Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume], July 08, 1837, Image 1

About Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1837-1839

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- pfp? notiLowAY & n. w. da vis.
SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 8h, 1837.
VOLUilE VII;
11
jj,- :' - . " mm. the xtom
iyenMr.Pfesnwa
iSSSl Ss-rtayfcr the .rrov-
rh,!ijtfc is before me upon the
tm-
y . -mw . sou luai mcj wi us w ouca were me means mat were nxea upon ana ganot the committee, at that time presented,
-, - pioiuuii iw puun w new uem- pursuea to suojugate tne senate the executive a resolution condemnatory' of one of the
""""" vtbi a wan a faviwn. nu a- i was mere manliest in mat rhamvr. reniv 10 uid nvko rtiiri k tLikj r tk.
ysmm tne . s-nj-ent and patriotic
tart eooca- - thi atxmmiOBm wuo fill the
th feelings, to which 1 will
a viva utterance. Iikj impression
M my heart, and will remain among
.risked recollections.
mta-ved. gentlemen, from a long and
which the partiality of my fellow-citizens
a m , That service is ended;" and 1 will
, ii -. MMnsmn wnicn so nappuv wun,
mtaaG poUic mind b aroused and public at
rJLiML to aneak of what I have seen
.i iste.as to the morement and tendency of
ZT rMtament, during the time that I have
OW I . I" J . A Urn
, iteaaMMmss studied to eomprcnena its
tWMT There are epochs in the history of na
I), abort, perhaps, in their development, but
- :- - which give them a tcn-
i .Li . ..nrtn that remain for aires. Such
L. vrMiina of Auirostus Cesar to the con
. j -J tkmiiUB uwer in Rome : such the
MiCn of Iflf. in Eiurland. The two insUn
ces were opposite in their eflects, but alike in
Mm. aaJ in their Dermanence. All acree
that tk adnunistritioa which is just passed, has
amtM itaatfAeeolv on the history of our coun
try; that our imitations have felt, and must con
iMiAfecL its influence: that not only the
prmeHet hut the yrtneipU of our government
have been somewhat changed', all agree in this,
gome say that- they have been improved, others
say they have been perverted; but all agree that
a hold and strong hand has been upon them, and
marked them with his grasp. It were instructive
then, to kaquire what has been the tendency of
oar government daring the past administration,
what are the principles, or what the grand prin
dfU, which gave it direction and impulse, and
which the present chief masistrate has pledged
himself to entry out; or to use the language of
Bsodern pmksopher, as original as he is pro
found, What is the idea which the past adminis
tratis has tended to envelop? I affirm lhat.it is the
mba or Witt tendency to concentrate all the
power or the government into the hands of one
man; and I hokl myself prepared to prove it by a
review, brief though it be, of the leading meas
ures of the administration during the last eight !
years.-
I ill place firat W A rrmT,mLMmm
that attracted my attention, and called forin my
.temonstrance, the exercise for party objects mere-
lv, of the power of appointment and removal by the
rVvsident. That we may have a fair field before
a that we may take a somewhat comprehen
sive view of this important subject let us look
hack to the time of the administration of the sec
ond Adams, and hear the opinion of those now in
power and influence, on the nature and tendency
of this branch of executive patronage.
During the four years of that administration,
two individuals, and two only, whose names ap
pear on the records of the Senate, were removed
from office: nor was it pretended that these remo
vals were for party purposes: anl, wUkit
same four yeni , some nve or six printers of the
public laws were changed. The change of prin
ters was alleged to bo made for party purposes,
with how much or how little truth, I will not
stop to inquire; but it became a standing theme
of declamation and reproach ; and, during that ad
ministration, a fcw--but the number was small
indeed of the members of congress, were apr
pointed to office by the president. They were,
in met, treated jtist as other citizens were treat
ed; neither preferred nor rejected because of their
station. Still the patriot of that day, who are
the supporters of power in this, saw danger to our
institution, from the exercise of. the appointing
and removing power. So important was the sub
ject deemed " so imminent the danger that, in
the session of 1825-$, a committee of the senate
was raised specially to examine and report upon
Ihe subject; and it i but justice to say they did
their duty wclL They do, in their report, with
; great accuracy and exactness, point out as proba
lc, the very mischief which they, when they pos
sessed themselves of that power, hastened to in
fict on the country. The report to which I refer
was made by Mr. Benton, as chairman of the com
mittee, on the 4th day of May, 1820. I will
trouble you with reading a few extracts, which
contain, as I think, much thoorctic truth and spec
ulative wisdom.
After speaking of the theory of a government,
when the laws should execute themselves without
human agency, "the scene, says the report,
"shifts to the theatre of real life, when they are
executed by civil and military officers; by armies
and navies; by courts of justice; by the collection
end disbursement of the revenue, with all its train
C jobs and contracts ; and in this aspect of the rc
JiU, we behold the working of patronage, and
discover The reason why h manv stand ready in
LtrntTyad n ? to io the stan
dard of row aa, wheresoever and by whomsoever
ttinay be raised." The report then refers to the
wBook the political register of the day to
d extent of that patronage, and adds that
he reduction of the public debt, and the income
Je public revenue, will multiply in a fourfold
free the number of persons in the federal gov
ernment, the nuantitv nf mnnov in lhrir liaiuls.
adthe objects to which it is applicable ;" which,
,wll increase in geometrical progression
power of tho government, and bring it to a
agret of energy beyond the power of the mind
to calculate or to comprehend." 1 would tHat
Bdok - thatrcar and of this, to
show by the contrast how true has been the pre
diction, and bow vast the increase of the number
7 " omcers who subsist on tho ' patronage
tie SXecattVO. "TV imml nf imu. n twt
"y the report, -will increase hi a four-
degree;" and so it has. The appropriations
for all purposes, except the public debt, was then
jew than twelve millions; ten ears after, in
nS Upwards of rnrtviwtit milln. mwA tlw
f that report, now arraved on tho side of
. tfT""'' V uPPortinJ its STASDAep." attempted
m ir lTropriation to more than eighty
t- . . a I . a . .
ucwuoniea oj tne same spirit, most he tre- that our present chief magistrate heads the list. Accompanying the report, which I, as the or-'
was
secret
ways been held and admitted to be power over raise to offices of distinction, all who gave him ment. That resolution, the only one voted on,
his mil. Tho President has power over the sup- their unflinching support. The effort was early was carried wtoavmsl in the Senate no one,
port of all these officers; and they again, have made, and it was continued long, to subdue the however strong his part vfeelinir.cboosimr to stain
power over the support of the debtor merchants, independence of the senate. But the resistance his own character with his support of the act.
to tho amount of ten million of dollars per annum ; was noble, and, for a long time successful. The This, however, did not silence the pensioned press,
and they, again, have power over the support of simple weapon, patronage, was not enough to o- or the clamors of those who were battening on
an unmcusv numucr oi inoivrauais, professional i vennrow it. But, to subdue its capacity ot rent- tne spoils. The investigation was continued and
mecnantcs, ana day-laborers, to wnom they can anee ana chain U to the ear of power, another ef- carried out ; a committee of the house joined in the
and will extend or deny a valuable public and pri fectivc engine, moved by the same hand, was inquiry, and fully corroborated all that had been
vate patronage, according to the part which they I brought into action. Executive patronage was shown by that of the Senate; and then, and not
shall act in state, as well as lafederal elections7 successively and carefully applied to states whose till then, were the executive engines silenced,
The report goes on to show that this mighty con- legislatures held, successively, the appointment of and their blood hounds called off from the chase,
centration of patronage and power in the bands senators, until in the language of the report, "its But how were those who had been detected and
of the Executive "is an overmatch for the pow- workings contaminate the puritv of elections. exposed in official falsehood in aidinxr his friends
cr and influence of statk patronage : that its t and enabled the executive at least, to select a and nolitical retainers, and nolitical nartizans. to
workings will contaminate the purity of all elec- j large proportion of the members of the body. The peculate upon the revenues of the department;
tions, and enable the Federal government event- effect was at last successful, and the senate's ca- and how were those, who themselves joined in the
uany to govern throughout tne states as effectual- pacity of resistance was subdued. peculation and shared the spoils, dealt with by
ly as if they were so many provinces of our vast This atrocious principle of reward for partizan the head of our free and just republic? Barry,
empire. service, and punishment of opposition, was car- who had been the actor or the instrumentwas
No one can doubt, that the dangers to the lib I ricd beyond the mere executive offices, into the I allowed to retire unon a foreign mission: and O-
erties of the country, here pointed out, were inv two houses of congress, and the whole weight of badiah B. Brown, convicted of altering and falsi-
uiuvut, u me government snouia ian into uie i Mecuuve power was Drought to bear on each j lying tne books ot tne department witn 4U,UUU
hands of men disposed to make tho worst possible j member of congress, in either house, who dared 1 dollars of the public money in his hands unac-
use oi power, bo ine report views it : so we an to expose an executive measure, or expose the a- counted tor was allowed to resign : and when,
must tcei it. nut might it not have been hoped, buse and corniDtion of an executive denartment.
that in tho senate and House of Representatives, Sometimes the weight of the executive arm was
some checks would be interposed to this political sufficient to crush, at once, its virtues. If that
action: that they, the guardians of the people's were withstood, arrangements, artifice and fraud
rights, would interpose, and save the country I did the work. This was followed out as a fixed
from ruin and the people from bondage? No and constant system, until the president, and net
at last, the general post office was consumed, he
was made the keeper of all the books and papers
that Were saved from the flames.
Now, from the very face of this narrative, plain
and simple detailing events in their order, as
they occurred can any one doubt, that the keen
vetoed the bill making an appropriation fur the
Maysville and Lexington road which was urged
and passed as a part of a great line of cotnmun ica
tkm from Washington City to Florence, in Ala-
Dama, branching otT trom the fJunAerlaad Koad
at Zanesville: he vetoed the bill giving aid to
this all-important and national work, on the ground
of alleged unconstitutionality, while at the same
tune be signed the bilU, which, year after year,
made heavy appropriations on the Cumberland
road, a part of the same great undertaking, end
resting on precisely the same principle, so tar as 1
could conceive, of nationality in its object. The
distinction taken by lien. Jackson was, that the
appropriation for the Cumberland road was made
obligatory a contract with the new states; as if a
contract to violate the constitution could give a
right to violate it. No, fellow-citizens, it was a
mere pretence to extend executive discretion, and
to compel those who sought the passage of laws
favorable to their sections of the country, to seek
it through executive, rather than the legislative
action. That no actual constitutional scruple ev
er did rest upon the mind of the President, and
prevent his sanction of that law, I infer from an
other distinction still more ridiculous, which he
adopted in another class of cases. Many appro
priations were made by congress for the improve
ment of our rivers, which, (with some exceptions,
that 1 need not here stop to point out,) rest on
precisely the same pround with roads and canftls:
The president undertook to discriminate among
during the adi
first year of President
tyme3r. Admass and ha
tsr.y. .jLnmmmm attributed
to it a party or potitieal character.
Butwaenthe new
er, the possible use might be
institution in cementing the Influence ar
ing tne partisans ot tne new
not overlooked.
Gen. Jackson was elected to the
got W po w
November; 1838, and took the oath ef ofiee on
the report goes on to show, that such hope would I the people, or the representatives of tho people, is sighted, intelligent leaders of the party in Wash
oe vain, j no inicnueu cnecn ana control oi the looked to as the source of all now or. and distnhu. ington those whom the 1'residcnt most counsel
the 4 th da v rf March. 18S!I:
of his election and iaansmratiosu the
were begun to gain over the bank of tho United
States, in which were the public wtpoaites, ae mm
to make it and thedeposites the instrntnoarta ef
executive will. The first efSbrt was awde hi Hon,
tocky by certain members of congress front that
state, friendly to tho new admteiattatJon, who.
caused a paper to he presented lathe cashier of
the hank of Lexington, narriing several Mmxviduahi
as directors of the branch at that pines, who, it
was said, would he acceptable to the party in pow
er. The character and standing of tho individu
als named did not, as it appears from the acconi
panying documents, stand too high to justify an o
, pinion that if appointed by the instruction of par
ty loaders, they would be used for party purposes.
The attack at dictation was ai once repelled by
the bank: , , .
The second effort was made by Isaac Hill aaJ
sortie other prominent party leader in Flow
Hampshire, to remove a president of the Forts-
.a a a a a a-
senate, without new constitutional or statuatary
provisions will cease to operate; patronage will
penetrate this body: subdue its capacity ot resist
ance, chain it to the car of power, and enable the
president to rule as easily, and much more secure
ly with, than without this nominal check of the
senate. It then looks forward to the time when
the nomination by the president can carry any
man tnrougn the senate, and any measures
through the two houses of congress; when the
principle of public action shall be open and avow
ed, the president wants my vote and 1 want his pa
tronage: i will vote as he wishes ana he wtti gtve
me the omce I wtsh for. What will this be but
tor of all patronage. I lod and most relied on knew and approved what
Jo give this system its full and extended mnu- I was done and doing in the general post office?
ence, to enlarge its sphere of action and increase Why, when all the cabinet was dismissed, for the
its effects, new offices were created : old ones purpose of making it a vxrr, was Mr. Barry alone
multiplied or used as multipliers, and salaries excepted, unless it were to carry on the scheme
were increased. Witness the Indian agents and I of corruption which was begun, and was to be
sub-agents ; commissioners to make treaties ; com- persevered in, without the fear of scruples which
missioncrs to appraise property, and agents to re- might arise in the mind of a successor, and mter
move Indians and locate reservations; and wit- fere with the system? Why, when in either
ness especially, our diplomatic relations with for- house ot congress, that department was espccial
eign powers. Take, for example the mission to ly challenged and accused by the opposition why
Russia. Mr. Middlcton was re-called to make did not the executive himself cause its conduct and
place for Mr. Randolph. Mr. Randolph returned condition to be specially inquired into, and its er
to make place for Mr. Buchanan ; Mr. Buchanan, rors corrected? And how is it possible to believe
government of one man, and what is the govern- for Mr. Wilkins, who yields to Mr. Dallas, ma
ment of ono man but a moaarcJly. king, in eight years four new foreign ministers,
These arc the weapons, which, in the opinion at an extra expense a waste of money on that
of that committee, a president who should wish to mission of $52,500. No one will pretend that
concentrate all the powers of the government in
his bands, could at once seize oc wield against the
liberties of his country ; and I nave quoted it the
morn at larve.asit irocsto establish a lull Know i
mwrSstuTreSi
that we, of the opposition, to whom the doors of
that department were, in a great degree, closed,
should discover and expose abuses unknown to
those who were as familiar in the department
the country was better served than if the first na- they were at their own fireside - Why at last,
mcd minister had remained at his post; but the I when condemning- proof was adduced against it,
rJlHl dire? "cutive influence, o-
L f.Sil'T -"! ofl h PMic funds,
"WT'T1- nolher P"Ph of the
BtoT5!E.iL 1IaVm& Panted a hit from the
mdedrrf !"ds : A formidable hit,
-dable ,n nuners,and still more so
TV all .T'l.'i "T iB bands.
mrU f b a body of men, supposing them
er of appointment and removal its application
to mere party purposes its direction to the sole
object of sustaining those in power without re
gard to the public welfare, must in tune, go lar to
establish the government of one man, which what
ever name it may assume, is in substance a mon
archy. I have said that in four years next preceding the
administration of Gen. Jackson, there were two
removals from office, among those high officers
which rcquiro the corffirmation of the senate. In
tho two first years of General Jackson's adminis
tration, there were upwards of three hundred in
the same class ot onicers more than inree nines
the number of all that were removed during the
first forty years of tho existence of the govern
ment. Nor was the hand of power lifted even there.
The doctrine was openly ovowed. in the Senate
of the United States, "that to the victors be
long the spoils of victory.' The change of par
ties and the transfer of power, was like the sack
of a city. The public weal was not cared for,
but the public property was seized. Within tho
same two years in all the offices, high and low,
the removals amounted to more than 1100, and
no appointment was made except to active politi
cal partizans: During the six following years the
eye of the executive has been upon the officers,
great and small, throughout the United States,
tcbing not the faithful discharge of their official
duty, but their due adherence to party discipline,
and their strict discharge of party obligation. If
any but a political adherent remained in the dis
charge of a public trust, no matter how small the
office, or how faitful the officer, he was removed,
and a partizan fills bis place. If any political
partizan remits his exertion, or his thorough ad
herence is doubted, he is removed, and another
more active and efficient supplies his place.
Thus, in time, the whole corps of office holders.
whose names closely printed, fill a volume of 500
pages, has become, what it was predicted in the
report just referred to, they would become, an
active, efficient, organized band throughout all
the States, from the centre to the extremity of the
Union, whose efforts are constant to support the
party that sustains them, and centre all the pow
er of the government in tho hands of the man who
is the head of that party. - All that could bo done,
in this particular, to carry out to its worst results
this defective feature in our constitution, pointed
out by tho report, has been done, and still is in
progress.
1 have spoken of the removal of those from of
fice who were not active and efficient electioneer
ing partizans. The record of the senate and the
several departments shows the fact of their remo
val, and I have only to appeal to your own con
sciousness here and in every other town and
citv in the United States, where there are any
officers of the government .stationed, whether the
present incumbents do not act, as if they bold it a
part of their official duty to take charge of the
polls at your elections, and use all the power,
nersonallv and officially, to control them. This
has been the tenure by which they held their of
fices; and if any one hesitated to do the works as
signed him- if he were tardy or scrupulous as to
means he was thrown but of employment ; per
haps deprived of support, and his charac
tcr vilified by the pensioned presses.
Another point ot attack through this same
power, when it could be brought to bear with full
force against the liberties of the country, is point
ed out in a part of that report which I have just
read. The scfirr. cv tho constitution, holds
the negative on all the principal appointments to
-JMH.V-, wi me committee say, mat --patronage
wVtt enter into and corrupt that body; that the
President can govern as absolutely and in more
security, with than without its njminal check;
and that ma power will, in time, be sufhient to car
ry any man tnrougn tne senate. Vtas this ver
ified in the rcsuk? Did oatronaie enter that
body, on the accession of the late administration
to power? Have we forgotten how many sena
tors were at once selected to fill important execu
tive offices? More in the last eight years than
under all the previous administrations of our gov
ernment. 1 need not name them or say to you
appointing power was extenoca, ana tne rewaM oi t aiu toe executive, ana nis presses, ana nis minions
iitical.paxUT.nMB i-ptr.
tn u timk .1 II i . I
ment. commonly styled "executive." ancrlo Uirf wiao tmfauded in its exposure? And
them, and to make some constitutional and others
not ; and the rule which he laid down was, that
all which were below a port of entry were consti
tutional, and he gave his sanction ; all above, vio
lated the constitution. The senators from Indiana
made several attempts to get an appropriation for
. . .K. . . I .a t V . a. n V
uinvT ing uic navigation w uia iiounu i a va ,
but their bills were vetoed. They then endeavor
ed to get a port of entry established higher up the
river, so that it might become cotutivwionac to
make the contemplated improvements. This
suggested to a friend of ours iri the house of repre
scntatives a most compendious remedy for tue c-
vil. lie drew up a resolution, (I believe be did
not offer it.) making the high lands which sepa- I cf exchanire to individuals. A bank id w&ch
.1 . - . a a ' I . . " -a
rate ine waters iaiung into tne vuu ot ait-iw i tne public money was to oe acposiico, witn -wes-from
those falling into the Atlantic arid the St. ident. directors, cashier, every officer appointed
Lawrence,one continuous port of entry, so that and its whole machmery moved by the executive
it might become constitutional to improve the hand. This is what he essayed to malte of tne
navigation of all below. But ridiculous as these ! Bank of the United States: failing in this, ha
distinctions were, they served to concentrate 1 tYn disclosed his mrnose to pull down that batik
power and influcnoe m the' hands of the executive. I and build un another institution which ahooJi 4o
It caused those who sought favors from Govern- his bidding. Hence followed the. veto upoa tho
ment to seek them through him, add it made bis I bill recharterin the Band of the United states
very caprices more potent tnan tne sounu uiui- i the timeot tne message containing ian vet-
mouth Bank, because his politics were
grceablc to the party ta power. Tnu proposi
tion resumed a semi-otlicial character and
though believed to have the sanction of the cab
inet, it was rejected without Hesitation. tMt
this rejection was followed by a long and dead
ly w ar waged by the executive against tant
bank, which ended in its destruction as a na
tional institution. The Rrst decisive attack M
made bv die president, iri his toessage of the 7th
December, 1H30, in which be proposes to organ
ize a bank aS a branch of the treasury department.
ith the necessart offices, baaed on public awl
individual deoositca with permission to sell btUa
no
of all grades, sustain thoso who had betrayed their
rovcrn-1 public trust, and
n t tioi
tdaM
last eight years, under the most entire and abso- why, at last, appoint to an honorable office the
lute executive control, the public money has been head of that department whom public opinion corn
corruptly squandered to acquire and extend, ex- pelled to retire from it for flagrant abuse of his of
ccutive influence: or the subordinate offices of fkial trust? The answer to all these inquiries
those departments have been permitted, through is obvious: it was a partot tne general system of
tho medium of the officers, to ennch themselves 1 the administration so to conduct that department,
and their friends and partizans out of the public because, by so conducting it, they released it from
property, or by illegal speculations upon individ- tho restraint and obligation of to? it became
uals whom their officers placed in their power;
thus making submission to the executive and to
the adherence of the party in power a road to
wealth open to the restless and ambitious. Much
of this has been disclosed in the Indian branch of
ttic war department ; much more in that part of
the treasury which has charge of public lands and
deposit e banks: and still more for that otfico a
lone has been investigated fully, and its frauds ex
posed still more in the general post office, which
in consequence of the extent of its corruptions,
and its efficiency as an electioneering agent, has
also arisen to the dignity of an executive depart
ment. I sim not, gentlemen, either uncharitable
or unjust in charging upon the late executive and
his cabinets, (actual and potential.) the frauds
which were disclosed in the general post office.
They were not tho affairs of a day or the single
act of peculation or fraud of an obscure or subordi
nate agent ; no, it was a system adopted and act
ted upon for a series of years commencing by a
false report from the head of the department, in
1830, and continued by acts, year after year, more
corrupt, and reports more false, until the veil that
half covered but did not conceal their abomina
tions, was finally, in 1835, rent from, and they
were exposed to the world in all their defbr-
subject to executive discretion. The amount of
money to be disbursed on "jobs and contracts''' was
increased ; and the number of men who could be
employed and influenced was increased alao.
The abuse, therefore, of that department, was an
Executive measure, adopted for the purpose of
strengthening tho Presidential arm
The veto was another weapon used by the pres
ident to place his power above all other powers of
the government, and to absorb them all. lie
found it a safeguard of executive rights, placed in
the constitution to guard against legislative en
croachments : he so used it, that it gave him
sovereign power over all active legislation pow
er to permit or forbid it. The means of patronage
and influence which I have already considered,
were sufficient, in almost all cases, to control, if
not a majority, at least one-third of one branch of
congress. When this number was once secured,
no law could pass which was displeasing to the
president, for his veto was efficient to arrest and
defeat it; but, if the country called so loudly for
the measure, that even executive influence could
not command a third part of either house; if the
majority of both branches were overwhelming, as
to amount almost to unanimity, there was still an
other resource a choice few could be obtained
mity. It were vain to attempt the casting off of i who would devise pretexts for delay : the meas-
those crimes when even a political: pensioned lure demanded by the people, but obnoxious to the
press could not openly sustain it were vain to executive, woukl be postponed to within ten days
cast those crimes upon the miserably inefficient of the close of the session, and, instead of return-
individual who was the nominal head of that de ing the bill, with a veto, his mode was destroy,
partment. It was the work of those who made by withholding it. buch, for example, was the
up the executive. The measures of that depart- case of the bill rescinding the treasury circular,
ruent were executive measures, and its corrup- which is tresh in the recollection ot you all, and
tions were of the executive council and head. I
make not these assertions without evidence to my
own mitid, at least, entirely conclusive.
In the session ot 1830 "31, a proposition was
made in the Senate to investigate the affairs of the
general post office, founded upon great and fla
grant abuses which were alleged to have crept
into the administration of its affairs. The com
mittee was appointed ; they detected many abus
es ; among others the altering of a word in sun
dry places for the evident purpose of impeaching
the oath of an individual who bad been dismissed
from the office for lack of subserviency: When
the proof thickened, and the appearance of guilt
became strong, the wily chairman of the stand
ing committee on the post office and post roads,
(Mr. Grundy,) who was also on the select commit
tee, raised an objection to evidence; without hav
ing that objection acted on in the committee, he
brought it before the Senate, and on that a debate
arose which wore out the session. Thus the in
vestigation was for that time eluded. Afterwards,
I think it was in the year 1832 3, another inves
tigation was elicited by the loud & continued com
plaints of abuses in the department. I was at
the time a member of the post office committee, of
which Sir. Grundy was still chairman. 1 was in
a minority, and, during the whole investigation, I
never saw a witness, or a paper of any kind rela
ting to the affairs of the office, until the chairman
produced his report, and read it, denying all the
charges touching the conduct of the postmaster
general and his subordinates, and speaking in
high terms of the flourishing condition of the de
partment, its facilities and its finances. In
I 1833 "4, the majorities were changed, and then
r m . - . -. a j
took place an investigation in goon iaiin : anu
then it was that all those enormous abuses, which
had before forced themselves upon the knowledge
of the public, were disclosed and exposed. The
executive, and the minions of the executive, did
not yield the point. They denied what was pro
ved to demonstration itse.f. They assailed, with
all the fierceness of baffled avarice and deep-scat
ed malignity, all who were concerned in forward
ing the investigation, and especially men who
supported its most active mover and promoter
which, with other acts, equally arbitrary, has in
flicted unparalleled injury and suffering on our
country
The exercise of the veto, aided by the other,
more important, because more effectual, execu
tive prerogative of retaining a bill passed by more
than two-thirds of both branches, and thus pre
venting the further action of congress upon it.
has, for the last eight years, made the president of
the United states absolute in his power of prevent-
tng legislation. No law could be passed, howev
cr much it might be demanded by the country
if it did not suit his pun-oses and mpet his concur
rence. As to active legislation, this was assum
ed in another manner.
1 he president was sworn to support the con
stitution, end see that the laws were faithfully
executed. By virtue of this oath of office, and of
this constitutional injunction, the late president
claimed the right to expound and construe the
laws, and determine for himself their meaning
and extent, and also their agreement with the con
stitution. Although the judicial power is placed
in other hands though the supreme court of the
United States would be a useless toy, if this power
of construction were vested in the president ; nev
ertheless, he claimed and exercised it and that,
too, against a decision of the supreme court upon
the very point. It will be at once seen, that if
such claim be admitted and sustained, the presi
dent, if he be unscrupulous or capricious, may
make our laws say whatever may suit his own
purposes. Tne judicial power cannot correct nor
control him, for in the construction of tho - laws,
his very claim is the power of revising and cor
recting the decisions of the courts. The legisla
tive branches cannot control him; for his veto
power, his power to postpone, and finally to retain
bills which contact with his purposes, make him
absolute in saying what the lawahmUheot is, and
perfectly absolute in making it remainf aa he has
pronounced it. Nothing more strongly evinces
the wantonness and absurdity of uncontrolted pow
er than the distinctions which the late president
built up for himself!, on which to rest a reason, for
doing what be willed to so. and for refining to do
what was not pleasing to him. For instance, ho
gence of tho nation besutea, backed and support
ed by tbo constitution oi we country .
.a 4 . - a
, nu Mouet tavonta pursuit ot tne past
administration, by every means which could be
used with effect, either by new legislation, or by
new and arbitrary construction, to render the laws
vague, so that much discretion should be left to
the public officers in their execution. I need in
stance only the inroads which have been made
upon our land system, formerly the most perfect
perhaps that was ever devised
Instead of the regular sales to the highest bid
ders, a fair competition and equal privileges to
all purchasers, and the universal right to make
hcritries after closing the sales, such as it was un
dcr our old and well-tried system, a set of pre-emp
tion laws were commenced under the last admin
istration, & continued until the winter of 1835-C,
when we succeeded at last in arresting their pro
gress -.but we could not put an end to the evils
which they had produced. I need not detail to you,
gentlemen, the frauds, the peculation, the lawless
violence, that bad its origin in those pre-emption
laws, which were feigned to be intended tor the
benefit of the poor, while in fact they only in
creased the already overgrown fortunes of the
rich speculator and monopolist. 1 look at it Itere
in a different and more important aspect; as a
measure, a part of a system, whose whole tenden
cy was to put down the law and the power of law,
and substitute in its place personal caprice and
executive aiscrction. i no rignt to pre-emption
bad to be proved before the registers and receiv
ers of the land offices, and their certificate was
generally conclusive of the claim: A legal right
must be lost by the ill will of those officers, a
claim, not legal, might be sustained by their fa
vor, in some cases they became partners in the
claims which had to pass under their sanction :
in others; they contented themselves with advan
cing the interests of their personal friends and po
litical partizans: sometimes appeals were ta
ken from the decisions of registers and receivers
to the commissioner of the general land office i and
while our fellow-citizen, governor Brown; was at
the head of that bureau, neither private fraud nor
political favoritism was countenanced there. Uut
he was too honest to hold office in these times,
and under that administration. His situation was
rendered unpleasant; he was annoyed, assailed,
ridiculed and at last resigned.
As the measures of the past administration are
to be carried out by the present, we shall, no
doubt, have forced upon the country another set
of pre-emption laws; the vocation of the profes
sional squatter will become again a profitable
vocation, and, if any of you venture to go to the
west to bid for land at the public sales, with the
hope of securing a favorite spot, on which to set
tle your children, your bid will be drowned by
the voice of an angry multitude, or yourselves as
sailed, for daring to oppose the new power which
lias risen up and taken the place of law, under the
late glorious administration.
By means like these, which I have touched up
on, but have not been able fully to detail, all the
patronage and power of the government, the pow
er of removal, the legislative power, the dispens
ing power, the judicial power; all the powers of
the government, except the control over tne pub
lic purse, have been drawn together and center
ed in a single hand : and did he leave the renvui
msB, the other great lever with wniea
are moved and directed, did he leave $hat on
touched or unat temp ted? No; ktm2&fa for
tkjr m tmrMMi. araa tmt lone: cooowied and too
fierce, to have been overkd or forgotten. We
m tn aavr rf thrn 1 of that COnfcWt
arid tho
as they
around iis,we feci towgfy its cSects, to let it
pass suddesdy or ltljtVon our wntmtry.
Xt the time of tie charter of the bank of the
United StSrto in 181, that bank was -made the
deposttoryof thepwbbc atcaeyssa. aloethefis-7-mimmm.
of the ravernment- In its capacity as
jtpnsiMjj it belonged to tho representatives of
the states, and the poapif ,thn two hooaesot eoav
rres;aadwaspeu-eily lupuiHi to thorn atone.
As tfedarfmrsats agent, it waa the agent of the
executive, subject to tho perfocmaac
duties prescribed by law; ma9 other
araa a nrivaxo corporation, nobiect In
control. uuA Dartook am mow of potitieai
acter thaa any c4her chartered iawtitottoa of the
CJnatry. So it was oonaiwared, aa it acted, and
a a a a
reasons, wim ana inconsistent
were, t mr ihn fixed purpose of the president.
ana t saw, or l thought 1 saw, tho
wtuch wouMtotlow tne pursuit or.
But as much as was said of tho injury to
rency ,tbe destruction of exchanges, the general
prostration of business and convderee, the suf
fering of the poor; the misery of tho debtor, and
all the civil and .unhappy consequences which
must follow a shock, such as this which waa to come
upon our country, I felt that ii was all of onfall Im
portance oonvpared with the danger to our insti
tutions front following out the executive plans
for the assumption1 of the public purse, with tho
other powers of government thai no had gather
ed into his hands. But there as ono circum
stance I long hoped would Save us from the final
con summit ion of all these mischiefs and tho full
concentration of all power in tho bold hand that
was so eager to grasp IV The plans of tho
president could not be carried oat a treasury
bank could not be established, filled to overflow
ing with the accumulating and increasing reve
nues, until the year 1830, when tho character of
the bank which held the public deposites by law.
shoald expire; and within one year of that time.
Am term of service would expire also. It was not
to be presumed that any man would succeed nun
having the una arid the rowan to carry his pur
poses of their result:
Hut it was determined by the president not to
wait the slow efflux of time.' Hence the nfisBsgii
in 1830, calling the attention of congress to tho
subject of the bank, or rather m bank, to be built
upon its rdiris: Hence in his nvessage id Con
gress in lloccmber, 1832, in which ho suggested
doubts whether the Bank of tho United States
were a safe depoeitary of the public funds. That
it was not in good faithwilh a view of as
certaining whether it was safe 1 infer Iran the
fact after a full investigation had been mails by
an agent appointed by himself after most e
laborate and cheerful examination by the I loose ef
Representatives on the same subjectbothof Whirh
ended in conclusive; absolute proof that the pub
lic deposites were safe, and that the bank waa
well conducted for the interest of the country, a
conclusion in which the house of representatives
almost unanimously concurred; be set on feet at
once, inroieomtely on the adjournmeat of con
gress, negotiations and arrangements for remo
ving those deposites on his own responsibility.
This was one of his most powerful and deUrmia
ed efforts. To accomplish this be set, at defmacv
the constitution of the laws and a oaered com
pact of the nation. Td effect this, he removed
two secretaries of the treasury the one to an
other department, the other he
service before he could cod an rastrwment i
vient and reckless enough to do the deed. ' This
violation of tho faith of the saonfa mninsil
transaction this blow uaaothocreCtoftlto coun
try the placing of ths jiiiinnniej puttie treasure
in a number of irrcsponarfsle banks where it wouM
remain to tempt tho-fility of those who had
it in their reacha- awaken an asordiaate spir
it of aaoialsljsal t l combined were densiveof
the present Ate of our conimcrce a our curren
cy, iiatsesuny was seaieu: no
could afterwards save us from the
ato counsels might have weakened its force, i
have out off for awhile the evil day;
doom was from that nwmsat fixed, the dny oftrfe
ulatioa was coming and avast coma, and it mast
and did come through the new Cecal agents, got
op by exeeatlve usurpation. -I
need not tell yon, fatlow-citisvasi for jrew
with what c
picted, and how deep tho i
ed to be inflicted saw the
nssCa2.
cev country. 4nevoaaaQt an zqtr
bceakept eiastardly baSraC fa2n
tree power m wExoa? i
tyof
Ckey have
or party
nttered tSKdi tare rt exn zl j
and reiterated the am' mLt i tcUJ
tho same pet r?sr liens. It was to j-rr-J cf G
depositee, wrtkaaitotraitfef lrr -rvCl..
wn"J cat betray i
r&r - ... , JL.-