portance of this duty, and, by expressing it in his official oath, have given to it peculiar solemnity and force;

That, as he is to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, he is thereby made responsible for the entire action of the executive department, with the power of appointing, overseeing, and controlling those who execute the laws;

That the power of removal from office, like that of appointment, is an original executive power, and is left in his hands unchecked by the Constitution, except in the case of judges; that, being responsible for the exercise of the whole executive power, he has a right to employ agents of his own choice to assist him in the performance of his duties, and to discharge them when he is no longer willing to be responsible for their acts;

That the Secretaries are his Secretaries, and all persons appointed to offices created by law, except the judges, his agents, responsible to him, and removable at his pleasure;

And, finally, that he is the direct representative of the American people.

These, Sir, are some of the leading propositions contained in the Protest; and if they be true, then the government under which we live is an elective monarchy. It is not yet absolute; there are yet some checks and limitations in the Constitution and laws; but, in its essential and prevailing character, it is an elective monarchy.

Mr. President, I have spoken freely of this Protest, and of the doctrines which it advances; but I have spoken deliberately. On these high questions of constitutional law, respect for my own character, as well as a solemn and profound sense of duty, restrains me from giving utterance to a single sentiment which does not flow from entire conviction. I feel that I am not wrong. I feel that an inborn and inbred love of constitutional liberty, and some study of our political institutions, have not on this occasion misled me. But I have desired to say nothing that should give pain to the chief magistrate personally. I have not sought to fix arrows in his breast; but I believe him mistaken, altogether mistaken, in the sentiments which he has expressed; and I must concur with others in placing on the records of the Senate my disapprobation of those sentiments. On a vote which is to remain so long as any proceeding of the

Senate shall last, and on a question which can never cease to be important while the Constitution of the country endures, I have desired to make public my reasons. They will now be known, and I submit them to the judgment of the present and of after times. Sir, the occasion is full of interest. It cannot pass off without leaving strong impressions on the character of public men. A collision has taken place which I could have most anxiously wished to avoid; but it was not to be shunned. We have not sought this controversy; it has met us, and been forced upon us. In my judgment, the law has been disregarded, and the Constitution transgressed; the fortress of liberty has been assaulted, and circumstances have placed the Senate in the breach; and, although we may perish in it, I know we shall not fly from it. But I am fearless of consequences. We shall hold on, Sir, and hold out, till the people themselves come to its defence. We shall raise the alarm, and maintain the post, till they whose right it is shall decide whether the Senate be a faction, wantonly resisting lawful power, or whether it be opposing, with firmness and patriotism, violations of liberty and inroads upon the Constitution.

THE POST-OFFICE.*

IN the Senate, June 27th, 1834, the report of the Committee on the condition of the General Post-Office, and the resolutions with which the report concludes, having been taken up and debated by several gentlemen, Mr. Webster, in conclusion, made the following remarks: —

MR. PRESIDENT, Great credit is due to the committee for the labor, diligence, and ability which its members have bestowed on the subject referred to them. They have now made a report of a very serious character, containing explicit charges of maladministration, and accompanied by the evidence on which those charges are founded. Two members of the committee have made a report, or presented a paper, of their own, in which they undertake in some instances to defend, and in others to excuse, the conduct of the Postmaster-General, and other persons employed in the department. Now, Sir, in an affair so complicated, where there are so many charges and so much evidence, the first question to be asked is, Are any of these charges admitted to be true by the friends of the administration, and, if any, which? And, as to the rest of the charges, are they all denied or contradicted, or are some of them, and, if any, which, left without denial or contradiction? The honorable chairman of the committee,† who does not agree in the report of the committee, but who is one of the two members who signed the other paper, called the report of the minority, has addressed the Senate repeatedly on the subject of these charges. Some of them he has objected to; others he has not attempted to rebut; and of others he has said nothing. The

* Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the Affairs of the General Post-Office, on the 27th of June, 1834.

t Mr. Grundy.

honorable gentleman is friendly to the administration, and to the head of the Post-Office Department; and it was, therefore, hardly to be expected that he should show great zeal in the prosecution of this inquiry. Yet I think, Sir, we had a right to expect from him, not only his opinion on all the charges, but also some degree of patriotic indignation against lawless acts, which he admits to be lawless. Take, for example, the first resolution of the committee, which declares that the Postmaster-General has borrowed money on the credit of the United States, without any authority of law. The honorable chairman says he admits the truth of this charge. Admits it? But why does he content himself with admitting it? Does he not regard it as a gross violation of duty? Does he not think it an alarming thing, that the Postmaster-General should borrow half a million. of dollars in order to cover up the deficiencies of the department, and that he should keep this loan concealed for years from the knowledge of Congress? As the head of a committee charged to inquire into abuses, and this enormous abuse having been discovered, can the honorable member justify himself by simply saying he admits its existence? Has he no reproof, no word of censure, for such a flagrant violation of law? Has he no disapprobation to express, no complaint to enter, in such tones that the administration shall hear them? No man denies the fact, and none undertakes to defend it. What then? Is the department still to go on in its career, and nothing to be done, any more than if nothing had been discovered? If there were nothing else in the whole report, if that charge stood alone, I cannot conceive how any man can doubt that the department ought to be immediately and thoroughly reformed. The country, if I mistake not, will call for such reformation. As to upholding the administration of the department, with such charges against it proved and admitted, it is more even than the spirit of party devotion can accomplish.

Again, Sir, the third resolution distinctly declares that a practice prevails in the post-office of granting contracts on bids, which vary from the advertisements, and of altering contracts after they are made and accepted; a practice which destroys all competition, and enables the department to give all contracts to favorites. Is this charge denied or admitted? I have not heard the honorable member, the chairman, deny it. Does

THE POST-OFFICE.*

IN the Senate, June 27th, 1834, the report of the Committee on the condition of the General Post-Office, and the resolutions with which the report concludes, having been taken up and debated by several gentlemen, Mr. Webster, in conclusion, made the following remarks:

MR. PRESIDENT, - Great credit is due to the committee for the labor, diligence, and ability which its members have bestowed on the subject referred to them. They have now made a report of a very serious character, containing explicit charges of maladministration, and accompanied by the evidence on which those charges are founded. Two members of the committee have made a report, or presented a paper, of their own, in which they undertake in some instances to defend, and in others to excuse, the conduct of the Postmaster-General, and other persons employed in the department. Now, Sir, in an affair so complicated, where there are so many charges and so much evidence, the first question to be asked is, Are any of these charges admitted to be true by the friends of the administration, and, if any, which? And, as to the rest of the charges, are they all denied or contradicted, or are some of them, and, if any, which, left without denial or contradiction? The honorable chairman of the committee,† who does not agree in the report of the committee, but who is one of the two members who signed the other paper, called the report of the minority, has addressed the Senate repeatedly on the subject of these charges. Some of them he has objected to; others he has not attempted to rebut; and of others he has said nothing. The

* Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the Affairs of the General Post-Office, on the 27th of June, 1834.

t Mr. Grundy.