The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-07-27
THE VETO PowHn.

a
The power to control the legislation Of tht
country by veto is essentially : Engly pre-
rogstive. 1t is an anomaly inconsistent with
the fundamental idea of = Republic, and
owes its place, in tho modified form in which
it appears in our Constitution, to the inHu
ence Of ALEXANDER HAMILTON and his dis
ciples, who sought, as far as practicable, te
model our government upon the forms of the
British Constitution. While some benefits
mar be traced to the oceasioDal exercise Of
the Veto, it is wrong in principle and dan
gerous in practice, and as il Is becoming the
daily food, instead Of the extreme medicine
of the body polite, cannot fail toconcentrate
the whole powers Of Government into the
hands Of one man. For with the power, on
the one hand, to block the wheels of legis.
lation, and, on tho other, ID tbs patronage
of the Government, all places of honor, trus.
and profit at the disposal of the President, to
influence Iegislstioh and corrupt legislators,
the Executive head Of the nation will, in the
long run, be omnipotent over the Legislative
Department and, with the sppofntment OF
the Judges practically at his disposal, only
such as agree to do his will will be appoint
ed to the Bench, or allowed, in the words OF
his henchman, RANDALL, to eat his "bread
and butter"
President JOHNSON, in his FIRST Veto Mes
Rager we believe, undertakes to justify, exalt
and popularize the Veto Power, by compar.
ing himself to the Roman Tribunes, who
were elected for the protection of the rights
of the people, and clothed simply with a
negative power on the DEGREES of the Roman
Senate The Roman Tribunate, in its origi.
nal institution, possessed no executive power
nor patronage whatever, and was elected
from the body Of the people-the ranks Of
the Plebeians-for the sole purpose OF OBJ
structing any legislation by the hereditary
aristocracy injurious to the interests of the
people. Rome was not Democratic Re-
publican Representative Government. There
were two grand divisions of citisens-Patri-
clans and Plebeians-or, the afistocracy and
the common people. These were again SUBJ
divided into ranks, in such fashion that the
entire power of the Government, Executive,
Legislative, and Judicial, was really and in.
evitahly in the hands of the aristocracy, and
the common people had no effective voice
whatever in the affairs of Government under
the so-called Roman Republic. 1t was the
rule of the few over the many.
Under such state of things, the crude in
vention of the Tribunate operated beneficial
ly for time in behalf Of the interests of the
people. But even with these favorable sur
roundings, and with such apparent necessity
Tor some such protection to the rights and
interests of the great mass Of the people
against the aristocracy, this one-man power
soon became perverted from its original de.
sign, and was uniformly welded in the inter
ests OF anstocracy and of despotism, and
eventually proved most potent engine in in.
yesting the Emperors with absolute power.
At first the powers of the Tribune were
welded by unambitions men, without aspira.
tons for Office, and were exercised only on
rare occasions. Then demagogues and
Office seekers were elected to the
position, and sought to use
the power for the promotion Of their own
ambitious views. Soon the Chief Magistrates
of Rome, by the promise of profitable and
honorable appointments, bribed the Tribunes
TO exercise the veto power over the Legisla
fure, in the interests of the policy of the Ex
ecutye. And, at later day, popular Con
suls, the Chief Magistrates of Rome become
Trbunes of the people, and were thus in
vested, in their own persons, not only with
the Executive powers, but with the control O
Legislation also, IS no measure, ut least
could be adopted against their omnipoten
Veto. The OEsARs we're al Tribmes, ane
exercised the Veto power to control the Leg
isiation of the Senate, and prevent the pas
sage OF any laws to obstruct their pathway t.
arbitrary power. Hence we see that the refer
ence OF the President to the Roman Tribunal.
is very infelicitous as an attempt to Justify tn,
Veto in his hands, and commend this on,
man power to the favor of the friends Of fire..
Government in our country. Any close stu
dent of Roman history will readily recognize
the accuracy Of our sketch of the rise, pro.
gress, and final fatal effects Of the Tribunitiar
or Veto power in Rome; and almost sny
modern history will clearly develope that the
Republic Of Poland, unfortunate Poland
owed her final ruin to the same fatal power
But that our readers may not depend upon
our statements of the case, in regard to
Bone, We quote from some of the most au-
fhortative historians. TAcrrus says, in speak.
ing Of the assumption of this Tribupidan
power of the.:yeto, by AUGUSTUS "It gave
him, under Republican name. the whole
iorcs and energy of the Government. He
knew the art of Disgusting tyranny unde,
constitutional formsJ'
AGAIN IAclrus says that: "Auousrus,
unaer that artfal disguise, fthe popular name
OF tribune, With his arbitrary Veto power, ]
found the way, without the mama nj KIN =,
dictator, to make himself superior to the
Legislative and Constitutional Eracu.;v.
powers Of the Commonwealth"
NIEBuHR, aprofound historian, gives the
following paragraph, in his resume Of III,
Tribunitian Veto power in Roman h;..orv
de nays: I'm the later history Of the Romsu
Republic We find the Tribunitian pove,
carried to such height, by the chanees in the
state Of things, and BY itsown usurpation, tia,
It overtops the Consuls and the Senate, ma,
the people itself In the cour,,
OF centuries things went 20 FIR that the Tn
Dunes no longer stood over against the So.
preme authority, a. representatives Of Il,
Nation, but were tyrsnts elected for The taru
of their Office"
Novwe take il that the popular nam.
which the President iavokss 10 sanction Til
monstrous privilege Of arbitrary power, b,
which one mans viii ID made to oyexbenI
that Of two hundred Representative, eeeh o
whom, on an average, i equal in ability 4
himself, viii mot, after al, prove sufficient
"sstful dissuise 70 pave his way 70 also.
- Dictatorship in this land Of inAelliesnt
ossnsn and patriots.