The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1878-09-23
OH 9ailg Afgns.
Rock ISLAND. .11Lrno1s
Mr.. Goudys Surrender
On. state Register.l

/ e& On. State Register.)
The complete surrender of such men as
Hon. w. 9. Cloudy to the heresies of the
federalists and the follies of the fiatists. is
a fact which may we'll cause alarm among
all who hold that the government of the
United States is one OF defined and limit
ed powers. He comedies TO the congress
OF the United States more power than has
Deen claimed by any one else. In his late
speech at Farewell Hall, Chicago, be not
only comedies all the powers which have
ever been claimed for congress, but goes
further, and declares that the power of
congress is practically unlimited, The
original federalists claimed for congress
broad construction of the clauses OF the
constitution, aud insisted that powers
could be taken by implications the tatists
1 claim that congress has the power to
create money, but Mr. Cloudy declares
that it has always been held that the
CONSTITUTION was broad enough to enable
CONGRESS to exercise every legislative pow
er not expressly prohibited He does
not say who has held" this theory, and
we are willing to confess that we never
heard of it before. We have heard OF
various constructions of the grants of pow
err in the constitution, and sundry deini-
tons of the limiting and qualifying
lphrases, but all these definitions were
based on the idea that the constitution
itself was grant of power, and that the
only possible questions to be discussed
were as to what powers were actually
granted, either in terms or by necessary
Implication. 1t was reserved, as we be-
lieve, for MIR. Cloudy to discover that all
} the discussion as TO the construction OF
q the constitution, heretofore, has been
wrong in principle and utterly useless,
and that in constituting the constitution it
is only requisite to discover what is not in
it, which is to say, to note what is mot
expressly prohibited" and then TO gel
. the congress afloat in the vast expanse oil
{ Legislative power outside the instrument
This is really fresh goods in the pohtica
market, and Mr.. Cloudy is entitled to al
the profit of manufacturing and vending
them. IF he is right, the war, which was
supposed to have maintained the union
really subVerted the constitution aud de-
lstroyed the republican government which
our fathers framed.
lie Mr.. Cloudy has been spoken Of as can
lie didate for the election of United State
n senator, which the democrats of the Iii
nois legislature will hold early next Janu
tary, and the Register has protested it
c Willingness to support him in that election
r if he would undergo the labor of the cam
paign. We were willing to do thl
in spite of abe fact that he processes t.
believe that the congress possesses
=" "prerogatives' and that one of thes
i prerogatives is the power TO is
sues bills to circulate as none
}. but is was supposed that these "preroga
tives," like the powers expressly granted
were subject to precise definition, an
that MIR. Cloudy could say that congress
possessed some powers by express gran
and in addition, certain other powers b
"prerogative" But it is time to call
halt if Mr.. Cloudy proposes TO take wit
him to the United States senate the theor
that the grants of power 10 the constitU
8 ton are superfuous, that only the limita
tons OF powers are to be studied, an
:, that beyond the grants, beyond the allies
ed 'prerogatives, and outside the limiti
al tons the inherent power Of congress
3 boundless. The federalists constructio
of the constitution we have combatted fl
years, and always successfully; the moo
3. ern theory that congress possesses prerog;
FF tives, is too vague and windy theory
be allowed to produce much EVIL, but Ii
II theory which Mr.. Cloudy now advances
more dangerous than either of these. ar
is so potent for evil that it must be crusl
ed out, even if the state loses the hont
and the nation the glory of having M
Cloudy in the United States senate.