Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1849-02-08

party doctrines, tne rCSCrlCtlon OF tne V et0 pow"
er, the Zone man power" so they termIt,,aeabe
President. They have been very clagq
pecialy during the Presidential elect
vor of'the restriction. We have 10 d
served their purpose well, to fan the
of those who never look at the ConstuS
lead them off on this wild goose chase ~
have harped loudly, and no doubt with great a
feet, on this class of minds, about Gen. Tuyors
| pledges not to exercise the veto power, except
in certain contingencies; and held up these
pledges as one Of the greatest Of his me:its, and
IL Bs e IF S as we sha gn bG P{ S
hard to convince those who are blinded by the
excitement Of pending election. We there
fore revert to the subject now, as the smoke of
the campaign is clearing away, and people are
trying to ascertain their whereabouts.
The veto power is couched in these words =
Every bill which shall have passed the House
Of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before
it becomes law be presented to the President
of the United States; if he approve he shall
sign it, but if not he shall return it with his OBJ
ections, &c.
Thus it will be seen that the President is
bound 10 UetO every bill which he does not cap.
prove" Nothing could be more simple. plain,
pointed and positive. There is no alternative
He is sworn to "preserve, protect and defend"
the Constitution. If he signs a bill which he
does not "approye" or neglects to sign one
which he does "approve," he violates the Con-
stitution and pepweS himself into the bargain!
Those who would have him do either, would un.
dcrmine the foundations of the government if
they thought they could better accomplish by the
means, their selfish purposes.
Now look at the position Of Gen. TAYLOR and
his supporters. According to tho highest au-
thority, Gen. Taylor is Internationally pledged
not to veto any bills which may be passed on
certain specified subjects, whether he "appro-
YES" them or not On the other hand, General
Taylor is virtually pledged, Or reserves to him.
self the right, to veto all bills which pass " has
tLy' through the forms of legislation, and this
without reference to the only Constitutional con.
dition, i. c. his approval. Thus the great merit
of Gen. Taylor's pledges on this subject con.
slsts i'll virtual promise to pcrjWe himself in
case of contingencies which, for aught he or
any one knows, are as likely to happen as any
other What position is this for Presden,
of the United States.
But there is another feature of his position
which demands notice, for several reasons
General Taylor makes an exception where bills
are unconstitutional. This, no doubt, appears
very plausible wise and judicious to MANY. 1t
would be very wicked to sanction unconstitu-
tional bills. Gen. Taylor has had the benefit Of
this sagacious pledge. But who made him the
Judge of the constltutlonalty of bills? There
are Courts and Judges provided to determine
such questions. The constitution does not say
nor imply that if bill is unconstitutional the
President shall return it, but, "but if he do not
approve" &c. Such o condition would make
the President, delacto, the Supreme Judge Of
the land. He would be clothed with power
vastly greater than he now possesses This
then is what those would do who are talking Il.
bout restricting the veto power! Again. With
reference to the veto power, Gen. Taylor has e,
Enumerated certain subjects, in relation to which
he says, the ,rW of the people, as expressed
through their Senators and Representatives il
Congress-, ought to gOuern." Now we would ask
why the ".will of the people ought to govern" in
these particulars more than in others +? His Ian.
guage implies that in other subjects the will Of
the people ought not to govern. If thus is not O
fair, legitimate construction, then language has
no meaning. If Gen. Taylor did not mean this
he certainly was unfortunate in the choice Of
words. 1t is vain for Taylor friends to attempt
to escape from the dilemma. TO guard agains
the application of the acknowledged rule Of in
depreciation which we have applied to Genera
Taylor's language, the trainers of the amend
ments to the constitution found it necessary t.
form a special article, which reads thus "Tht
enumeration in the constitution of certain rights
shall not be construed to deny or disparage 9th
ers retained by the people" Evidently they saw
the necessity for this article, or 1t would no
have been inserted.
Thus much for General Taylor's position
Now we would ask how the exercise Of the We
to power can be limited Or restricted more thai
it is already, and yet retain the power? VIVA
conditions, or rules, not already in the Constitu
ton, can be added or substituted? No one, tina
we know of, wishes to take away the power en-
tirely. But either it must be virtually abolished
or retained without additional restriction. W.
doubu if those who have been most cIamorou
for its restriction ever seriously thought Of an,
plan Or proposition which they would substitute