New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-06-27

| indirectly Seiect as their itgai OncerS. W hal
are the powers with which this Government:
is trusted by the grant of the people?
| The answer to this question is not at all
| speculative, but simply one Of fact and what
| the fact is can be determined only by reading
and correctly interpreting the Constitution OF
the United States. This and this only is the
instrument which authoritatively expresses
the will of the sovereign people as to the
government under which it is the pleasure to
live, and the powers which shall thereby be
exercised.
A part of this will, and that too very inn
pOrtant part Oft, exists in the form of dcniaIs
of power to the National Government. These
denials, found mainly in the seven sub-sec-
tons of section nine of article first of the
Constitution, and in the amendments which
have been added since its original adoption,
contain the will of the people as to what the
National Government shall not do; and,
hence, so far limit and qualify its powers by
express negation. AS an example, the first
article of the amendments to the Constitution
says that Congress shall make no law re-
specting an establishment of religion, or pro-
hibitng the free exercise thereof" ETC. So,
too, in the body of the Constitution all power
is denied to pass any "bill of atlandcr or
er-post .facto law" or lay any tax or duty
ION articles exported from any State" or
privileges of the writ of haJeas corpus, ''un-
less when, in the case of rebellion or nva-
sion, the public safety may require it." These
are examples of powers prohibited to the Ma
tiOnal Government.
May, then, this Government exercise all
powers which are not thus expressly denied ?
Far otherwise. 1t should be remembered
that the Government of the United States, as
it appears in the Constitution, is one of e,uu-
me,ated powers by distinct and special grants.
These and these only are the powers which
it may exercise. Combining its action within
the limits of the enumeration, the Govern
ment rests upon the authority of the people,
and Is the organ for expressing and executing
their will. Passing beyond these limits it
has and can have no Jurisdiction, except by
usurpation. 1t is well-settled principle, in
the Interpretation of cOnstitutions, that grants
of power not only bestow the powers granted,
but are indirectly limitations upon the exer-
else of all other powers. They fix the sphere
within which government may act, and be-
You'd which it must not pass, even if there
were no express denials of power. Nothing
can be clearer than that the Government of
the United States is not only limited by GER
tain denals Of power but also confined to the
sphere OF its granted powers, within the limits
OF which it is supreme.
What, then, are these granted powers
TO answer this question in detail would be
the work OF volume, or rather, many vol
umes-containing not only all the clauses of
the constitution bearing upon it, but also all
the decisions of the Supreme Court which
have been rendered in eXpOundng the con-
stitutional powers of the Government. The
Constitution itself though q condensed, is,
nevertheless, an exceedingly comprehensive,
statement OF general powers. Not only the
powers themselves, but also all the resulting
powers necessary as the means of carrying
the express powers into execution, are vested
in the National Government What these
powers are is, in the last ANALYSIS, question
for the Supreme Court of the United States
to decide. Hence, to answer the question
fully, we need to traverse all the decisions
having reference to this point which have
been given since the adoption, of the Consti-
tuition. No such task being here proposed,
we content ourselves with a summary state
ment, drawn from the Constitution itself.
The first article of the instrument, besides
providing for the election of a Congress of
the United States, and laying down various
rules Ill respect to its composition and pro-
cedure, vests i'll this Congress all the legisla-
tive powers intended to be granted. The
eighth section of the article contains seven
teen specific enumerations of power, while
the eighteenth and last clause of the section
authorizes Congress "to make all laws which
shall be necessary and proper for carrying
into execution the foregoing powers, and all
other powers vested by this Constitution i'm
the Government of the United States, or in
any department. or officer thereof" Besides
these items, the Constitution makes other
grants of power to Congress, as when it
authorizes it to declare the punishment of
treason; TO admit new States into the Union !;
ito dispose of and make all needful rules and
regulations respecting the territory of other
property belonging to the United States :"
to initiate the process for amending the Con-
stitutiOn to impeach and remove executive
officers for misdemeanOrs; to alter state
regulations in respect to the times, places,
and manner of holding elections for senators
and representatives to enforce by appro-
pirate legislation the provisions of the Thir-
teenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amend
ments, and remove the ineligibility to Office
imposed by the Fourteenth Amendment
These are all express powers, distinctly
enumerated. The section which declares
that "the United States shall guarantee to
every State in this Union republican form
OF government" ETC., makes it the duty of
the United States, clearly including the legis-
latlve power OF Congress, to execute this be-
hest. When slavery was in existence, the
Supreme Court held that the section in regard
to the rendition of fugitive slaves was grant
OF power to Congress to provide by law for
carrying it into effect. BY the same rule of
reasoning, the next section, which declares
that "the citizens Of each State shall be enti-
tied to all the privileges and immunities of
citizens in the several States" would be
equally grant of power, and authorize Con-
gress to guard these rights of common citi-
zenship. Here is a mass of legislative powers
which the people have delegated to the Con-
gress of the nation, and which are to be ex-
ercised by it and it only. When we have
enumerated these powers, with all their ap-
propriate methods of action, we have desig-
mated the legislative sphere of the National
Government.
The second article of the Constitution vests
the erecmice power in President of the
United States of America" provides for the
manner of his election, fixes the term of his
office, authorizes him, with the consent of
the Senate, to appoint his subordinates, gives
to him in connection with the Senate the
treaty-making agency, and in general imposes
upon him the duty Of preserving the Consti-
tuition and executing the laws Of the United
States. This is his sphere, and, acting within
its limits, he represents the will of the sover-
eign people. He does not participate in
legislation, except negatively by the veto
power; yet, when laws have been enacted
by Congress, then it is his business to see
that they are executed to the letter. He is
| n ;uIo Of