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About Daily constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 1846-1851 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1848)
THE ('ONSTITUTiONALIST. ' JAMES GARDNER, JR. TERMS. Daily, per annum 00 Tri-Weekly, per annum 0 00 If paid in advance ...5 00 Weekly, per annum, if paid in advance.... 2 00 These terms are offered to new subscribers and all aid subscribers who pay up all arrearages. In no case will the weekly paper be sent at unless the money accompanies the order. In no case will it be sent at $~/K) to an old sub scriber in arrears. O 3 When the year paid for at 52,00 expires, the paper, if not discontinued, or paid for in advance, will be sent on the old terms, $2,50 if paid at the office within the year, or 53,00 if paid after the expiration of the year. O*Postage must be paid on all communications and letters of business. [From the Milledgeville Recorder, loth inst .] Gentlemen :— I claim the insertion of the enclosed communication, both as a subscriber and Whig, You may be reluctant to publish it. If your journal is as liberal and free as I have esteemed it, you will not deny me a small space, as I rarely appear in the newspapers : Messrs. Editors :—The recent motion and vote of our Representative, Mr. Stephens, to lay what is commonly, though erroneously, called the Compromise Bill on the table, has produced but embarrassment —and I am at a loss to perceive any good to the Whig party which his success in this matter can achieve. I am frank to admit, it filled me with painful surprise at first—it now, as I reflect calmly upon the whole matter, awakens the deepest apprehemion —first, from the effect it will have upon our Southern position ; and secondly, in injuring essentially at the South Gen. Taylor. Much as I admire Gen. Taylor— great as the sacrifice I would make to place him in the Presidential chair —I cannot, would not haz zard our greatest, deepest, highest interest for such a purpose. I cannot divest my mind of the idea that the laying of the bill on the table is a gambling transaction—the fruit of a caucus, it is said —and as yet uncontradicted—where in the hopes and fears of the South, their anx ieties and rights have been staked by one to whom they were confided for a different pur pose. Ido not assert this as a fact. The as sertion has been made by others—by the press at Washington. I find several influential papers have rallied to sustain him—l should commend them for doing so, if I could discover any sound or ra tional grounds to justify his unlocked for and unwelcome motion. Sustained as the Senate bill was by such men as Calhoun, Berrien, Keverdy Johnson, Willie P. Mangham—the three last distinguished Whigs and all South ern men—upon the clear and distinct ground that a perfect equality was recognized and pre served between the free States and the slave States thereby, and thus withdrawing the sla very question from Congress and referring it as a judicial question to the Supreme Court, the proper tribunal to decide the question whether slaves are property under the constitu tion of the United States—it was to have been hoped that Mr. Stephens would have deferred his own judgment upon a question arising un der a clause of the constitution, to men who had read and studied it before Mr, Stephens had learned to lisp his own name. That Mr. S. is a lawyer of much acuteness, I am willing to admit; but I think that, notwitstand ing the extravagant admiration which is en tertained for him by many persons, none of them that have any judgment at all will, I ap prehend, venture to class him as a lawyer, : either in attainment or comprehension, with Messrs. Berrien and Rcverdy Johnson, who, it I is believed, are without superiors at the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nor will they put him in the class of statesmen to which Mr. Calhoun belongs. Ambitous, and vain, if you please, I cannot think that Mr. Stephens even in the drowsy reveries in which 1 men of reputation oft indulge, could ever have j ventured to claim even in those moods mental 1 equality with these gentlemen—and though I j have never found Mr. Stephens an egotist, yet it appears to me that he has forced upon the people a conviction of rashness—perhaps of arrogance —in seizing the helm in this mo ment of peril and alarm. He has forced a con trast : he seems to have vauntingly demanded j the judgment of the people as to whether he . is not a better, wiser statesman than Mr. Cal houn —a safer, more cautious, prudent and far-seeing lawyer than Mr. Berrien. It may be that he has forgot the fable of Marsyas, who contended with Apollo, or the fate of the form er might have admonished him of the peril to which one _is sometimes subjected who enters upon an unequal contest. If I had any “pri vate grief” to gratify—any personal resent ment to indulge—l think that I should not desire him in a situation, chosen by himself, better calculated to test his height, than to bring him to the standard by which the great men I have mentioned are measured. Mr. Stephens—in violation of parliamentary rule, in his anxiety to make an issue with his colleagues of the Senate, or to manifest his contempt or disregard of their labors and judg ment, or to show his deadly hostility to the bill called a compromise bill—moves to lay it on the table to prevent action on it during the present session of Congress. Why not feave the bill in the hands of its friends to be amend- I ed and perfected so as to be accommodated even to his taste ? It has been said that Mr. j : Stephens attended a caucus, in which it was i determined to strangle the bill! Can this be sor Who thus determined ? Were not all of them, with the exception of eight or nine, Northern and Western men, and opposed to sla very in the new territories? Hid they promise to ; go with him in the passage of a better bill for ] the South ? If not, why did he follow their j wishes and assist in destroying a bill de- i nounced by every abolitionist and anti-slave- 1 i j press as a base surrender of the slavery ques- ; turn to the South ? They considered the bill as i the triumph of the slaveholder. By whose means has the half won victory been lost r— t llow comes it that our Representative is found c ig rang this measure recognizing the politi- r. cal equality of the South— with the North s not under the banner of the South, where p M lugs and Democrats should ever be found . side 1 by side, but under the free soil banner, the anti-slavery banner— exerting hisener-ies and 1 talent to give effect to the wishes of Di x , i Hamlin, Hale, Giddings, Palfrey, Ashmun, Sec., by defeating a bill to which they were ; J deadly hostile ? To me, his course is inexpli cable, indefensible—indefensible, if the edito rial ot the “Journal and Messenger” of last week can be said to contain the reasons for it. It is no defence to say that the Senate bill would not have stopped the agitation Nor does the strangulation of it stop it—it throws t] it with all its bad passions and interest into the ! si Presidential canvass—carries it into every hut, r and presses it home upon every voter. Is this w the way to arrest the dangers of this question ? tl What strength can the South gather by keep- oi iugit open by the delay to provide a mode for st its sure, fair and proper adjustment as a Judi- ai dal question ? w Mr. Stephens should have distrusted the in Northern men on this subject—he should ch have remembered that they were Greeks who wi flattered him and put him forward to make in the motion, I would as soon trust a lamb to th, 1 a wolf, as I would my rights as a slaveholder to Northern men, whether W higs or Demo- I crats. Confidence is said to be a plant of slow growth. I mean not to be offensive, ! but Northern men must excuse me when I | slmplv declare that on this question I prefer i to counsel with Southern men, and that I will not in any case take counsel with enemies | who seek to catch me on the hip. Nor can Mr. Stephens be defended by say j ing that he voted as did Mr. Badger and Mr. ! Bell, Mr. Metcalf and Mr. Underwood of the i Senate, from slave States. Mr. Badger is a 1 man of high intellect and a fine lawyer, but I | have yet to learn that ever he can be cora -1 pared at the bar of the Supreme Court with I Sir. Berrien or Mr. Reverdy Johnson. I waive 1 that however, and say that I have no very strong faith in either Mr. Badger or Bell ; they are politicians—men from whom cabinet officers are sometimes made—who probably j are still looking to a restoration, and that to be accomplished by appearing as Southern j men with Northern principles. The other gen tlemen are men of talent, weight and sagacity i only “by the catalogue.” If the measure of the’ Senate —which no one viewed as arresting at once agitation, but simply as providing a mode for the trial, under the laws and constitution of the U. S., of the rights of the slaveholder by the Supreme Court, the true and final arbiter in such questions —was so imperfect and unsatisfactory, why ; did not Mr. S. propose a substitute, a clearer, j stronger and better safeguard for the South. ! This he did not do. lam no admirer of ultra- I ism—l cannot commend the judgment of him who, in the delusive, idle hope of attaining a j greater good, rejects qpntemptuously that i which is attainable. Such conduct evinces j no boldness, no true firmness, but is just the j exponent of uncalculating, short sighted reck lessness and presumption. Either Mr. Steph ens or myself has mistaken the feelings of our people. They wish nothing but a recognition of equality with the North—they desire their rights calmly examined and decided ,and will readily acquiesce in that decision. They only desire what is clearly their own, and to be as sured in their property by that which is fixed and immutable, rather than be harrassed by j the anxieties and apprehensions which must ever attend the question as long as Congress usurps the power to act in reference to it. — Legislation cannot settle it; it can only do what was attempted—provide how it should be settled. Some of his defenders say that the Senate bill is an entire surrender of all that the South has claimed. If this be so, then Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Berrien are dotards, traitors to the South !! Who will dare assert what is neces sarily implied from their defence set up for Mr. S.? Credat Judeus apella,\ Yes, the marines mag believe it—even their credulity, it is thought, would reject such a conclusion as “most foul and unnatural.” Turn it, view it, as I may, I cannot escape the conviction that the question comes to this: either Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Ber rien, Mr Reverdy Johnson and Mr. Mangum are wrong and Mr. Stephens right, or vice versa. Both cannot be right. Both cannot be defend i ed.—For their course is as wide apart as are I the poles from each other. I repeat my sincere regret that a difference in judgment and action has occurred—it can do nothing but weaken the Whig party in Georgia. I am charitable enough to attribute “the blunder’ to an error of judgment in Mr. Stephens. The Whig party can only be re lieved from its effects by Mr. Stephens declining at this time to ask a continuance in Congress. I am disposed to accord to him a full share of patriotism, and strong party attachments—if they are as strong as 1 take them to be, he will certainly allow a nomination to be,made of one who can unite in the District the whole party strength. Mr. Stephens may be, most probably will be, nominated—re-elected. A majority i may defy principles for the moment. It will be found to be a slow, deadly poison. In thus ; suggesting a course which will free the party j from embarrassment, 1 beg leave to say to those 1 who may read this article —what you, Mr. Editor, well knoic —that I am not of that num ber from whom a successor would be chosen —my habits, poverty, tastes, all combine to make me shun even the much-coveted honor i of a seat in the House of Rapresentotives. Nor j is this article written to advance the preten ! sions of any particular individual. NO ULTRAIST. rom the New Orleans Courier, 9th inst.] Important to Volunteers! We this morning received from our active and patriotic representative, the Hon. Emile i La Sere, the following letter and documents, i the whole of which we lay before our readers in lumpo. They are of great importance to volunteers, as well as to the heirs of such as are no more : House or Representatives, > July 2G, 1848, ] Dear Sir —l send to you a copy of the fifth section of the act, recently passed, providing for the payment of the three months’ extra pay to ‘the officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates, who have been in ac tual service during the war.’ In connection with this, I send a printed cir cular, issued by the Second Auditor, in which he sets forth the process to be observed by those who have claims of this description. It is a matter of importance to all such to know precisely what the government requires at their hands, in order to enable them to obtain their extra pay for three months; and it will save the claimants, and those acting in their behalf, much time, if they have the papers prepared in strict conformity with the instructions con tained in the circular. Considering the wide ly circulated notice of those regulations of much importance, I have sent a copy to the editor of each paper in the city of New Or leans, hoping they will publish them. It is proper to state, that the three mouths’ extra pay, secured by the fifth section of the act, referred to in the first part of this letter, applies not only to those who have recentlv returned from Mexico, but includes those also from Louisiana and elsewhere, who, in a mo ment of great danger to our regular troops on the Rio Grande, at the outset of the war, so gallantly went to the rescue ot their country men. The circular of the Auditor, in respect to the three mouths’ pay, refers to regulations previ ously adopted. In order that all interested may know what the regulations are, I send al so a copy of the circular containing them, for publication. Very respectfully, \ our obedient servant, EMILE LA SERE, unitor Louisiana Courier, X. O. i AN ACT to amend an act entitled “An act St e T nt ? tc> an act ‘An act pro wir betwL th !v. pr T°- Secution of the existing pu“* Yr a, d the poses. ' ’ aml for other P u r- < Section 5. And be it further enacted That t .he officers, non-commissioned officers mu acians and privates, engaged in the mifita y service of the U nited States in tl Ulta vith Mexico, and who served out the term of a heir engagement, or have been, or mav be hon r •rably discharged ; and first to the widows r econd to the children, third to the parents’ v ml fourth to the brothers and sisters of such b vho have been killed in battle, or who died s; i service, or who having been honorably dis- t] barged have since died, or may hereafter die o Tthout receiving the three months' pav here- s< 1 provided for, shall be entitled to receive v iree months’ extra pay; provided, that this pi provision of this fifth section, shall only ap ply to those who have been in actual service during the war. Treasury Department, ) Second Auditor’s Office, July 24,1848. 3 Three Months' Pay for the Army. The same rules of evidence and authentica tion will be required in claims for three months’ extra pay, as for arrears of pay. No power of attorney will be deemed suffi cient to secure payment, unless it shall have been executed after the 19th of July, 1848, and shall refer to the act of Congress of that date, granting three months’ pay, as the basis of the claim. As the act requires payment to be made to the heir alone, no claim on behalf of a legal representative of the deceased soldier will be allowed. Where there are several adult heirs, they should unite in a power of attorney, as pay ments cannot be divided at this office. Where minors are concerned, guardians will be ex pected to represent them. Copies of records showing their appointments as guardians, properly authenticated, will be required. In cases now on file claiming arrears of pay, the three months’ extra pay will be included ; therefore no new claim will be required. Where claims for arrears of pay have been paid, or none exists, then the claimant should make an affidavit before a Judge or Justice of the Peace, according to the following form and authentication. JOHN M. McCALLA, Second Auditor. of county of on this day of in the year one thousand eight hundred and person ally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the peace for the county and above mentioned, who being duly sworn, according to law, declares that he is I the identical who was a in the company commanded by captain i in the regiment commanded ’ by that he enlisted on the i day of for the term of and i Avas discharged at on the day ol by reason of Sw'orn to and subscribed before me the day i and year above written. J. P. county } towit: I hereby certify that Esq., be fore whom the foregoing affidavit was made and who has hereunto subscribed his name, was at the time of so doing a Justice of the Peace in and for the county aforesaid, duly I commissioned an sworn. In testimony whereof,! have hereunto j set my hand and affixed the seal oi !£ j ) my office, as clerk of the i ( ) court of said county, this day of 1848. Treasury Department, } Second Auditor’s Office, Oct. 24, 1848. $ To enable those who have claims on the United States Treasury for money due on ac | count of military services rendered by deceas i ed officers and soldiers, whether regulars oi volunteers, to draw such balances with the least difficulty and delay, the following infor j mation is published : ORDER of claim. Where letters testamentary of administra tion are legally granted, such legal represen tative will have preference. Where the sun due exceeds one hundred dollars , it will be paid i to the legal representatives alone , no mattei who may be distributee. If the deceased died unmarried, payment will be made first, to the father; second, tc the mother ; third, to the brothers and sisters collectively ; and lastly to the heirs general: each class claiming where those preceding arc dead. If the deceased had been married, then the ’ following will be the order of claims : first, the widow ; second, the child or children, (it minors, the guardian;) third,the father; fourth, the mother; fifth, the brothers, and sisters collectively ; and lastly, the heirs general. If there be more than one brother, or sis ter, or child, or heir general, should the money be due one of those classes, letters of adminis tration must, in all cases, be taken out. PROOF AND AUTHENTICATION. To satisfy the accounting officers that the person claiming is entitled to the money, the depositions of two witnesses must be procured, to be taken before a judge or justice of the peace, (who shall certify to their credibility,) that the person so claiming is the widow or child. &c., of the deceased ; and if it be a child, that is of age, and the only child ; or if it be a mother, or sister, or general heir, that the deceased left no other brother, or sister, or general heir and that the claimant is of lawful age, and said deponents shall make oath that they are disinterested. The certificate of the clerk of the court to which said judge or justice belongs, accom panied by the seal of his office, if he has one, and if not, by a certificate of the fact, must be annexed to said deposition. AVherc letters testamentary or of adminis tration are forwarded, they must be proven to be true copies by the clerk of the court, or offi cer granting them, with the seal annexed, as above, or its absence accounted for. DISCHARGED SOLDIERS. In all cases where the solder has been dis charged—^whether living or not at the time of presentation of claim—the captain’s descrip tive certificate should be forwarded to this office; and to obtain the bounty land or scrip, the discharge and sergeon s certificate should be forwarded to the Commissioner of Pensions. MODE OF PAYMENT. Payments will be made by an order from the accounting officers, on the paymaster most convenient to the residence of the claimant. Such order will command the money at par in almost every town in the United States.— Such order will require the signature of the claimant on its face, before it M ill be paid. MODE OF PRESENTING CLAIMS. All claimants wishing to obtain information or to present claims, can communicate with this office by mail, and will receive as speedily a reply as the force of the office will allow. The government pays all postage on such commu nications, whether received or transmitted by this office. If the claimant wishes that money due shall be paid to any other person, an order to that effect, endorsed upon some paper of the claim, at tested by a magistrate o r two witnesses, will be sufficient. A compliance with the above rules will ensure a prompt and certain payment of all such dues. JOHN M. McCALLA, Second Auditor. House op Kepresentatives, ) July 29th, 1848. ) Dear Sir —A few days since I sent you a copy of the act approv«?d July 19th, *IB4B, which secures 3 months extra pay to the offi cers, non-commissioned officers and privates Mho have served in the late M’ar with Mexico. With a vie tv of facilitating the payment to all such, I send you copies of the regulations adopted at the Treasury Department, Avith a request that you Avould have those regulations published in your paper. Since that time a joint resolution in relation to this matter was introduced in the Senate, which received the sanction of that body, and to-day, has passed the House of Kepresentatives. It will receive, )t course, the signature of the President. I ;end you a copy for publication, from which mu and all those interested will see that th >aymasiers of the army are charged with pay j ing the three months extra pay. If the Pay- I master General shall establish any general regulations, as he is authorized to do by the joint resolution, I will send you a copy. Respectfully, Your obedient servant, EMILE LA SERE. Jerome Bayon Esq., Editor of tie Louisiana Courier. JOINT RESOLUTION for the speedy pay ment of the three months extra pay to the officers,non-commissioned officers,musicians and privates Avho have served in the late Avar with Mexico, alloAved bA* the act oi July 19, 1848. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of RepresentatiA’es of the United States of Ameri i ca, in Congress assembled : That the three months’ extra pay provided by the fifth sec tion of the act approved July 19, 1848, to the , j officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians , j and privates, Mho have been in actual service in the late Avar with Mexico, and M'ho haA'e , served out the term of their engagement, or have been honorably discharged, and to the AvidoAvs or heirs of those Avho have died, or been killed in the service, should be paid and . settled by the Pay Department of the Army, under such regulations as the Paymaster L General, with the approval of the Secretary of [ War, shall establish. f [ Caution to the Soldiers- To the Editor of the Union: Paymaster General’s Office, August 4, 1848. Sir—Will you do me the favor to publish - the folloM’ing notice for the benefit of all con ■ cerned r 1 j Respectfully, your obedient servent. BENJ. F. EARNED, Acting P. M. G. 5 The Paymaster General is rapidly preparing rolls, and will send paymasters into the several States, and, for the couA'cnience of claimants, 1 as far as practicable, to the place of company enrolment, for the payment of the three 1 months’ extra pay authorized by act of Con s gross of the 19th July. 1848, to all volunteers Avho have serA'ed in the Avar with Mexico, anti Y have been honorably discharged, and to the heirs of such as have died in service. It is earnestly recommended to all not tc sacrifice their claims, the department being determined to settle the claims Avithout delay, - and secure to the claimants the full benefit ol e the laAV. The regulations governing the de partment in the payment of this gratuity arc e in preparation, and Mill be published, ami Y sent to the different States, for the informa tion of all interested. 0 —— mi f THE CON STfT UTIOiN ALIBT Augusta, (Georgia. THURSDAY MORNING AUG 17, ’4B I -- . - 6 FOR PRESIDENT LEWIS CASS, c OF MICHIGAN. FOR VICE PRESIDENT WM. O. BUTLER OF KENTUCKY. a- 1 ELECTORAL TICKET. r i W. T. COLQUITT, of Troup. t I M. H. MCALLISTER, Chatham. 0 ! J. W. ANDERSON, Chatham. S L. B. MERCER. Lee. 5 : ALLEN COCHRAN, Monroe. e i JOHN D STELL, Fayette. LEWIS TUMLIN, Cass. e ROBERT McMlLLAN,ißlbert. f WILLIAM McKINLEY, Oglethorpe. , JAS. GARDNER. JR., Richmond. 5 ALTERNATES. TIMOTHY FURLOW, Houston. y w B WOFFORD, Habersham. E. R. BROWN, Sumter, MARK WILCOX, Telfair. JESSE CARTER, Talbot. 3 JOHN WRAY, CoAveta. RA R. FOSTER, Forsyth. ’ JAMES JACKSON, "Walton, j JUNIUS "WINGFIELD, Putnam, r H. ATT". FLOURNOY, Washington. 1 CONGRESSIONAL TICKET. 2d Dist. M. J. WELLBORN, Muscogee . 3d. “ —JOHN. J. CAREY, Upson I 4th “ —H. A. HARALSON, Troup. sth “ —THOS. C. HACKETT, Floyd 6th “ —HOWELL COBB. Clarke ) Bth “ —Col. A. J. LAWSON, Burke A H Stephens ’ We publish in this day’s paper a communi cation from the Milledgeville Recorder , signet “No-Ultraist,” to Avhich we Avould call the at -1 tention of our readers. We are glad to see , that in the AN big ranks there are a feAv vei left, who are not Avilling to sacrifice the Soutl on the altar of party. Alexander Hamiltor Stephens, will have as much as he can do : when he convinces the South, that such men as Calhoun, Butler, Berrien,Mangum, Toombs, ; King, and Jones are Avrong and he right. Wc are mistaken, if he can make the people of his Congressional District believe that the Senate’s Compromise Bill M'as defeated by the rea: friends of the South. Ihe AN ilmot Provisoists and Abolitionists o: the North view it in quite a different light.— ihe Ngav \ork Tribune, the leading organ oi the Free Soil Party in New York, goes intc exstacies at the defeat of this bill, and calls it the tf frst Free Soil Victory." It says that there Avill not be again so many votes for any misnamed compromise bill, from any of the non-slaveholding States. This speaks volumes as to the character of that measure, and it speaks volumes too, as to the true character of the motion and votes of A. Hamilton Stephens and his Southern Whig allies. Volunteers to Mexico- We Avould call the attention of this patriotic band to an article in this day’s paper taken from the Nbav Orleans Courier, headed “Im portant to Volunteers,” as also to the notice folloM’ing it, from the Acting Paymaster Gen eral. North Carolina The only additional returns we haA'e from this State, we find in the Baltimore Sun of the 14th inst. A telegraphic despatch from Ra leigh, dated 13th, BP. M., says :—“ The re turns are uoav in for all the State except four 1 counties, and Manley, whig, has 123 majority over Reid, democrat, for Governor. These counties have heretofore about balanced each other, and the result is therefore considered doubtful. ‘'lhe Democrats have secured a majority of lavo on joint ballot, and will consequently be able to elect a United States Senator in the plaqe of Mr. Badger.” f The Veto Power. The remarks Avhich Ave publish in another column upon the "Veto Power, taken from Storey’s Commentaries on the Constitution, will arrest the attention of all our readers, j To many they are already familiar, and to all they are interesting. They cannot be read too often, or pondered too carefully. They are j calm, dispassionate, and well considered views, j embodying much good sense and practical Avisdom. They are, in fact, the Avhole philos ophy of the question in a feAV Avords, as it . • will be addressed to the whole country irrespec tive of sectional questions. , In addition to these broad and general | vieAvs, Avhich meet the hearty concurrence of I ! that large portion of the people of the Union ; I known as the Democratic party, the Southern , people have special and local reasons why • they should cling, Avith tenacity, to this great - conservative feature of the Constitution. | Those special and local reasons readily sug gest themsehms from the nature of our domes r tic institutions and the Avorld-Avide prejudices i that prevail against them. These reasons haA'e often and urgently been pressed upon public attention by the Democratic papers of the South. We haA'e often presented them, and shall from time to time do so again. We conceive that it is of vital importance 1 to the true interests and safety of the South ern people that the A'eto poAver should remain as our forefathers, in their matured wisdom, created it. It Avas not thoughtlessly engraft ed upon the Constitution, and time and expe | rience have amply demonstrated its M'isdom. At least, so contends the Democratic party of y the country. e On this point, the Whigs take issue with the Democrats. It is an issue fully and fairly I tendered, and it is, perhaps, the only issue de e serving the name of one, which may be said to be fully and fairly tendered by the AN higs. 0 Upon all other issues they have sought the p shelter of silence and mystery. But General >f Taylor has put the question before the coun - try in a shape not to be doubted. AVe are ve ® ry distinctly told by him, in substance, that if he is elected, the Avill of Congress is to be the government—that he will not interpose the “ Executive veto to defeat the action of Con ', gress upon questions of domestic policy. - It behooves then every lover of the Consti tution of his country to reflect well before casting his A'ote at the approaching election, to decide whether he will give it in favor of a practical mutilation ot that sacred instrument, If he votes for a candidate pledged not tc exercise the veto poAver, it is practically the same as if he A'oted for its obliteration iron that instrument for the next four years. If ii is not to be used during that time, then ii '• might as well not be there. It will be borne in mind, in addition t< - this, that the triumph of the AA’hig part; would not merely settle the question of th disuse of the Veto PoM'er by its candidate ii case of his election, but it will give a poAV erful impulse and strength to the party aim ing to alter the Constitution so as to abolisl this poAver from the Constitution. The vet< has often stood in the Avay of the AYhigs ii many of their most cherished schemes of le gislation. It has thAvarted them in many o: their attempted inroads upon the Constitu tion and upon the rights of minorities. Ii may do this again. Therefore, they are hos tile to it, and Avish it abolished. If tfiey suc ceed in carrying their candidate, one of their first efforts Avill be to take measures for an al teration, in this respect, of the Constitution. Let Southern men remember, that the Vetc PoAver has been proudly held up and shaken in the faces of Northern fanatics, and that they have been told that this w'eapon would be sternly Avielded for the protection of the South. For this reason, Northern fanatics will have an additional motive to desire its ab olition. The PoAver has neA'er yet harmed the b South. The South has no reason to desire it taken away from the Executive. It is to be 'J hoped that the South will be found ever stand ing firmly up to that party Avhich contends for i- the Constitution as it came down to us from d its wise framers. > Let the motto of the South be “ The Cox -3,, STITCTIOX AS IT IS.” ' From Judge Story's Commentary on the Constitution. § 448. “ The next clause respects the poAver II of the President to approve, and negative laws. ), In the convention there does not seem to have tl been much diversity of opinion on the subject , of the propriety of giA’ing to the President a ’’ negative on the Days. The principal points e of discussion seem to have been, Avhether the 8 negative should be absolute, or qualified.” s § 4-50. “The reasons Avhy the President x \ should possess a qualified negatiA'c, if thej r are not quite ob\'ious,are at least, Avhen fairlj r ex pounded entirely satisfactory. In the first ” place there is a natural tendency in the legisla tive department to intrude upon the rights, >f and to absorb the poAvcrs of the other depart -0 ments of government. A mere parchment delineation of the boundaries of each is wholly 1 insufficient for the protection of the weaker t branch, as the executive unquestionably is ; y and hence there arises a constitutional neces- Q sity of arming it with poAvers for its oavu de s fence. If the executive did not poescss this qualified negatiA'c, he M'ould gradually be stripped of all his authority, and become, what f it is M’ell known the governors of some States s are, a mere pageant and shadoAv of magistra cy*” § 4-51. “ In the next place, the poAver is im portant, as an additional security against the c enactment of rash, immature, and improper t laAvs. It establishes a salutary check upon the legislative body, calculated to preserve the community against the effects of faction, pre -2 cipitancy, unconstitutional legislation, and - temporary excitements, as well as political hostility. It may, indeed, be said, that a sin gle man, even though he be President, cannot be presumed to possess more wisdom, or vir -3 tue, or experience, than belongs to a number ; of men. But this furnishes no ans Aver to the reasoning. The question is not, hoAV much M’isdom, or virtue, or experience, is possessed by either branch of the government, (though the executive magistrate may well be presumed - to be eminently distinguished in all these re . spects, and therefore the choice of the people;) but Avhether the legislature may not be misled by a love of poAver, the spirit of faction, a po litical impulse, or a persuasive influence, local or sectional, w*hich, at the same time, may not, from the difference in the election and duties of the executive, reach h.m at all, or not reach him in the same degree. He will always have a primary inducement to defend his own poAv ers; the legislature may well be presumed to have no desire to favor them. He will have an opportunity soberly to examine the acts and resolutions passed by the legislature, not having partaken of the feelings or combina tions, which have procured their passage, and thus to correct what will sometimes be wrong from haste and inadvertence, as well as design. His view of them, if not more wise, or more elevated, will, at least, be independent, and under an entirely different responsibility to the nation, from what belongs to them. He is the representative of the whole nation in the aggregate; they are the representatives only of distinct parts; and sometimes of little more than sectional or local interests.” $ 452. “Nor is there any solid objection to this qualified power. If it should be objected, that it may sometimes prevent the passage of good laws, as well as of bad laws, the objection is entitled to but little weight. In the first place, it can never be effectually exercised if two thirds of both houses are in favor of the law; and if they are not it is not so easily demon strable, that the law is either wise or salutary. The presumption would rather be the other way; or, at least, that the utility of it is not unquestionable, or it would receive the requi site support. In the next place, the great evil of all free governments is a tendency to over legislation; and the mischief of inconstancy and mutability in the laws forms a great blem ish in the character and genius of all free gov ernments. The injury, which may possibly arise from the postponement of a salutary law, is far less, than from the passage of a mischiev ous one, or from a redundant and vacillating legislation. In the next place, there is no practical danger, that this power will be much, if any, abused by the President. The supe rior weight and’ influence of the legislative body in a free government, and the hazard to the weight and influence of the executive in a trial of strength, afford a satisfactory security, that the powers will generally be employed with great caution; and that there will be more often room for a charge of timidity, than of rashness in its exercise.” § 453. “It has this additional recommenda tion, as a qualified negative, that it does not, like an absolute negative, present a categorical and harsh resistance to the legislative will, ' which is so apt to engender strife, and nourish ■ hostility. It assumes the character of a mere ap “ peal to the legislature itself, and asks a revis- L ion of its own judgment. It is in the nature, then, merely of a rehearing, or a reconsidera tion, and involves nothing to provoke resent ’ ment, or rouse pride. A President, who might f hesitate to defeat a law by an absolute veto, . might feel little scruple to return it for recon sideration upon reasons and argument siiggest ed on the return. If these were satisfactory ’ to the legislature, he would have the cheering support of a respectable portion of the body' in justification of bis conduct. If, on the other hand, they' should not be satisfactory, thecon e currencc of two thirds would secure the ul -0 timate passage of the law, without exposing a him to undue censure or reproach. Even in such cases, his opposition would not be without ’ some benefit. His observations would be cal culated to excite public attention and discus e sion. to lay' bare the grounds, and policy r , and 11 constitutionality of measures; and to create a it continued watchfulness, as to the practical es • t sects of the laws thus passed, so as that it migh t be ascertained by experience, whether his sa gacity and judgment were safer, than those of :o the legislature. Nothing but a gross abuse of ;v the power upon frivolous, or party pretences, ‘ to secure a petty triumph, or to defeat a whole -18 some restraint, would bring it into contempt, 11 or odium. And then, it would soon be fol r- lowed by that remedial justice from the peo i- pie, in the exercise of the right of election, k which, first or last, will be found to follow with reproof, or cheer with applause, the acts 0 of their rulers, when passion and prejudice 11 have removed the tempoarary bandages, which have blinded their judgment.” )f § 455. “But the President might effectually defeat the wholesome restraint, thus intended, upon his qualified negative, if he might silently decline to act, after a bill was presented to him • for approval or rejection. The constitution, - therefore, has wisely provided that ‘if any bill r ‘shall not be returned by the President within ‘ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall ‘have been presented to him, it shall be a law, ‘in like manner, as if he had signed it.’ But if 0 this clause stood alone, Congress might, in n like manner, defeat the due exercise of his t qualified negative by a termination of the ses sion. which would render it impossible for the President to return the bill. It is there e fore added, ‘unless the Congress, by their ad -5 ‘journment. prevent its return, in which case ‘it shall not be a law'.” Passage of the Oregon Bill — Disgraceful L> Scene. The Baltimore Sun of the 14th inst. says— p “It will be seen by the proceedings of the Senate, that at 10 o’clock on Sunday morning, that body having remained in session twenty fours consecutive hours, the OregorTTerrito rial Bill was passed, as it came from the House, with the Missouri Compromise stricken out. The whole night had been consumed in an en deavor on the part of the Southern members • to stave off the final action of the bill, by kil r ling time. It was, however, finally passed by • a vote of 29 to 25. 1 “ During the debate, it will be seen by ou r 1 report, that quite an exciting and rather a dis -3 graceful scene occurred between Senators Ben -2 ton and Butler —the end of which may prob t ably not be yet; unless it is to be regarded ; merely as a Senatorial bluster.” [ Telegraphed for the Charleston Courier.] ' Latest from Mexico.—Revolutioii Sup , pressed. Last evening, at forty minutes past 9 o’clock, we received a despatch from our New Orleans • correspondent, dated at ten minutes after ten ■ o’clock the same morning. In this case the telegraph has accomplished what we have long | desired—naming the hours and minutes of dc” parture and reception. An arrival at New Orleans, from Mexico, ; brings Yera Cruz dates of the 3d inst., and the gratifying intelligence that the revolution in that country had been finally suppressed. The particulars are not given,—but from the fact being stated that the prisoners taken wore I discouraged, and pledged themselves to sup port the government, we infer that an action must have taken place in which the insurgents were defeated and a considerable portion of their force captured. Most of the Americans left in Mexico had taken their departure for Yucatan, whether armed and organized, or with the view of settl ing in that country, is not stated, but it may be fairly presumed that our brave and enterpris ing citizens are prepared for any emergency that may arise. New-Orleans Market- Twelve hundred and fifty bales of Cotton sold on Monday last—prices unsettled. The foreign letters by the America had reached New-Orleans, The Flour market was active. Freights to Liverpool five-sixteenths of a penny. The Foreigx News.—No tidings yet of the Acadia, due at Boston, and now in her six teenth day.—Her detention is no doubt caused I by the heavy fogs now prevailing on our coast. ■ The Boston Courier, of Friday, says: Our correspondent writes, “There are some j carrier pigeons at Halifax, which are to be le 1 off on the arrival of thej steamer, for some per
