The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1860-01-05

tbs Ssr A. mower to the Executive. If Thu
: were we'll Sannded' it would, of course, be conclu
sive. very brief examination, however, will
place this objection at rest.
err under the Constitution, 'sto declare war
They alone can raise and support armies" ant
provide and maintain navy" But after Congress.
Shall hate declared war, and provided the forc'
nee essary to carry 1t on, the President, com
mander-in-chief of the army and navy. can alon,
employ this force in making war against the en-
envy This is the plain language, and history
proves that it was the well known intention of til,
trainers of the Constitution.
1t will not be denied that the general "power t.
declare war us without limitation, and embrace.
within itself not only what writer's on the law cal
public or perfect war, but also an imperfect wal
and, In Short every species OF hostility, however
confined limited. Without the authority o
Congress the President cannot fire a hostile gur
in any case. except to repel the attacks of en-
envy. 1t will not be doubted that under this power
Congress could if they thought proper, authorize
the President to employ the force at his command
to seize a vessel belonging to an American either
which had been illegally and unjustly captured il
foreign port and restore it to its owner. But car
Congress only act after the factafter the mischie
has been done? Have they power to confer
upon the President the authority in advance tt
furnish instant redress should such case after
wards occur? Must they wait until the the mis-
chief has been done, and can they apply the rem
edy only when it is too late? To confer this au
thority to meet future cases under circumstance.
strictly specified is clearly within the war-de
caring power such an authority conferred upoT
the President by act of Congress after the deco
had been done. In the progress of great nation
many exigencles must arise imperitively requir
ing that Congress should authorize the President
to act promptly on certain conditions which may
| or NAV not hereafter arise. Our history has al
ready presented number of such cases. l shall
refer only to the latest
/ Under the resolution of June 2 1858, 90 for the
adjustment of difficulties with the republic of Par
aguay," the President is "authorized to adopt such
measures and use such force as in his judgement
may be necessary and advisable in the event of
refusal of just satisfaction by the government o.
Paraguay" just satisfaction y for what? Fol
g the attack upon the U. :. Steamer Water
WITCH and ''other matters referred to in the an
nual message of the President"
Here the power is expressly granted upon the
condition that the government of Paraguay shall
refuse to render this Just satisfaction" In this
and other similar cases Congress have conferred
upon the President power in advance to employ
the army and navy upon the happening OF contn
gent future events; and this most certainly is en-
braced within the power to declare war.
Now, if this conditional and contingent power
could be constitutionally conferred upon the Pres
ident in the case of Paraguay why may it not be
conferred for the purpose of protecting the lives
and property of American sitizens in the event
that they may be violently and unlawfully attacked
in passing the transit routes to and from Cal
ifOrna or assaulted by the seizure of their vessels
in q foreign port To deny this power is to render
the navy in a great degree useless for the protec
ton of the lives and property of American citizens
in countries where neither redress or protection
can be otherwise obtained.
The Thirty-fifth Congress terminated on the Sd
of March. 1859, without having passed the Act
making appropriations for the service of the Post
office Department during the fiscal year ending the
30th of June 1860" This act also contained an
appropriation "to supply deficiencies in the rev
enue of the POstofice department for the year end
ing the 30th of June 1889" | believe this is the
errment, now more than seventy years ago, when
any Congress went out of existence without hav-
ing passed all the general appropriation bills ne
cessary to carry on the government until the reg
ular period for the meeting of new Congress.
This event imposed on the Executive great re-
sponsibility. 1t presented choice of evils
Had this commission of duty occurred at the first
session of the last Congress, the remedy would
have been plain. ! might have instantly recalled
them to complete their work. But on the 4th Of
March last there were fifteen of the thirty three
states which had not elected any Representatives
to the present Congress. Had Congress beer
called together immediately, those States would
have been virtually DISTINGUISHED. If an inferno
date period had been selected, several of the
States would have been compelled to hold extr;
sessions of their Legislature, at great inconven
fence and expense. to provide for elections at az
earlier day than that fixed by law In the regular
after the beginning of August, and five of these
ten not until October and November.
On the other hand, when [ came &c
examine carefully the condition of the
Post Office Department. l did not
meet as many or as great difficulties as
| had apprehended. Had the bill
which failed, been confined to appro
priations for the fiscal year ending on
the 3Otli June next, there would have
been no reason of pressing importance
for the call of an extra session. Moth
= ing would become due on contracts
those with railroad companies only
excepted) for carrying the mail for the
first quarter of the present fiscal year
commencing on the lst of July until
the lst of December-less than one
week before the meeting of the present
Congress. The reason is, that the
mail contractors for this, the current
year, did not complete their first quar-
ter's service until the 3Oth September
last; and by the terms of their con
tracts, sixty days more are allowed fol
the settlement of their accounts, before
E the Department could be called upor
for payment.
The great difficulty and the great
hardship consisted in the failure tc
provide for the payment Of the def
, cheney in the fiscal year ending the
3Oth June, 1859. The Department had
entered into contracts, in obedience te
existing laws, for the service of that
fiscal year, and the contractors were
fully entitled to their compensation a.
} it became due The deficiency a:
stated in the bill amounted to S3,S3S,
72S, but after careful settlement o
all these accounts, it has been ascer
tanned that it amounted to 81, 295, 900
With the scanty means at his command
the Postmaster General has managed
to pay the first two quarters of the
past fiscal year, ending on the S1st De
cember last. In the meantime the con
tractors themselves under these trying
circumstances, have behaved them
selves in manner worthy Of all com
mendation. They had one resource il
the midst of their embarrassments.
!. After the amount due to each O
them has been ascertained and finally
settled according to law, this became
a specified debt of record against the
United States, which enabled them to
borrow money on this unquestionablt
L