The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-05-29

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it maintained with more Or less vigor, until
the advent Of the Jackson dynasty, This
direction was, the maintenance Of constitu-
tional liberty under purely representative
government, the object for which our ia
Tiers perilled their lives and fortunes. II
was not Presidential liberty they fought for
OF sought to establish. They never dreamed
Of unumuirate in the person Of federal
executive, in whom all the powers Of legis-
lation were to be centred and exercised for
a period Of twenty years: we say, all the
powers Of legislation, for it's historical fact,
that the JACKSON dynasty virtually exercised
all those powers during its existence from
1928 to lS4S. The heroes Of the revolution
staked their lives in defence Of constitutional
liberty, under representative form Of gov
eminent They wrote down the metes,
limits and extent Of such government, and
said, that they Should be so, Their poster
| ity have acquiesced in the decision Of their
wisdom, with the exception OF twenty
years. alteration in practice from the true
principles Of the constitution. But though
the impulse given by President WASHING
TON, to the form Of government established
by the constitution, was in the direction Of
true constitutional liberty, yet the impetus
with which it moved forward in that direction
was very variable from the accession Of JOHN
ADAMS to the Presidency down to the close
Of MoNRoE's administration. We think it
received a severe check on the accession Of
Mr.. JEFFERSON to power. He had peculiar
views Of constitutional government. While
many Of them tended to keep sacred the re-
lation between the representative and the
constituent, others Of them had great in
auence in disturbing the just rights Of the
executive, Legislative, and Judicial powers Of
the government. 1t was JEFrERsoN's the
Dry, more perhaps than his practice, that laid
the foundation Of the principles Of action
which directed the policy Of the JACKSON,
VAN buren,, and Polk dynasty The
federal executive began to encroaeh Upon
the federal Legislature in JEFFERsoN's day,
and It continued its entertainments insensibly
upon the latter, until at the advent Of Gen.
Jackson, he found public opinion in such a
state, that he could assume to himself the
entire power Of legislation, without shocking
the public mind. If we look back upon the
Legislative history Of JEFFERSON, MADISON,
and MoNRoE's time, we can easily trace the
gradual REIMBURSEMENT by Congress Of its
exclusive, sole, and supreme powers oflegis-
lation, and the equally gradual usurpation Of
those powers by the President. Mr.. CLAY
embodied this fact in his celebrated resolution
against the increased and increasing power
Of the federal executive. That resolution
was an epitome Of this whole metamorphosis
Of constitutional liberty. It was so insens-
bic, SO gradual in its progress, that the states
men Of the era from JEFFERSON to MONROE,
did not see it, did not see the effects Of Mr..
JErFERsoN's doctrines. But when General
JACKSON boldly claimed for the federal exc
cutive share in federal Legislation, then
It was, that the Waterman on the walls
sounded the alarm, and Mr.. Glars resolu-
ton against the strides Of the executive pow
er to the one-man dominion, was sent forth
upon the waters, to return in due time
freighted with the happy result which was
achieved last November, in the election Of
ZACHARY TAYLOR to the Presidency, who
came into power upon the express repudia-
ton in advance Of the usurpations Of JACK
soNIsM, VAN BUREHIsM, and PoLKIsM.
That noble old man is now our constitutions
al President, not unumUir, not a President
king as Polk was. He has restored the
government to its pristine purity, vigor, and
glory by giving it second impetus in the
same direction as that in which WASHING
TON caused it to move.
But, it will be asked by the friends Of
of the Jaclssonian Interpretation Of the
clause of the constitution, we have above
quoted--what is the character Of the
part which the constitution itself assigns
to the President, in the Legislation Of the
federal Congress If the federal Congress
has the sole, exclusive, and supreme power
Of law-making upon the subjects laid down
in the constitution, how is It, that it has not
the power Of making its will effective, with
out the consent Of the President /? We
answer, that the part, which the President
is empowered to perform, before law can
go into effect, is not Legislative function at
all. We know the friends Of the Jackson doc
trine, contend otherwise and have reduced
their doctrine to practice, but we deny its
constitutionality, and the peoplehave reversed
their twenty years. judgment in its favor.
The part to be performed by the President,
before law can go into effect, is strictly
an executive act. 1t is dehors the exer-
else of the legislative powers Of Congress