Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1861-03-28
gFlistellanepns Artitles.
From the South Carolinian.

From the South Carolinian.
Constitution of the Southern Confed-
eracy---Its Distinctive Features.
The Constitution, in its general aspect, is
American. 1t preserves all the essential
attributes of American liberty, and makes
decided improvements by providing against
abuses which grew out of the Federal Con-
stitution Of 1877. The progress of civil.
zation is onward Each revolution advan-
ces its great march, and makes new devel'
opments. The revolution Of l776, the re-
suit of the great principles of civil liberty
derived from English history aud expert.
ence, developed the Constitution of 81
The subsequent experience of the Southern
people under - latter Constitution, eua-
bles them to Levelop the Constitution of
1861, which advances nearer to perfection,
by throwing off many of the old imperfec-
tions. What changes the progress of the
next century may require, our descendants
must judge. Human wisdom is only CON-
petent for the exigencies of the moment.
Foremost among the changes which have
taken place, are those in reference to the
Presidential election and the distribution of
the "spoils." The evils arising from these
elections are, some of them, incurable, and
can only be tolerated by weighing the great
er security to civil liberty which we feel
when conscious that the term of office of
our Chief Magistrate is not perpetual, and
that time, not bloody revolution, may be
safely trusted to remove him when incom.
petent. One great evil, under the constitu-
tion of 1887. was the re-eligibility of the
President. He was no sooner in office than
he began to administer for the succession.
His ofice-holders, removable if he was not
re. elected, became his partizans. While
other aspirants, by promises to the horde of
Office e-seekers, soon arrayed themselves a
gainst the Government, to defeat and dis
grace it by thwarting it even in measures of
public good it might undertake. This
scramble, on the one side to retain and on
the other to possess the spoils, was one Of
the most demoraliziug evils Of the old regime.
This is, in great degree, removed, by elec-
ting the President for six years, thus redu-
cling the frequency of the Presidential con-
test; by making him Ineligible, thus reno,
wing from him the temptation of the success
sion !; by giving him the power to remove
civil officers of the Executive Department,
when their services are unnecessary, or for
"disbonesty, incapacity, inefhciency, mis-
conduct or neglect of duty" and requiring
the reasons for such removals to be reported
to the Senate, thus checking, in great de-
gree, the struggle for the spoils among the
partisans of the respective aspirauts. These
changes connected with the Presidency, will,
if they attain the results aimed at, prove
the greatest Improvements upon the order
of things under the old government.
The provision that Congress may, by law,
grant to the principal officers in the Execu-
tive Departments a seat upon the floor OF
either the Senate or House, with the privi-
lege of discussing measures appertaining to
their respective departments, is borrowed
from the English Parliamentary custom,
and will, we think, work we'll.
Another important provision is that in
reference to the qualification of foreigners.
Under the Federal Constitution foreigners
are qualified by State laws to vote before
they are admitted to citizenship under the
Federal Government. This gives rise to
dissatisfaction, and is the cause of much
corruption in our large cities. To avoid
this, the Confederate Constitution provides
that s'no person of foreign birth, not cit
izen ofAe Confederate States, shall be al
lowed to vote for an officer, civil or politi-
cal, State or Federal
A fruitful source of trouble under the old
Government, was the power of the Govern
ment to embark in a system of internal i'm
provements. This is explained by limiting
the facilities Congress may afford commerce,
to furnishing lights and buoys, and making
improvements in harbors, and removing OBJ
structions in river navigation; and, in
these cases, requiring that duties on the
navigation facilitated thereby, be made to
pay the cost. When any river divides or
flows through two or more States, they may
enter into compacts with each other to lm-
prove the navigation thereof
The Constitutionality of protection to any
branch of industry, through the adjustment
of the tariff, was also another subject OF par
ty division. This, too, is settled, by the
provision that no bounties shall be granted,
nor any duties laid to foster any branch Of
industry.
Again, in requiring that the Post Office
Department shall be selfsustaining, the new
Constitution provides against another abuse.
BY producing deficiency in this depart
ment, the advocates of protection in the
United States Government created an ex-
cuse for raising the tariff. The new Consti-
tution provides that, after the 1st of March
1868, the expenses of the Post Office De-
partment shall be paid out of its own reve-
nue.. The same inducemcnt for protection
produced great extravaganza in every de-
partment of the Government, because the
greater the expenditures the greater the
protection. Against all of this the ninth
and tenth clauses of the ninth section OF the
first Article makes stringent provisions.
&c al Sourth 60.