New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-10-15
From An OLD LINE WIG.
To THE MEMBERS OF THE RECENT AssEM-
BLAGE AT BALTIMORE, STYLING IioELf
uurC CONVENTION.

WHIG COW
r,o- tn, Cinet.n0h Gazette.
n,s,,yxys: An ob-cure individual, heretofore sd-
.o,ss 70 the voting Of Wing tickets and TO the support
a big principles. who knows where 10 ma all tna'
,o.i,s Of the archives and organiz alton Of the Wing
marty in Ohio, has read with care the proceedihgs OF
your Convention II purpors to be Convention
called to revise and reorgsDze the old Wing party ana
~ be compoeed Of individuals filed with regret that
the party to which they once belonged is no longer IN
,hs field You avow your belief that the time and &C.
s.on sre at hand for the grave TO burst s cerement-
for the buried to revisit the earth; and you solen
size your belief by setting the example In your OWL
proper persons.
Be thy inten,s wicked or charitable,
Thou coni'si IN such questionable shape
Thai will speak to thee
The work Of reviving q great party serious
work. The old Wing party drew but little money
from the national treasury. Her leaders lacked the
art of getting themselves elected TO frequent Office: but
eudied rather how at the head Of the armies OF the
Republic, 10 advance her standards upon contested
feIds; how at the bar and the bench, to expound
and render mpregnabe the true principles OF the Con-
sttution how in the Senate to enforce with oratory
worthy Of immortal fame, the lessons of large and
generous staesmanship II was only in the small arts
If 40 electioneering canvass they were deficient In
heldb OF iaOOr they Wefe ever
t;ous Their couutry's history can never refuse them
naoe ON those Of her pages In which are written the
1tst Aiming records of civic and military genius
We of the rank and file Of that old party, were &C
oustored to stand up to the contest wlth scarcely
Sone Of victory and TO consider efforts compensated
NV the healthy influence upon public affairs, always
,Scss,ble 10 a yigilant and courageous minority. we
were held together not by the gossainer webs OF party
Allegiance but by q most mutual ana enuh,us zeai
mon oreat themes Of national concerpment- Who
would reviv. That old party must revive the occasion,
the principles and the feelings which originated and
am under the impression that most Of the old Wings
of the country who read your proceedings VIII feel
certain sense of vacuiiy You tell them it IL too late TO
out up candidates Of their own. You fa to ann unce
sby principles not TO all political parties and
YOU reeolufey tarn your backs upon any thing Like
announcement Of measures Such a begl"ning, for
party having the temperament and the peculiar expert
ences If the old Wing party, cannot but regard as
inauspicious One cannot but wonder, supposng the
rally TO have taken place what IL to come neIt1 Or,
nothing is to be done proposed why rally at ail7
Ia il lot rather inconvenient and expensive proceed
ing 10 be gone through with for the purpose of
dress parade II is that you put IN nomination
two gentlemen for President aud Vice-President; but
eince one of these gentlemen did agree to any
Wing principle in bis life and sin G the two gentlemen
did agree with each other on political questions
your nomination Of them does not help us to under
stand you.
The occasion of your meeting doubtless joyful
one and the prospect of more beholdlnS the old
Wing banner st full high advanced ami be aiming In
its original luster was exciting. The thought 10 men
OF your age must have recalled thousand glorious
scenes and must have rolled back the wheels ut time
20 Years of q generous and noble conpanonship.
Tha, you should separate leaving portion OF your
work undone-that portion most likely to recall your
elated hearts TO sense Ut mortaIty-shouid be no
cause either for surprise or unchaitableness. And
since you will necessarily be obliged u reassembe, In
order 10 finish your work and explain 10 what you
would be pleased to have do ia case should
cude to rally, beg leave, respectfully to make few
suggestions
Our old Wing party conceived itself to be an emf
nehtly constitutional party. Not few of leaders
great lawyers, whose repustons were felt to de-
position of constitutional law Their methods of
soDiDg and of construction the methods adopted
BY the Courts One great leading rule of construction
was this: If they fooud in the constitution duty
clearly imposed upon the Legislative branch OF the GOV
eminent or an authority clearly conferred and par
tcuar limits specifications 10 the process of per
forming the cuty Of exercising the authority, then
he legislature expected and empowered to accom-
plisb the proposed object by any expedien and apt
means and was left to s discretion for the selection of
means. Another rule THIS that the fact of Gov
BnmeDt and of sovereignty, necessarily Implied aud
involved the existence OF such powers, whether eI-
preseed OF not not possessed would be denial of
Government and sovereignty in other words, that the
srIns Government and Sovereignty had certain sig
nifCance and meaning Of themselves, which meaning
bad no more need to be written out at lengh II the
other words used in that instrument They further
naini aimed that the Federal Constitution was framed
and adopted for meritoGous purposes and while no
<or should be used TO construe into powers not in
ended to be there, it equally nadmsssbe to prac-
ice ingenuity To coBstrue powers aud duties out OF 1T
hat upon the whole it 10 be taken without liberal
~ on one hand narrowness ON the other ACCORDING
10 its natural purpoit aud objects, and construed ke
my other arrangement entered into Tor lawful ana
good purpose.
In these discussions their antagonists were not
Always consistent with themselves, not harmonious
With one another, but 1t was common Tor them 70 IN,
,st upon what they called strict construction" and
% insist upon treating the Consultation very much as
a. an Indictment for crime, and - II tie debate IN
hand were criminal prosecution, where all The pre-
.vmptons were TO be taken against the Instrument
Where power wus clearly conferred aud the means
Of exer, islng il DOT specified, they did not deny that
here was an Implied power to use such means
as were necessary, but they claimed thai neces,
nary was much the same a. indiSpensaoie, sH9
lett little choice Of cans; in such case II they had
some means which they preferred they were apr 10
claim that fact rs evidence that other MEANS were
M Unnecessary and therefore unconstitutional No'
few Of the grave constitutional decussoiis vi the couh-
Try have resolved themselves unto simple as51Svh on
one side: Some other be adopted, vars, ior
a. instance sbd youfs is therefore unconstitutional
The whole Bank, Tarf and internal Improvement
cVut oversees far they were niade CONSTITUTIONS
que stiops had this extent-no more The same INDIES
II resss ming ramfed the lseives through great va
rety Of affairs, running down~ ard from the Hsis OF
Conuess TO the State Legislatures and to county eau
cuses then upward again from tbo County Courts to
the State Courts, and stil upward to the supreme
Federal Courts nj Wellington. The path was often
trnveieo aio well beaten. As rules OF Judicial con-
struc'ion the Wing doctrines were everywhere
ADOPTED and spread upon the records of the courts
Our great leaders were Dot deetu,ed to collect add
die burre the revenues OF the Government or ~
feel their palms often crossed with its emolumens but
70 triumphs intellectual and enduring Admitting
the hand of Providence 10 be visible In the affairs of
nations, ono might almost imagine the destiny Of the
Nyb, pHrty to have been ut u administer the Con-
sttuton. nor grow fat upon it, but to defend il while
Young "a maintain its symmetry, ann send it unharlned