Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-26
Some Things You Want to Know
The American Congress-The Revolution of 1901.

trolled by the federalist party and the
the last made up of that exclusive aristoc-
racy which laid the foundations of the
great American republic. The congress
met for the first time at Washington. The
National Intelligencer was established in
the new capital city by Samuel Harrison
Smith, a friend and supporter Of jefferson.
jefferson was vice-president and from his
chair in the senate chamber he directed
his campaign for the presidency.
jefferson had inspired the Kentucky and
Virginia resolutions of 1898 and the right
of congress to enact laws against the
will of the states was questioned. In 1899
the second set of Kentucky resolutions,
those not written by jefferson, boldly
proclaimed the right Of notification, after
wards undertaken by New England in 1908,
by South Carolina in 1882 and forever de-
stroyed by the great civil war.
Speaker Sedgwick believed it to be his
duty to save the nation such outrageous
radicalism. The National In~teligencer
reported, without comment, the fact that
the speaker had made an error in an
nouncing the vote on a question of ad-
journment, and had been corrected by a
recount. For that heinous offense the
editor, Mr.. Smith, was barred from the
house and refused admittance to the gal
lCIitS. Inc speaker Sdlu 10 Inn. IN my
opinion your conduct has had no other
object than to disgrace me and the govern
ment. The object of my order was to
prevent you from giving any further state
ments of the Proceedings Of the house.
You must not discuss any pending bust
ness and must make no report Of a
proceeding until the house has finally
passed upon it. The house divided
equally on a motion to- readmit Smith to
the galleries and the speaker cast the
deciding vote against it.
Jefferson and Burr each received
seventy-three electoral votes for president,
Adams sixty-fiye, P~inckney sixty-four and
Jay one. The voters intended to choose
Jefferson for president and Burr for vice
president, but under the old rule Of vot-
ing for two candidates, the highest to be
president and the second vice president,
the republican candidates were tied. The
tie vote cast the election in the house.
The choice being limited by the constitu-
tion to the two highest names on the list.
the federalist majority in the house was
forced to choose between two radical re-
publican candidates. jefferson was feared
the more, and a conspiracy to elect Burr
was concocted, with ~Sedgwick as one of
its leaders. The house went into contin-
uous session to ballot for president. Eight
states voted for jefferson, eight for Burr
and two were blank, there being an even
division in the delegations from Vermont
and Maryland, The speaker tried many
times to break into the program with other
business, and to throw the advantage to
Burr, but without avail. One republican
member who was very III, was carried to
the house three miles through a heavy
snow storm, but he did not falter. Finally.
James A. Bayard Of Delaware, founder Of
a great political family, deserted the Sedg-
wick hosts and voted for jefferson, thereby
ending the contest after thirty hours.
After 1t had become apparent that the
republicans would control the next admin
istration, President Adams resolved to save
the union II he could. The Alien and Sc
dition laws were to expire by Limitation
with the Adams administration But Adams
had recourse to his power of appointment.
A new judicial bill was passed increasinE
the federal judiciary and Adams appointed
none but strong federalists to the bench.
Then he named John Marshall to be chief
justice Of the supreme court, thereby as
surfing the control of the final supreme
power to the conservatives. Marshall sat
on the bench for thlrty-four years and
wrought nightly. He found the constitu-
ton an uninterrupted document which was
accorded neither respect nor fear. He left
1t buttressed by the logic Of his great legal
mind and illumined by the light Of his
master intellect.
When congress met in 1901, there was q
new legislative era. The aristocrats were
some, the plain people we're in a majority in
the legislature, a majority they have ever
since maintained. The arlstocrats were
to hold the presidency for many years.
until the advent OF Jackson, but the con-
gress was no longer theirs. The federaIist
party had received its MOI tai wound. But
It had bequeathed to the Union the finan-
cial wisdom Of Hamilton and II had as
sured to the future constitutional wisdom
Of Marshall It had failed to
destroy the power Of democracy. The
good IL did lived after it, its levil was
buried with its bones.
The new congress chose Nathaniel Ma
con OF North Carolina to be speaker and
immediately set itself TO do the win Of It's
master in the White House. From that
day until this the people, the congress ana
the president, by common consent. have
refused to keep separate the legislative and
executive branches Of the government JET
feTson was the first president TO take an
active and controlling hand In the shaping
Of legislative policies. Fortunately he
was backed by sympathetc congresses
which rejoiced 70 do his bidding. But
the precedent was then established which
has led to many bitter conflicts between
the congress and the White House.
b PrsdeFie J. zashdn.
TomorTov-The American Congress-
The Fight on the Bank