Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-01-07


within precise limits than those Of e,ther OF
the other departments. The bounds OF tha sX-
ecutive authority are easily marked out and
defined. IL breaches few objects. and thuS. are
known. IL cannot tran nscend hem without D.
Ing brought IN contact with the other dspar--
ments Laws may check and resiratn ani
bound It's exercise. The same remarks Gpply
with still greater force 20 the judiciary. rhe
jurisdiction is, or may be, bounded TO a feE
objects or persons; OF, however gen-ral and
unlimited. its operations are necessarily con-
fined 10 the mere administration OF private
and public Jnstice- IL cannot punish wtthout
law. IL cannot create controversies 20 act
upon. IL can decide only upon rights and
cases as they are brought by Others before az
II can do nothing for itself. IL must do every
thing for others. IL must obey the laws; and
AZ NJ corruptly administers them, IL is subjected
kto the power Of impeachment On the other
~band, the Legislative power, except in the few
cases Of constitutional prohibition, is pnlIm-
REQ. lti forever varying Its means and ITS
ends II governs the instii buttons, and laws and
public policy OF the country. IL regulates all
Its vast interests Ii disposes OF all ITS property.
LCok but At the exercise eftwo or three bran ches
OF Its ordinary powers; AZ leyies all taxes. %
directs and appropriates all supplies; it gives
the rules for the descent, distribution, ana
deNlses OF all property held by individuals. II
controls the sources md the resources of wealth.
IL changes At its will the whole fabric OF the
laws. Ii moulds at its pleasure almost all the
institutions which give strength, and com fort.
and dignity TO society. In the next place a. 10
the direct, visible represent alive OF the will OF
Inc people In all the changes Of times and CIR
cumstances. IL has the pride, well as the
powers Of numbers. IL Is easily moved and
steadily moved by the strong impulses Of pop
ular feeling and popular odium. IL ooeys.
without rel U ctance, the wishes and the will o;
the majority for the time being. The path -
public favor lies open by such obedience and
IL nnos not only support but tmpunIty. IN
whatever meas res the majority al vises even
though they transcend the constitutional
limits. Ii has no motive. therefore, 20 be PEAL
Gus, or scrupulous in its own use OF power
ano IL finds Its ambition stimulated and its
arm strengthened by the cou ntenance and the
courage OF numbers. These views are not
alone those OF men who look with apprehension
Spon the tate ef republics; but they are also
freely admitted by some OF the strongest ad-
vocates for popular rights and the permanent
cy Of republican Institutions Zach de-
pariment should have a will Of its own
=. Zach should have ITS own independence Sc
cured beyond the power Of being taken away
by either or both OF the others. But a. the
same time the relations OF each TO the other
should be SO strong that there shop Id be a mu-
Inal interest TO sustain and protect each other
There should not only be constitutional
means, but personal motives 10 resist en-
croaebments OF one either of the others
Thus, ambition would be made TO counteract
am oItion; the desire OF power 10 check power:
and the pressure of interest TO balance an on
posing interest" The judiciary is naturally
arc almost necessarily, las has been already
sald,) The weakest department. IL can have
no means Of influence by patronage. It's DOW
ers can never be welded for itself II mas
nc. no command over the purse or the sword OF
the nation. Ii can neither lay taxes nor ap-
proprlate money, nor command armies, or ap-
point TO office. IL Is never brought into CON
tact with the people by constant appeals and
solicitations, and private intercourse, which
belong 20 all the other departments of govern
ment. Ii rs seen only in controversies, or in
trials and punishments. Its rigid justice and
imparuality give it no claims to favor, how
ever they may TO respect 1t stands solitary
and unsupported, except by that portion OF
public opinion which is in terested only in the
strIct administration Of Justice. Ii can rarely
secure the sympathy or jealous support either
OF the executive or the legislature. IL they
are not las is not unfreQ Quently the easel leal-
Gus Of its prerogatIves. the constant necessity
OF serutiDIZing the acts OF each, upon the ap-
plication OF any private person, and the painful
duty OF prenouncing judgment that these acts
are departure from the law or Constitu-
tien, can have no tendency 10 conciliHte KIND
ness or nourish influence. Ii would seem.
therefore, that some additional GUARDS would,
under such circumstances. be necessary 10
protect this department from the absolute 90
minlon OF the others. Yet rarely have any
such guards been applied; and every attempt
10 introduce Them has been resisted with a
pertinacity which demonstrates how slow
popular leaders are TO introduce checks upon
their own power, and how slow the people
are TO believe hat the judiciary is the real
bulwsrk of their hberues'' ssIf aey depart
ment OF the Government has undue influence,
or aosoT blng power, lt certainly has not been
either the executive or judiciary"
sln addition to what has been said by these
distinguished writers, il may also be urged
that the dominant party in each House NAV,
by the expulsion of a sufficient number OF
mem bers, or by the exclusion from represen-
a Ol
the minority 10 less than ne-third. Congress
by these means, mIght be enabled 10 pass a law,
the obJecuons OF the President 10 the contrary
Notwithstanding, which would render impo-
tent the other two Departments OF the Govern
ment and make imperative the wholesome
ana restraining power which IL was intended
oy the trainers OF the Constitution should be
exerted by them. This weuld be practical
concentration Of all power in the Congress OF
the United States-Ihis. in the language OF the
author OF the Declaration OF Independence,
stDreclsely Of
Government
have preferred 10 reproduce these teach
Ings OF the great statesmen and constitutional
lawyers OF the early and later days of the Re-
public, rather than TO rely simply upon an ex-
pression OF my own opinions. We cannot too
often recur 10 them, especially AZ q conjunc-
sure like the present Their application 10
our actual condition Is SO apparent thar thew
now come to us as living voice, TO be list
ened to with more attention than at any pre-
vious period Of our history. We have been
and are yet in the midst of popular commotion
Ihe passions aroused by great civil war are
still dominant. II is not time favorable 70
that calm and deliberate judgment which is
the only safe guide when radical changes in
our institutions are to be made. The measure
now before me is one OF those changes II
initiates an untried experiment. for a
people who have said, with one voice, that
make us pause but IL is not all. The expert
ment has not been trled, or 90 much as de-
manded by the people Of the several States for
themselves. In but few Of the Statee mas such
an innovation been allowed as giving The hal
lot to the colored pop ulation without any other
qualification than a residence of one year and
In most of them the denial of the ballot 70 this
race is absolute, and by fundamental law
placed beyond the domaia of ordinary lesisIa-
ton. In most OF those States the evil e such
suffrage would be partial; but, small as AZ
would be, IL is guarded by constitutional bar
riers. Here the innovat ass umes formida-
bic proportions, which may easily grow TO
such an extent as TO make the white popula-
ton su bordinate element in the BODY politic
After full deliberauon upon tins measured
cannot bring myself 10 approve il, even upon
local considerations, nor yet as the beginning
OF an experiment on a larger scale. I Yield 70
no one In attachment 10 that rule OF general
sunrage which distinguishes our policy "a a
nation. But there lie a limit, wisely observed
hitherto, which makes the ballot a privilege
and trust, and which requires OF some
classes time suitable for probation and pre-
paration. To give il indiscriminately 70 new
class, W hollv unprepared. by previous habIts
and opportunities, 70 perform the trust which
II demands. is 70 degrade IL, and haally TO de-
stroy Its power; for IL may be safely assumed
that no political truth is better esta bIshed than
that such indiscrimiRite and all embracing ex-
tension Of popular suffrage must end AT last in
It's desunetion. ANDREW JOHNSON.