Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the Second Session of the Twentieth Congress Page: 124
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.124
GALES & SEATON'S REGISTER
H. of K.]
Amendments to the Constitution!
[Dec. 18,' 1828'.
will, most probably, be under Presidential influence, him
who has already received the office of major in the militia,
or him who expects the office of Chief Justice of the
United States ?
The Senate should be, and, I hope, are, an indepen-
dent, steady, profound, and incorruptible body of men ;
the advisers of the President; a check upon his evil de-
signs, if such he shall entertain; the protectors of the
rights of the States. About thirty Senators have receiv-
ed appointments from the President, through the Depart-
ment of State. The constitution presumes that even mem-
bers of Congress may be tempted from their duty by offi
cial emolument. It excludes them from accepting, while
members, offices created, or the emoluments whereof
have been increased, during the term of their service.
Let us restore this part of the constitution to read as it did
in the first draught made by the Convention ; or, at least, so
as to exclude members, during the period for which they
were elected, from accepting any office from a President
in whose time they have acted. If we do not this, we
leave it in the power of the President to reward the Sena-
tor or Representative who is subservient to his views.
The clause of the constitution proposed to be amended,
as it now stands prohibits members of Congress from ac-
cepting offices which they have created, or of which they
have increased the emoluments. But it should also pre-
vent members from being under the influence of the Pre-
sident, which they may be, if allowed to accept any office
from him. If a member of Congress wants an office under
the authority of the United States, and is eligible thereto,
there is before him a perpetual lure to draw him to the
support of the President. The clause proposed to be
amended seems intended to secure the people against le-
gislation with selfisl) views. But it should also secure
them against the influence of the President over the mem-
bers of Congress, by the power of appointment to office.
It is obvious that the design of the few, in the Con-
vention, led the majority from their first intention, which
was to exclude members of Congress from all offices un-
der the authority of the United States.
[Here Mr. Smyth read from Luther Martin's expose,
as follows :]
" We sacredly endeavored to preserve all that part of
the resolution which prevented them (members of Con-
gress) from being' eligible to offices under the United
States; as we considered it essentially necessary to pre-
serve the integrity, independence, and dignity, of the Le-
gislature, and to secure its members from corruption.
"I was in the number of those who were extremely so-
licitous to preserve this part of the report; but there was
a powerful opposition made by those who wished the mem-
bers of the Legislature to be eligible to offices under the
United States. Three different times did they attempt to
procure an alteration, and as often failed—a majority firm-
ly adhering' to the resolution as reported by the Commit-
tee ; however, an alteration was, at length, by dint of per-
severance, obtained, even within the last twelve days of
the Convention."
[Mr. Smith also read from the Journal, as follows :]
"August 6. The draught stood : ' The members of each
House shall be ineligible to, and incapable of holding',
any office under the United States, during the time for
which they shall be respectively elected.
"Sept. 2. Itwas moved andseconded to insert the words
' created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been in-
creased,' before the word ' during,' in the report of the
Committee. On the question being taken, the yeas were
5 ; nays, 4; divided, 1. The same question was again
taken, which passed in the affirmative—yeas, 5 ; nays, 3;
divided, 1."
How [said Mr. Smttii] was this effected ? Why, the
delegates from New Jersey had withdrawn from their
seats. [Here Mr. Smyth showed that the Convention of
Virginia, New York, and North Carolina, had offered this
amendment. He then read from an address of Edmund
Pendleton, (of whom he spoke as one of the greatest ci-
vilians Virginia ever bred) as follows :]
"An essential principle of representative government is,
that it be influenced by the will of the people ; which will
can never be expressed, if their representatives are com-
pelled or influenced by the hopes of office. If this hope
may multiply offices, and extend patronage ; if the Pre-
sident may nominate to valuable offices members of tire
Legislature who shall please him, and displease the peo-
ple, by increasing his power ami patronage"; "thus
may, at length, appear the phenomenon of a government,
republican in form, without possessing a single chaste or-
gan for expressing the public will." "
On the fourth amendment.—As it is from corruption
that the people apprehend misrule, and the invasion of
their rights, we should, as far as practicable, remove the
possibility of it. This we shall effect by taking away eve-
ry motive for it. If the President shall, at any time, ap-
point to office any of those Represenlat'ves in Congress
who have, as such, voted for him to bePresident, it will
create suspicions.
We should preserve unimpaired the responsibility of
the Representative to his constituents. We should take
care that the vote of a member, who gives or decides the
vote of a State, shall not be given from any sinister mo-
tive. Let him know that he cannot receive the honors
and emoluments of office as a consideration for his vote.
Will you agree that another man shall reward your agent
or servant? Whether will he reward him for services done
to you, or for services done to himself ? Let the Repre-
sentative who has voted for a President, contrary to the
opinion of those whom he represented, meet the respon-
sibility he has taken upon himself. Let him not be shield-
ed from the displeasure of his constituents by receiving
an office from the man whom he has made President. Let
no man be encouraged to brave the resentment of the
people whom he serves. Let no power be allowed to in-
terfere to protect him from the consequences of giving a
vote against the will of the people. Shall the President
be allowed, when the people dismiss their Representative
for disregarding their will, to reward him with office, ho-
nor, and emolument, for the very act by which he may
have forfeited their confidence? This would be to destroy
responsibility—the only security the people have for the
faithful exercise of the powers delegated by them. Sir,
let us secure the fidelity of the,future Representatives of
the people, by rendering it illegal to receive that which
might be the temptation to a departure from duty.
I will now suggest an amendment, which I shall offer to
the third amendment at the proper time. There are, as I
have shown, two objections to allowing a member to take
an office: one, that it creates a vacancy; the other, that
it subjects him to influence. The last is far the most im-
portant. To secure the validity of the last objection, the
first may be waived. The Senator or Representative who
has not yet served with a President has not supported his
administration, and is not liable to the most important ob-
jection- The Senators and Representatives already elect-
ed for the next Congress will be as exempt from this ob-
jection on the 4-th of March next, as those whose periods
of service expire on the 3d of March. It would seem
reasonable that the Representatives from Kentucky and
Ohio, in this Congress, who are elected to the next, should
be eligible to office on the 4th of March, as well as those
from Virginia and other States, whose Representatives to
the next Congress will not be then chosen. I shall offer
an amendment to make the third amendment read—
"No Senator or Representative shall, during the time
for which he was elected, and the continuance in office of
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Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the Second Session of the Twentieth Congress, book, 1830; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30754/m1/128/: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.