The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-11-10
NON W D. MAoLAE or NEW YORK.
Ertracs from speech diUcei By Mr. Melay before his
uellts IN WHiansbura. Oct 27 1858.

4
cnec is in respect to the right of suffrage absolute
sovereign. Ho has superior He is subject TO au-
hority but that which he himself In with his
fellow citizens, is pleased 10 create. All the powers
hat DC III this country primarily vested in the peo
pie, and the sovereign will of the people is the main
spring by which the whole machinery of the government
Is regulated and kept in notion Representatives gov
ernors presidents, with all the subordinate officials OF
the State and Union the honored instruments
| the hands of the people, by whom they appointed
and from whom they derive their little brief authority
all created for the purpose of selfgovernment This
reservation OF with the people IL is which gives to
your action all its Importance and dignity For they
whose sole prerogatye it is to make and unmake the
rulers OF nation and shape its destiny for all future time
must act under corresponding responsibility. How inn
portant then is your position in the very base of that
great pyramid upon which the colossal supestrucure of
the government rests and depends for it's support and
sabty, and storms Of civil commotion and national
vusio such in other lands under less favored forms of
government have hurled the mghtiest monarch to level
with their meanest subjects and swept away the last
yestige of royal power AS in the pyramid, firm, i'm
movable basis bears aloft the towering superstucre
in this, democratic government, the primary action
of the people must furnish solid foundation for all its
institutions and for every department of its adminstra
! ton The maintenance of such government under the
most favorable circumstances is trifing task 1t is
fancy work OF visionary men. 1t is an under
| taking which, with the utmost unity of design and
harmony of action, might well employ the collected
wisdom and the combined energies of the entire nation
Even then, with dscord to disturb its councils, and
counteractons to enbarrass its undertaking. to
coed would be glorious achievement. But unhappily,
such not the circumstances of your present position
You surrounded by those who seek to thwar your
best endeavo AT every step Of your progress you have
to contend with the opposition of rival parties, oppo
aton which is made, not on principle for the sake
of principle, but for the attainment of political
power and the acquisition of public plunder and parties
which follow the wake of their leaders through the most
radical changes in their patfoms of public policy, and
which, like Herod and Plate, who had been bitter
miles, but made friends to unite their opposition
| IN The In
each other blood In order to strengthen their forces
against you and if possible to overthrow the adminstra
on and put to rout the great and hitherto nvincibe
democratic party. .. .. ....
When the '.republcan' party convened at Syracuse
for the purpose of nominating their candidates for State
offices, they then and there adopted and published an adj
dress and series OF resolutions which be presumed
to be the deliberately and uttered opinions Of that
party, what is ordinarily called their platform In
of these fundamental resolutions it alleged that the
financial policy of the federal administration is made up
of boundless prodgay in expenditure coupled with ut
ter neglect to balance that expenditure by any other
source than borrowing And this charge will doubt
less be believed by many of the unthinkng, unreadng
of the republican party. But the charge itself
is groundess nsncerc and absurd for there is not
well-informed republican In the land who does not
know that this administration has been emnently char
acterizcd by economy and rctrenchmen and that the
which occasioncd the necessity for borrowing money
which neither the President his cabinet
his friends in Congress- had any controlling power 1t
is true that the army sent to Utah cost large of
money. But this extraordinary expense was demanded
| by an exigency which the administration had no
hand in creating. powerful numerous, and distant
people, inspired by religious fanaticsm, occupying
of the richest Territories of tho Union and organ
lied under the government of the United States
had reyolted and stood in open rebellion defying
alike the laws of God and The President
to execute the laws He bound to bring them
to submission. And the manner in which he met the
exigency, far from furnishing any ground Of
plant, reflects the highest honor upon his admnsra-
ton and must rebound to the lasting credit Of the
ton Beyond this there had been extraordinary
pendure of the public money. The public revenues
have indeed fallen far below the necessary expenses of
the government but every knows that this has
been caused by the great dimnution in foreign i'm
porations from which these almost wholly
derived. And will any presume to say that Mr.,
Buchanan is responsible for this dminuon Has he tho
power and is it his province to neutraze and coeract
all the causes Of financial panic-to every
baassnlent from the business of the nationsto widen
and deepen the streams of commcrce-to quicken the
currents of tradeto create demands for foreign mpor
tatons and to increase customs to balance all
our expenditures There may belt seems there
those who are dsngenuous enough to make charges
which involve all this, but few will be found simple
enough to believe them. Aye the ungenerous and
groundess charge of prodigalty must recoil upon the
republicans themselves If the wings of which that
party is mainly composed had prevailed in their oppo
sition to independent treasury which democratic adj
mnistration succeeded In establishing the government
finances would have been in far worse condition than
they Indeed, it admits of no dispute that demo-
cratic administrations have been uniformly more eco
nomcal than their opponents.
1t is remarkable fact that tho appropriations made by
Congress and applicable to the service of the
for the present fiscal year less than the average
expenditures of 1854-5 1866, 1861 and but little
above the average of those of 1901 1872 1923
And in face of this charge of extavaganc made by
the republicans and other factions of the opposition
it Is worthy of especial note that considerable portion
of the appropriations made by Congress for the present
fiscal year made without being asked for
mended by the Executive, and in such voted
for by nearly all of the republican members Indeed it
appears from the journal of the two houses that while
the democratic members generally, and the Executive
desrous of reducing the appropriations in order
thereby to cutai the expenditures many of the oppos
ton members active and jealous In their efforts to
swell them to the largest amounts possible. In the
Thirty Congress, when the republicans had full
control of the House of Representatives and oil its
mttee they made appropriations to the amount of
than eleven millions of dollars which had been asked
for recommended by any of the Executive depart
ments This charge of cxavagance, the expenditure of
the public moneys therefore, put forth against the
President and the democratic party is utterly unounded
in fact as it is obviously sncere in design and it must
inevitably recoil, with terrible effect upon those who
have reckessly made it.
regard to our foreign relations the interests and
honor Of the country have been everywhere maintained
and this administration has obtained from Great Britain
important concession to Independence the
for which the commissioners in the treaty of Ghent did
not dare to ask and which the Court of St. James has
till jcalousy withheld. The internal affairs of the
country have been managed with prudence economy and
nitiaory steps have been taken and good pro-
gcss made towards the completion of railroad from the
commercial emporium of the country to possessions