Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1852-09-11
From the Baton Rouge Gazette.
lBERv1LLE, July 81, 1852.

lrIoul TIE DdtOH houSe OdZettej
lBERvlLLE, July 27, 1852.
Hon. T. G. DAVIDSON,
Elector Of The 4th District:
SIR-In your letter of the 10th instant, you
express great surprise at receiving my note Of
the 9th, and seem to have some misgivings as
to the motives which influenced me to write it.
Now it is strange that the honors of an Elec.
tor should so excite your self-esteem that you
should be astonished at receiving letter from
one whom you had heretofore recognized as
your equal in association, and as to the motive
which influenced me, trust shall carry to my
grave. 1t may be summed up in this: To de-
tend the character of the man whose blood was
freely shed in defending the honor of my coun-
try's flag, when l was in my mothers arms,
from the uryuSt aspirations of one whose edu.
cation and associations should have admonished
him to seek other grounds TO advance the inte-
rests of the party for which he is an ambassa-
dor: But, Sir, will relieve your surprise be-
fore am done with you, by creating the great
er astonlshment in your own mind at the course
you have so thoughtIessly pursued in tile OPEN
ing of the present canvass for the Presidency.
And first, Twill notice the proof you rely upon
to sustain your charge against Gen. Scott, re-
marking, however, that as you have so publicly
declared that you have "nere7 any aohere said
that Gen. Scott a0as an abolitionist, am bound
to receive your statement. But, Sir, you very
modestly confess that you did say, that his set
| tied convictions of the Constitution, and his
published policy, favored the views of the Free
soil or Abolition party. In proof of which you
read from his letter of the 25th October, l84l,
in which he declared himself in favor of an
amendment of the Constitution, so to limit the
veto power as to allow it to be controlled by a
mere majority. Now, Sir, that there may be
no quibbling on this part of your evidence,
| will admit all that the most jealous advocates
of the old federal party, whose favorite measure
this was, ever contended for: "That it is a
shield thrown around the President, in order
| first to protect him in his Executive rights
I'd, to protect the Judiciary in its delegated
| rights,-3d, the Senate in their reserved rights,
--4th, to correct hasty, corrupt, or ambitious
! legislation" You can but admit, that it is
feature in our Constitution that strongly incui-
Gates the opinion that the Federal legislature
may be actuated by the same unholy motives
that once influenced the legislature of Great
Britain, for you may perhaps know that it is
| feature borrowed from prerogative of the
British Crown, and opine, that the first true
hearted American is yet to be found who can
reconcile it to the genius of our Government
The people Of the several States elect the Pre-
sdent; they also elect the members of Con-
gress The latter go up fresh from the peo-
pie, understanding their wants: their interests
are mutually identified, and they are animated
by the same love of their common country.
Their fidelity to the Constitution is to be ques-
hat Sc H. T.
wisdom they are his superiors. In their know
ledge of the wants of the people they are great
ly in advance of the executive. Then as Con.
gress is, in every particular, the equal of the
President, and in many respects vastly his SUI
perior, it would seem to follow, that all the
fears the old federal party ever entertained, and
sohich you seem to hare so fully imbibed, as re-
CARDS the action Of the people through their rep
resentatiues, vanish into thin air. and that the de-
legated rights of the coordinate branches of
Government would be most sacredly guarded
Indeed, from the death of the old federal party
in 1901, until its resurrection by old Fogy in
1874, the old-fashioned Democratic doctrine
was that of Gen. Scott, that majority should
rule; and l still believe that every genuine re-
publican will say, that after respectful consid-
GRAFTON, on the part of Congress, of the Presi-
dents objection to bill passed by that body,
if the same legislature shall pass the bill se-
cond time, that it should become law For
we must not lose sight of the responsibility
that rests upon the representatives; of the great
weight the President must necessarily have as
a coordinate branch of the Government; of
the concentrated wisdom brought to his aid by
his constitutional advisers, enabling him to set
forth his reasons, and to offer arguments
against the passage of a bill which must arrest
the attention and command the respect of what
is, and what we hope ever will be, delibera-
tive body, fully endowed with wisdom. In
deed, to say that one man shall oyerrule the
will Of Congress, and stop all expression of the
will Of the people, through their representatives
unless two-thirds Of the members elect shall
decide against the one man poUer, is truly ad-
vocating the monarchical doctrine of old Fogy
with vengeance. Gen. Scott, as you know,
does not wish to alter the Constitution, so as
to deprive the Executive of the power to veto
a bill passed by Congress. He simply propo-
ses to change the Constitution, so that if a ma
jority of the members of Congress, after duly
considering the objections urged by the Presi- |
dent against bill, may, if they differ from him,
pass the bill a second time, and then it becomes
a law. In the proposition he here submits to
the American people, Gen. Scott, like Generals
Washington and Jackson, can have no motive |
other than to promote his country's good. For
who is so lost to decent respect for public |
opinion, as to doubt that the first object of his
heart is his oUn, his natiue land. Here is en-
bosomed his family-here is his fortune-his |
honor--his very existence. Here in defence of |
his country's honor, he has spent forty-five |
years of his life, and could put tongue in |