The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1856-06-06
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far as he went. There arc no doubt ycrv
grave and serious objections to the usual
manner of constituting such assemblies
And Mr.. Callioul's fertile genius, could also.
no doubt, point out serious objections to
the mode and manner OF clccting almost
aud deliberatiYe assembly, if he chose to
analysc 1t. Take for instance our own Leg
lSlaiurcs. lie could easily provo that there
had been corruption and even bribery Mt
many Of the election boxcs--that there had
! bccn fraud and corrupt combinations il,
many of the Districts. And, even after the
| Legislature was assembled, it could be proved
tllat there was corrupt management aud
loSrolIlng, aud unjust and unfair Legisla-
! ton. So too of Congress, that it was yery
often corruptiy constituted and unfairly or
galzed it WAS Partial and unfair in
lis Legislation. iut is this sufficient to
abandon them altogether and abolish thcms
All government itself is IN evil and the only
reason why we submit 10 il, is that it is a
substitute fora greater evil, which is ANARCHY.
In this point OF view it is Il positive blcs
sing. So in this case there was n great
argument bcvoud the positions Mr.. Calhoun
assumed in his letter or communication.
;nd that lay in the evils arising from tha
/
falling ha!:;E,;lv into The House of Rcpre.
>rntativcs. Let lis look at it Tor moment.
According To the Constitution, if any can
dhlatcs tG! 10 receive :. majority of the
| Whole votes cast in the electoral college, the
election goe, to the House Of Representa-
tivcS with the three highest, According TO
the theory OF that instrument also, the pow
crs OF government are divided between the
Senate, the President and the House OF
Representatives, AMI must he kept separate.
I'nt il the election Of President habitually
Falls into The llonsc7-tl,cn that branch will
i'll tine absorb the Executive, and the Pres
llcnt will l,ut he the humble tool and in
-,rumcnt OF those who vii! make tic powers
OF the Republic and destroy the equilibrium
OF The three br;,uchcs, and make in fact
, but two-;.n.l where then vii! lie YOUR
, s'.n.ss: =, =
inrht III hibltnal control of the election of
| President and Vice President, there can be
no safety for liberty or Tie Republic. The
Senate would soon be ut their mercy, and
We would hcc"mc Il consolidated Democ-
! racy t" 4 certain extent, with corrup.
oli"arc!iv in the Ilousc OF Representatives,
rontcSing tho destiny Of empire. Such
has been the catastrophe of all Republics,
where the legislative branch chooses the
yxrc1:'ivc also. Tie Constitution expressly
reserves the raising Of i'll revenue bills to tho
House Of Representatives. Here, then, VIC
would have the same branch of Congress
that holds the purse strings, uaming, too,
the executive, and making him the humble
too! Of their corrupt and protligatc cxpeu-
.iitureS.
lou say it is corrupting to have Conyen-
j lions 10 nominate and prevent the election
falling into the 1lotlse of Representatives,
! and yet you,proposeto corrupt permanent
" the Legislative branch Of the, Republic,
and thus poison tho very fountains Of tho
! law-making power, and dobauch them by
I throwing Tie purplefof empire at their bar
every four years for sale and Barter. Ad-
nit for argument that the Convention is
corrupt, yet it sinks back again into tho
mass of the people, without the power ha-
bitual!y to cover Your satutc-boolss, with
the permanent marks Of fraud and corrup-
ton. To give that branch that holds the
revenue in its hands, also the power to hold
the President, is in fact to destroy tho fun
damental equilibrium Of the Government,
and drive it to decay and ruin, or to revo-
luton. Here lies the argument, and tho
, true reason why the country has resorted
to nominating c;lucllsGs in the first instance,
after the Burr conspiracy Of the Fcdcralists
in 1901, and then inlnodern times to Con-
vcntions. True, they may be full Of evils,
and even corruption, and yet they are
choice of evils, and prevent greater evil
| jim all the stupendous and corrupting conse-
] quenccs OF the election habitually falling
!. into the House of Representatives. This
was deeply felt botllaiU.. 1901 and 1924,
and came near producing convulsion;
and, if rcpeatadsetten, does any man who
has read his1 igve that this Republic
Now, a, a,feWsaofls as to tho time, and
tho peculiar. state of the country in which
we are called on tosact at this juncture
in our affairs. Heretofore there might
have been some cause OF apprehension on
the part Of South Carolina, for fear she
may have been betrayed, or unjustly dealt
1 with in Conventions. The South has for
years great grievances to complain OF, and
7 there might hive been danger that the can
didates chosen might lean too much to-
| wards what had been done by Government,
rather than to alleviate our wrongs and
grievances. Wo complain Of the operation
Of an unconstitutional Bank Of the. United
States, and of tariff for protection con-
nected. with it; and, also, Of an enlarged
eyata,,, of avvaod:kr,,o0 -