Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twentieth Congress Page: 1,449
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1449
OF DEBATES IN CONGRESS.
1450
Feb. 6, 1828.]
Retrenchment.
[H. of R«
gentleman would not have ihem restored. The gentle-
man, adverting1 to the course of the Administration,
amongst matters urged to prove it unworthy of confi-
dence, said, that, when men had crept into office by cor-
rupt means, they would find money enough to reward all
who had assisted in their elevation, and to quiet all dis-
appointed candidates for office. What is intended to be
inferred from this ? Does he mean that the President has
found money to distribute as rewards to those who assist-
ed to elect him—money enough to quiet disappointed
candidates ? Does he really believe it * Does any man
rise here, on this floor, and say such is the fact ! No,
sir, not one : and as to disappointed candidates, we ha\e
numerous living witnesses about us to prove that they
have not been quieted. The gentleman has animadverted,
with more asperity than he usually employs, upon what
lie terms lawless constructions of the Constitution and
laws, adopted by the Administration to extend its power
and patronage. What are lawless constructions ? Who
has the lawful right to construe the Constitution and laws
in reference to the discharge o( the Executive functions
of this Government, but the President, with his Cabinet?
They may err in construing the Constitution or laws, but
their construction is not lawless. These lawless con-
structions—these usurpationsof the Executive—have been
carried to such lengths, as to call for the interference of
the People to arrest their progress, as an act of self-pre-
servation. The gentleman gives, as an instance of this
lawless construction and usurpation, which he thinks was
never before urged, the appointing foreign Ministers on
original missions, in the recess of the Senate. Sir, I have
thought, for many years, the exercise of this power by
the Executive was not strictly warranted by the Constitu-
tion ; but it has been maintained by many of the ablest
men in the country, and, because I do not agree in their
construction, it gives me no right to denounce their con-
struction as lawless. The gentleman must know that
this power was exercised by Washington and Jefferson,
and, C believe, by every Executive since the organization
of the Government. The Russian Mediation Mission,
which terminated in the Treaty of Ghent, was originat-
ed by Mr. Madison in the recess of the Senate, and, un-
less my memory is faithless, one of the Commissioners,
(Mr. Gallatin) whose nomination was afterwards submit-
ted to the Senate- and rejected by that body, was
nevertheless, continued in the Commission, and paid.
If the construction of Mr. Adams is lawless, and he
a usurper, then was the construction of Washington,
Jefferson, Madison, lawless, and they, too, were usur-
pers.*
* President Adams has been accused of usurpation, and lawless as-
sumption of authority, not because lie has appointed any foreign min-
ister in the recess of the Senate, on anew or original mission, but
because, in his message to Congress, in December, 1825, relating
to the invitation to meet the South American States in a Congress,
to be held at Panama, he said, " the invitation has been accepted, and
Ministers on the part of the United States will be commissioned to
attend at these deliberations, and to take part in them, so far as may be
compatible with that neutrality from which it is neither our in-
tention, nor the desire of the other American States, that we should de-
part."'
President Washington communicated to the Senate, in "February,
1791, the difficulties that had existed between the Kingdom of Portu-
gal and the United States, and in his message, he says : "On consider-
ation ofail the circumstances, I have determined to accede to the
desire of the Court of Lisbon." And he concludes, "I have,
therefore, nominated David Humphreys Minister resident froiu
the United Slates to her Most Faithful Majesty the Queen of Por-
tugal." Let any impartial man contrast the language of the two Presi-
dents. . ,
President Washington, in 1789, in the recess of the Senate, originat-
ed a Diplomatic Agenev to Great Britain, and commissioned Gouver*
netir Morris. In 1791," he originated amission to Morocco, and ap-
pointed Thomas Barclay, Consul, to negotiate, in the recess of the
Senate. ,, . .
President Jefferson, during the first recess of the Senate, after his
inauguration, appointed twenty-four Consuls and Commercial Agents,
to different par's of the world, six of whom were original appoint-
ments, to places where such officers from theUnited States had not been
sent before. In May, 180!, Mr. Jefferson, in the recess of the Senate,
I now come, sir, to the gentleman from Virginia, [Mr.
Rastdomh.] I regret that I have not been able to get the
floor, when the gentleman was in his seat, that I might
have paid my respects when he was present. I'corae to
him now last in order, considering him the commanding
general of the Opposition force, and occupying the posi-
tion of a commander, in the rearot his troops, controlling
their movements; issuing his orders ; directing one subalt-
ern where and how to move his forces ; admonishing ano-
ther to due and proper caution, and to follow his lead-
er ; nodding approbation to a tnird, and prompting him
to extraordinary exertion ; examples of which, the gen-
tleman has given us in this debate. Since the failure of
the motion to lay this resolution on the table, tho gentle-
man has become a warm and zealous friend of retrench,
ment and economy, a bitter enemy ot profligacy and ex-
travagance. I am glad of this. I will not attempt to an-
swer his late arguments on the subject; but, I hope I
shall not be deemed out of order, it I make him answer
himself. His mind, I believe, has undergone an almost
total revolution in a few years. In the debate on the
Compensation Bill in this House, in 1816, the gentleman
is reported to have said, amongst a great many other
things—" the present system might do for maintaining
soldiers, or day-laborers, but not for men of our time of
life, and of our State." Here the gentleman exhibits a
commendable State pride, and a proper regard for State
rights, (the fashionable doctrine of the day) and of our dig-
nity. Again, he says, " the salaries of the officers of Gov-
ernment were notoriously scanty,and though lie would ra-
ther see the salary a disgrace to the man, than the man
a disgrace to the office, lie would give the public ser-
vants such salaries as would enable them to live without
imputation of dishonor : for, lie asked, what man can live
here on £5,000 a year ? He may breathe on it, but who
can keep a family, rent a house, furnish it, keep an
equipage, give and receive entertainments, on that an-
nual amount ? A five penny bit would be just as ade-
quate to that purpose." Again, having proposed an
amendment, as he said, " merely as a quietus to tender
consciences," he thought $1500 an insufficient compen-
sation, and said " there was no profession, scarcely, by
which a man could not earr. #1500 in six months, and do
it much more pleasantly, too, than by coming here."
Again, "his only objection to the bill was, that ic had
not made the compensation $2,500, instead of $1500—
then a man might come here with something like the
prospects of home." As to the compensation of the
Speaker, and President of the Senate, he said, "he
should have liked the bill better, if it had given $5,000 to
each. The Speaker, he thought, ought to be enabled
take a House, and reside here as a great officer should
do." These quotations may be sufficient to show the
love of economy and retrenchment, and the perfect con-
sistency of the present leader of the opposition party. 1
instituted the ofiTee of Secretary of Legation, and commissioned Tho-
mas Sumpter, jr. Secretary of the Legation to France ; and in August,
in the same year, he in like manner commissioned John Graham to the
same office at Madrid.
President Madison, in 1813. commissioned Messrs. Adams, Gallatin,
President Madison for exeivising this power, ami he was sustained by
the entire Republican party. ,
The treaty with Spain, m which Florida was ceded to the Umted
States provided tor instituting a commission to ascertain the claims
of our citizens against Spain, to " be appointed by the President, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate." President Monrtjr
commissioned anion? others, Messrs. Tazewell and White, now of the
Senate, to till this new office, in the recess of the Sena tr, and ot course
without its consent and ad vice,and they entered upon the duties oi their
office. , .
It would swell the limits of a note too much to enlarge upon the exer-
cise of this power. Further information can he found in the 10th
volume of Waite's State Papers, and a list of appointments up to 1814,
in Senate Documents Statue Papers, 2d Session, 13th Congress, No. 17.—.
by Mr, IV.
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Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the First Session of the Twentieth Congress, book, 1828; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30740/m1/729/: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.