The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1873-02-21
TIE INTERIOR JOURNAL.
FRIDAY. FEBRUARY ., u, 1873.

CT iNilM ictulltutt tV''i0ttNtivhh N"''-
tons in the halls Of our Federal leeisla-
trrc; and yet il Is on alarming token to
Observe the unif6rm indifference with
which numerical majority either table,
or postpone the consideration Of, such
questions. No greater political truism
was ever written than that by Cox of
New York, when under the usual
Whcreas of preamble, he recited,
that there arc epochs in the history Of
Governments when, for their pure adj
minigtration, It il necessary to recN to
taeirorsaaie form andgenius; and that the
abuscs Of our Administration have arisen
by reason OF. pcrilous departure from The
Federal system. Based, in substance,
upon these truths, Mr. Cox but few
days since, offered for the consideration
of the House, resolution chat the gov
ornment Of the United States Is, az it
ought TO be, government of limited
powers; that these powers are prescribed
and enumerated in the Constitution Of
the United States; that they are granted
By the people of the government, not for
the purpose Of comforting general, indeli-
mite, unlimited rights of legislation, but
for the purpose of accomplishing certain
welldefned and specified objects; that
all rights of legislature not so conferred
are reserved to the States or the people
thereof and that the two spheres of gov
ernmcnt, State and Federal, should be
kept forever separate, and inviolable.
The most perilous departures of the
Administration from any constitutional
warranty, have been based for justifca-
ton upon the propriety of giving to the
constitution liberal and latitudinous,
not to say loose, construction. And yet
that compact itseli suggests that it should
be strictly, and not literally, construed.
The tenth amendment provides, that the
'powers not delegated to the United
States, nor prohibited to the States, are
reserved.respectively to the States and the
people, This amendment, at the time
of its PRONUNCIATION, was considered for
mula of wholesome political wisdom,
framed and designed to prevent that lat
itude of construction which was so stout
ly contended' for by one of the political
parties, and so strenuously opposed by
the other. Strictly speaking the consti-
tuition allows no implication in favor of
the Federal Government. Every power
that il can possibly exercise, within the
limits of constitutional sanction, is a
granted power. All these are enumeratsd
in the constitution, and nothing can con-
additionally be dono except as a means of
carrying into execution some Of the emu
meratedlpowers. These means are not I'M
piled, but are granted; granted as the
necessary incidents of the power itself,
because the power would be powerless
without them. Some discretion must of
course be left to the government in the
exercise of these incidental powers; but
the past decade Of our history exhibits
the powerful necessity that stsict con-
struction should be applied to the 4sci-
dentally granted powers, as well as those
more specifically enumerated; because
that ia the precise point at which the
government is most likely to encroach.
Should it,be deemed to be authorized
to act without, and independent of, any
rules, il would be subject to no restraint
except what is imposed upon its own wis
dom and virtue by integrity and good
faith. These cannot berelied upon in days
of feverish tpolitical excitement; and
have recently been found to be either <
totally wanting, or powerless 10 rpsist
the flattering temptations to public rob
berry.
1t can furnish no solid argument
in favor of the theory of implied powers,
that they are tolerated, aud perhaps au-
thorized, by the constitutions of State
government They do not surrender or
part from any portion of their sovereign
ty, but simply determine what portion
they Will exercise, what portion shall lie
dormanA and in what manner they will
use that which they choose to exercise.
There is buN one party, to such a govern
menu and that party is the people who
have gsSde the government. Whatever
power TINT government may possess,
whether by'Speeial grant or liberal impli-
cation, IS nevertheless the power of the
people, whose soereignty remains the
same.
Hence it is readily deserved that there I
Is no just analogy between the State Con. 5
and the CONSTITUTION Of Ia, }
United States. The lattet Is a eoup.etf
to which there b NOR iban one parsy y
necessarily so, sipsSft Is a eaxs,r-s--,I'1
,.ss.l1 -, each STIMULATING with
~ rest Their agreement is that n GER
tain portion Of that power which each
in It's own territorial limits,
raay be exercised within the territorial
limits of all Of them, by their common
agent, to-sit; The Federal Government.
lu the ratio then that the powers of this
common agent are increased, there is
,,o,a,.o..., la,.aas.,.. e.. IL. ....--4.