Washington sentinel., 1854-06-06

/ FOR the present let me pursue the argument
of the President. 1t cannot be denied he
says, I" that if Congress has the power to make
provision for the INDECENT insane, &c,n It has
| the same power to provide for the INDECENT who
are not insane" Granted; but has the Presi-
dent well considered the difference between the
mere possession of power and the necessary |
obligation to exercise that power? Because
Congress has the power to do thing, it by no
means follows that Congress must do it. Con-
gress has the power to order the building of sax
or sixty steam frigates, and it has exercised
that power so far as to order six it does not
follow that it must order the building of sixty.
| The President speaks of idiocy, physical dis
eases, and extreme destitution, and says "if
Congress may and ought to provide for any one
OF these objects, it may and ought to provide
for them all" This is saying that If Congress
has the power to do one thing and does it, then
Congress is bound to do everything else that 1t
has the power to do. Now, may think that
| Congress may and ought to declare war against
| Spain-and if she does it should by no means
conclude that she may and ought to declare
war against England. If Congress has the
power to give, it may give to class stricken
mysteriously by an inscrutible Providence,
without imposing on itself any sort Of obliga-
| tion to give to those who have fallen victims to
their own bad passions, or to the lazaroni who
have been or may be poured upon our shores
i from the jails and pesthouses of the Old World.
The argument Of the President, it seems to
me, amounts rather to a strongly expressed
apprehension that the power may be abused
than to a logical conclusion of its non-exist-
ence. The fear that power may be abused
may justify cautious use of it, but it will not
prove that it does not exist. The power to de-
clare war is one. of fearful import; it may be
absurd. Congress may declare war against
England; today it. would be an abuse ofpower;
but it would not prove that the power did not
exist, and notwithstanding its abuse to-day, it
may be rightfnlly used tomorrow.
The President tells us he will not discuss the
! question of power sometimes claimed under the
general welfare clause of the Constitution, be-
cause he conceives the question Of power under
that clause to have been well and wisely settled.
He thinks Congress has the "power to lay and
collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises,n IN
order "to pay the debts-an IN order /" to
provide for the common defence and GENERAL
WELFARE" In all this | quite concur with
him-but as no one to my knowledge, ever
claimed authority under this clause of the con-
stitution to pass this bill, and as the Presidents
remarks on this point do not seem to me to
meet the argument as presented by the friends
of the bill, do not clearly perceive the purpose
for which they were introduced.
/ cannot but think the President gives
wider range to his fears than the facts warrant,
when he says:
sIf the several States, many of which have
already laid the foundation of munifcent estab-
lishments of local benefcence and nearly all of
which are proceeding to establish them, shall be
led to suppose, they will be should this bill be-
come law, that Congress is to make provision for
such objects, the fountains of charity will be dried
up al home, and the several States instead OF
bestowing their own means on the social wants of
their own people, may themselves, through the
strong temptation, which appeals TO States as TO in
/ diyiduals become humble suppants fofthe boun-
ty ofthe federal government, reversing their true
relation to this Union"
| have better opinion of the States than is
here indicated. In my opinion the fountains
of their charity are not morelikely to be "dried
up by grants Of land for the benefit of the in
sane, than is their their passion for learning to
e~extinguished. by similar grants for school
purposes-nor is state more likely to become
an humble suppliant for the bounty of this
Government when she receives small guam
| tity of land for the relief of suffering humanity,
than she is when she receives larger quantity
for internal improvements and other purposes
We have seen that grants of land for school
purposes have not g dried up the passion for
learning in the States, but has stimulated it, and
| caused it to flow in q steadier and bolder
stream-and though our tables literally groan
, under memorials from State legislatures, pray
ing for lands in aid of their several railroads
and other local projects, we have accustomed
ourselves to think it all right, and the States
have remained in blissful ignorance of the fact
that they were fast becoming humble suppli-
ants FOR the bounty of the federal government"
Passing from this part of the message, we
come at once to the Presidents comments, on
the third section of the 4th article, of the Con-
stitution. It is from thissection that we derive
! our authority to pass this BILL +" The Congress
shall have power to dispose of and make all
! needful rules and regulations respecting the
Z territory or other property belonging to the
:. United States" Such is the language of the
! instrument; and if its terms are not limited by
S some other language in the same instrument it
seems to me there can be no doubtthat we may
d DISPOSE OF the land for the benefit of the in
4 sane. The President has recourse to the sixth
n article Of the Constitution, to wit: that /" all
j. debts contracted and engagements entered into
!. before the adoption Of this Constitution, shall
4 be as valid against the United States under this
: Constitution as under the confederation" This
$ article he thinks limits the powers we might
), otherwise have under the third section Of the
: 4th article.
! Now, sir, this power to dispose of the public
! lands is q clear distinct, separate and substan-
tive grant of power, not dependent on any thing
else, and not the incident of any other grant.
The sixth section of the Constitution, in my
! opinion imposes no limitation on the grant.
, | The contracts and engagements entered into"
! before the adoption of the Constitution, and
which were declared to be as binding on the
United States under the Consultation as under
the confederation referred not to the deeds of
cession from Virginia, Massachusetts, New York
and North Carolina, but to other and very diff
ferent contracts and obligations They refer
more especially to the contracts and obi
cations entered into" by the continental Con-
gress for the support of the Army Of inde-
pendence; and as the structure Of govern
ment was undergoing change, it was meant
to impose on the new constitutional gov
ernment the debts, contracts, and engagements
q ofthe old continental government. Something
of this kind was necessary to secure the credit
8 ors of the government against loss, and to give
e assurance to the world that the public faith
!, should be preserved