President does by requiring him TO
approve or signit.1 This power has been
exercised in some instances by the Vice
President, the most important Of which was
the rejection Of the bill to re- e-charier the
Bank Of the United States in 1916. Ii may
happen that bill may be passed by large
majority of the House, Of Representatives,
and may be supported by The Senators fiom
the largest States, and the Vice President
may reject il by giving his vote 10 the Sen
alors from the small States, and yet none, il
is presumed, are prepared TO deny 10 him the
exercise Of this power uEder The consitu-
tion. "a, ,.....t..,. .,.
But il is, in point of fact untrue that an
act passed by Congress is conclusive evi-
dence that it is an emanat;on of the popular
will. A majority Of the whole number cleo
ted 10 each House Of Congress constitutes
"a quorum, aud majority of that quorum is
competent 10 pass laws. 1t might happen
that a quorum Of The House of Representa-
tives, constituted Of a single member more
than half of the whole number elected
might pass bill by a majority of single
vote, and yet, in that case, fraction moi
more than ono fourth Of the people Of the
United States, would he represented by
those who voted IL 1t might happen that
the same bill might be passed by majority
of a quorum of The Senate, and composed of
Senators from the Is smaller States, and a
single Senator from the 10Th State, and ifI
the Senators voting for il happened to be
from the eight the smallest of those States,
1T would be passed by the votes of The Sen
ators from States having but ID Representa-
.ves to the House of Representatives, and
containing less than one sixteenth of the
whole population OF the United States. 4
This extreme case is stated 10 illustrate
the fact that the mere passage RI bill by
Congress is not conclusive evidence that
those who pass it represent the majority of(
the people of the U. S., or truly reflect their
will. Ii such an extreme case is not likely
TO happen, cases that approximate II are OF
constant occurrence. II is believed that
not single law has been passed since the
adoption Of the constitution upon which all
the members elected ID both Houses have
been presen, and voted. Many Of the most
important acts WHICH have passed Congress
have been carried by close vote in the
Houses. Many instances Of this might be
given, indeed our experience proves that
many Of the most important acts Of Congress
ARE postponed 10 the last days,oi often, last
houls of the session, when they are disposed
Of in the House, and by Houses but little
exceeding the number necessary 10 form q
quorum.
Besides, in most Of the States, the men,-
1 : IL