the chanitterandcredit of the country?—! Was it hot ‘Sank defalcations? VVas there a that We did nut hear of,, hew frauds niid, forgeries, and new defalcations Mud elopements?, Tire tilin'; had gut to be so common,’ that it no longer produced any sensation. And where were the menwhu had -been guilty of these crimes? - In our prisons and penitentiaries? ■ Not at all; they., were walking about through the land; .and so tlturougli had the contagion become, so had it blunted thc mural Sense of tli.ifcom munity, that such ulfenders were received into society , and treated as if they bad never been guilty of a .crime; The case had be >cume a proper subject fur the thunders of the pulpit. The voice qfswimUing bad be come so general,.and bad enjiiyed such im punity, that it,was growing unconscious of .its . own malignity and . baseness'. And should ive now, when this iniquitous system was about to ru'o down ami perish by its owri corruption—when the .Bank of the U. States had destroyed the widow and the urphan, and_plundered all-who~had,-trusted- - tu it, open a new fountain of corruption to flood the land, by establishing a new Gov ernment Bank, on principles as false ami baseless as those of the worst institutions in the country? , He trusted nut. A few words mure, and be was done.— He asked where was the warrant in the Constitution fur such an institution? Would any gentleman point it out to him? Did a scheme like this liimc from the good old school of ■ Virginia abstractions? Was .this in accordance with the principlcsvof the ■cveivmemorable resolutions ut -1798 ami 1799? By what mode of construction could such a measure be warranted? Was such a thing as this Exchequer Board a necessary or proper meatfs to cuiyy into effect any'of. the enumerated.powers of this Government. This hill, in its leading principles, had been shadowed forth on this flour in 1837; •but Mr. B. had then resisted the:giant intel lect which brought?it forward. It was (hen contended that the United States. Guvern mentrhad a right tu issue paper money for circulation, and to control.the issues of the State banks; Yes, this .same scheme had been shadowed forth, by the great expounder of thp Constitution —one who had earned that title ; by adopting, he doubted not hon estly,., the,utmost possible latitude of con strucuoii which rjould he nut upon that sa 'cred instrument. Mr. ,B. had their felt “proud fn opposing it, .and had'been much gratified 'to know that the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Clay} concurred with hioi' in opinion. But What had'become, of the constitutional, afghuient now? The power was-taken fur grunted in the letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, It was deemed so clear, Mr. B. presumed, that ft was nut ..thought necessary evert to allude to it.—■ The .question was not argued or-referred ill. ' in tire remotest manner. “Mr. B. had,' to 1837, denied, the power ,to regulate. the paper currency, as oof to he found in the Constitution. .. It was then claimed as inci dental, tu the power to regulate commerce. What sort of a construction was this? Our fathers were'jealous of Eederal power. In the Constitution that power was dealt out with a reluctant hand. The power tu regu late commerce hail been granted simply fur this reason: different Slates of the Confede ration had imposed different rates of duty on the, importation of .foreign articles,, ami those States whose tarilf was the lowest in troduced the goods from abroad, and then pushed them into the States which exacted u higher duty; and thus a perpetual war of custom-houses was ihaintaiiied. Besides this, we were unable to make any commer cial treaty with a foreign nation, because the Government hud,no power tu enforce its observance. Hence the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian . tribes.!’ This mere primer'' of regulation is the eiiuplestjof all powers. In the language of the late Chief justice Marshall, "it is .the power to prescribe the rule by which com merce is to be governed.” What would the venerable patriots, who framed the Consti tution, think oi‘ say, could they now witness tlns attempt to pervert this mere power of legislative regulation, into an authority to create a great Government Bank; and to issue millions of the same kind of paper money 'which they had solemnly condemned in the Convention., A power to regulate necessarily supposed t the previous existence of Something to be regulated, it was es sentially different from a power to create.— 'thus the Constitution had conferred on Congress the power “to coin money.”— This was the creative power: and then after' this money, had been called into, existence, came the power ‘‘to regulate the value there of.” Commerce, both foreign and domestic, was in existence'when-the Constitution‘was adopted; and it simply conferred upon Con gress the power to. regulate; that is, "to pre scribe the rule by which it was to be gov erned.” ; • ~ . - A similar course of argument might be adopted, with-much greater plausibility, to prove, that Congress possess the power to enter the territories of the sovereign States, and without •their,- consent, construct rail - roads and canals. It- might be said that commerce could not be-conducted, without railroads and canals, and therefore Congress possess the power-toconstruct them.- By the same, course.of reasoning, the Guvcnir ment might itself ; engage in 'commerce to prevent’ it from languishing fur want of private capital,[arid like the Bank et the U. ■ States become a buyer and seller of cotton • as. well .as of exchange.’ - It was.also urged in IB3r, that the "power to coin money and regulate the value there \ of,” conferred the power , to.create paper inoney; that, is, because -Congress ran es tablish a. mint - for the purpose- of coining gold and, sijver. that, by: constriction, they possess, the power also' of-es(hbjid»i.ng a . paper moiiey mint, such asfthis.Tisehange Wank, fi» cover i hecou i itrywi I h- th n i r- o w n l*'UB °f credi,t. ;-'l'lie very power-to coin hard money, Which isi'from its nature;- elusive of amy power over paper: mone'fes that; which has been seized upon to pr'ove that paper money inay.be emit led-under l the authority of Congress, i'l'his seijnied tn him to be a moustroui antl revdltiiig irifcrence. -/•; Tins pnwee,is claimed Cjysuch.ihferetices,' in the very face of the gideinn action’of the Cimventionop the very subject.viUiiderdiie (dd articlea uf Confederation, Congress pos sessed the power. ‘* tu : burrow -money or emit liUvvHjhe:credtlO'fllteUiUledStulca. ,, r± n The present Constitution expressly’"denied to Congress, this power of emitting such bills of credit. Twice' was the attempt solemnly made in the convention to confer this very power on Congress; and twice’did itjsignally fail.— Yet this power, which was stricken out of. the articles of confederation, and was twice expressly refused; by flic'.convention, Vos 'now. contended to exist, in its Utmost lati tude, as an incident.to the commercial and coining powers! This attempt liever sprang, from the ‘glorious old Virginia; school of strict construction. By - such a mode of reasoning; an Ingenious man might find any power wiiichhe desired to exercise; slumherv ihg in ,the text ofthe Constitution. Air. 11. concluded by'repeating the assu rance tlmt no remark made by him otr this occasion was intended to apply to the pres ent Chief Alngistratc of the United States. He believed Mr. Tyler to be an homtsf man, and' patriotic in his motives; but'he had deemed it duo to himself hut to -suffer a measure of this kind to be before the Senate - for-weeks'-and'-months—without-expressing any opinion, and (hen tu come out and op pose it.. The-party with whom he acted were in the-habit of showing their, hhlids-at" once—in the very outset,' If the President should devise any measure confined to Urn' collection, safekeeping, and disbursement of the public money,, unless it should contain some gross and palpable ground of'objection, the measurc'shuuld have Air, B’s .support, in. the hope that, after all experiments should tave been tried, and reason Should have time to prevail, the people and Governmeo would at length retunrto and re-cstabliil the Independent. Treasury. MESSAGE Op THE Governor, returning with 1113 OBJECTIONS, A BILL DIRECTING SUITS TO BE BROUGHT BY THE STATE TrEAS- • URER, FOR THE USE _OP THE.' Commonwealth. . ;; To the Senate and Houses>f of the Commonweal! ho/Fejmsjjluaniu. Oentlemen :—The bill entitled “An Act directing certain suits to be brought by the State Treasurer fur the use of -the Common wealth,”. is returned to the House of .Rep resentatives'in it originated, accom panied; Witlf thhrcasonn that constrain ine-to refdSe.itmy sanction; I feel'it my duty to Btatovlhat the bill is a most-extraordinary one, Viewed in whatever light wJj. may And the nianhcV in which it .was originated and heralded to, the notice of the public, was nut less, extraordinary than the bill itself,' -It was not passed till the very day before the adjournment-of the Leg islature, when, amidst the throng . of business,, then pressing on me, it was too late - to , return it- with my' objections;. It" was'accurdingly held over until this time, so'that the members'of-the-House,, and a portion.of the .Senate,-Vvlio wero“elected at the last general election, can pass upon it in such a manner-as-they see lit. . -They cannot be unacquainted-with the fact, that it was made.the theme of partizau ribaldry, in all quarters of the State. They can, therefore, judge of the merits of the meas ure, and-of the uses fur which it was de signed. The peculiar nature of this bill, calls on me to say a word in regard to the report of the Committee, which introduced it to the Senate and the public. The report pro fessed to give the facts, on which the last four sections of this bill were predicated; and the reasons that justified their adoption. The report of the minority of the Commit tee, exposing the mistatements and contro verting the arguments of the majority, was excluded from the journal, on a pretext which operated with ten-fold force against the printing of the report of the majority. I think tlie legislative history of this Com monwealth, will be ransacked in vain, for a parallel to this majority-report. The truth of certain statements in it; deemed materi al by its authors, will wear a strange aspect, when tested by. the journal of the Senate the preceding year, and -by the Executive minutes, from the adoption of the constitu tion of XrfiO. down to the day on which the report was made. The querulous carping, personal, and indecorous tunc of the icpurt, I pass over without remark. It only proves,' as'Soine may think, the good taste and man ly spirit of-its authors.' These are quali ties, nut for me to applaud ur celisure, they belong to their constituents.- I regret the absence of the authors oLthis report from the Senate, fur I should be glad-to afford them an opportunity to vindicate a,measure which seems to have been dear -to their hearts; but we are bound to presume, that the reasons of their absence, are entirely satisfactory to their constituents.- These observations are now made, only to apprize you of some of the. circumstances that at tend the origin of this bill, and to enable you,, the mure readily; to understand the force and application of my abjections. ; ... '—The four-last sections of-this bill, provide for the institution of suits against Daniel Sturgeon, late State Treasurer,’ ■ and his ' sureties, to recover back- the-whiole .or.part of the sum of two-thousand dollars, alleged to have been illegally .paid, on four execu : five warrants, in ’favor of Ovid F. Johnson : and James Madison Porter, Esquires, for i professional-services rendered, in the cases - of quo wafrmto against Isaac Darlington and Oristus Collins,-claiming to be Preai i debt ■Judges,-respectively, of the fifteen.h ’ and second Judicial districts. ; ‘ , The said wai rants were drawn on' the i said Daniel Sturgeon, State Treasurer, and paid by' hiin'in thmusual manner. .His ac ■ counts -'were duly settled and a Ijnbed by . the proper departments, including and e(x -■ hibiting the said warrants. He made re . port of the 'same to' the legislature at the eh-, ; suing session. These Warrants were especial• ■ iy made the Subject of -legislative notice. ; Senate journal of 1840, on hall of - Mr. Fraley, page 75, and House journal, i resolution of Alr.Droilhead, pageSS.j-And the legislature 1 , fojwhich his report was iiiadc, received the sanie, ai/d passed it' without disapptpbation. or diiecting to he - commenced -thereupon; -' The ’State i Treasurer is subject (6 the calj and'control of diev legislature at ilt times, while in of ■ fioej. and-if he . makes iriis-payinentsrifthe • public, monejf, or illegal payments, if is tlie - duly of that body to bring him’to account i as-sohn' as-such delinquency copies to-its knowledge. If is not- to be supposed that 1 die legislature' will', neglect m-.sliiiiik from ; the performance of. its duty.-niiil I ny,; y e t ■ the digi^afut^gfy4^4Q|7iya^ more remiss in its duty, or less watchfuVof the. public welfare, -'than theVlegislature which passed this bill. -I T It', is hot bnly ul'tcr all lheßcproccedings that this bill provides ppeniiig agaiir lhe ac count of the Stale Treasurer, but it express ly .enacts that no.settlcnirht, oral ledger) set tlement of ihc same, shall be regarded.' It also provides that suit Shall be brought, not as is required in all other cases of a sim ilar kind, in the county where the seat of government is located, but in a remote coun ty where the said Daniel Sturgeon resides; and sit'd is brought tuu.'in that county,, a gaitist all his sureties, and process to be ser ved un thcin in any other cotintyof the cumjmonweallh. ; It also provides, that "it shali'be the duty of the court,' on the hear- 'hf-.the pause, to admit in evidence cer- 1 lifted copies of the vouchers or accounts'on file in'the office of-the Auditor General or Stale Treasurers : It is perfectly competent for • the legislature.to provide that copies Of vouchers; &c. shall' be hereafter received as evidence in -the-same manner as the origi nals would be, but this bill goes much far ther. It hak a retrospective operation, and compels the court toyeceive certified copies, although the Original papers might nut he 'aOniissabie- in evidcnco at all, . Nor dues it designate wiiat vouchers or accounts it has reference to; for aught that.appears, the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette county would he compelled to ' admit: in evidence certified copies ,of the vouchers and-ac counts in the office of the State Treasurer and Auditor General;, which have been ac cumulating sincc'dlie'’organization Of the government. A more arbitrary and unrea sonable law it; would "be difficult to- devise. If this'is to be considered as a precedent, no man’ in Pennsylvania can tell when he is safe. Settlements, of accounts made in tlue form of law are no protection. They ar%,to.be treated as null and void. If this can be done two-years, after the settlement is made,' it. can be done ten or twenty yeal'S after, when witnesses are dead and vouchers lost; alid to crown all, .the suit may be brought two hundred miles from theseat of government, and .certified copies of vouch ers and papccs of all sorts and all kinds are inadc.cvidence, however irrelevant the,ori ginals, might be, in open and inanifest viola tion rif^ve.ry-principle Of justice a/td eOety rule of law, 'that'hasf hitherto been iciiow'n in Pennsylvania; . *- . Not-contgut with' selecting the . cburf aVul declaring that things shall be-evldenccwhich are not evidence under the laws of*the land, this bill further cnac’ts that if the decision be against the commonwealth, the President Judge sliafr reduce his Opinion to \Vriting and tilO the same,'and the State Treasurer shall remove .the said cust into the,Supreme -Court-for. trial and adjudication. No dis cretion is leTt to the court or the State Trea surer in this matter,- but, however idle and unfounded they may deem the claim of the commonwealth, they are compelled to'rc muve thc case into-the Supreme Court. - -Independent of the provisions of this bill already noticed, there an objection of more conclusive weight, which reachesat once the . entire merits of the case. That the proceedings in this matter against the two persons claiming to be judges, were re quisite and necessary, is shown by the de cision of the Supreme Court against their right to hold the offices which they sought to usurp. The araountof compensation al lowed to the counsel has not been disputed by any one competent to estimate the labor, the responsibilities, and Jhe nature of the services performed. ~The whole question presented is, as to the constitutional right of the executive to draw Ids warrants for any sum at nil; I shall proceed to show that the right is as clear and undoubted as any oilier right exercised by the Executive. The 13th section of 2d article of,the con stitution enjoins on the Governor that "he shall take care that the laws be faithfully ex ecuted.’’ This is a - brief summary of the duties of the Governor. He is bound to see the laws faithfully executed, and he is amenable to the public fur the honest dis charge Of this duty. This is the most,vital function of our government. It is the main spring of,all the others. Without this, laws and constitutions would be mere waste of paper, and the government itself a mockery. To enable the Governor to., perform this high duly, he is necessarily invested with all needful power and authority consistent with the laws. He must employ agents—he must direct p rucecdihgs—he must invoke the aid of courts pf justice—and he must have com mand of reasonable pecuniary means tit con duct those, proceedings which he orders to be undertaken. ■ This is not only the constitution, birf if 1 has' been the constructionaif the conslitu-. tion, since the year 1790 —under every Go vernor—in. the face of every Legislature, since that day, has,this power been exerci sed; and the present is the first instance, in all that tithe, wherein it has been contested vir—questioned.—Gascs^abound—ln —which- .counsel have been employed: in the.same manner, and paid, and.in which rewards have been ottered and paid in the same way, for the detection of otfemlersron-the.warrant, of the Governor. In these two classes of cases, the money' is paid on' the same princi ple. ; If the Governor can pay a thousand dollars for. the apprehension of a no Sender agiinst the law, cannot he pay such sum, as ho deems reasonable, fur his trial and con viction? The exercise of this power, is of course, to be litnjUed to fit and appropriate cases; but' Inc- constitution- has made- the Governor the judge of the occasion as it a rises. He is responsible to the public-for his action; but he is, nevertheless, to judge and,-decide fur himself. I deemed tlie.ca ses, in which . the sums sought’to be reco vered by : this bill, were paid, fit, cases fur judicial Investigation. I directed the,inves tigation. ,1 directed-the.inquiries to be in-; stituted; it -resulted as I anticipated,: arid 1 drew my warrants for such sunvsi to com pensate counsel, as I . thought reasonable and.justi,They weferpaid bytlieStaleTrea surer,- .in' the. usual: manner, and riow,:.two years’ after the accounts: are settled arid .clo sed, in the only form known to .llie la wg. il is ; proposedvtorsue'for'lhe- recovery of this money, on the pretext thatit was pot legally paid.’ And .what is Idtir-nllegfed-I Illegality? Tlrnt tlte constitution prohibits .money from being drawn,out of the Treas'uiy. except in consequence of appropriations made by jaw. —This is all very well, if those who object, would palv. take the trouble , tovcbnsidePi that thri clause’of the: constitution which makcs it lhetduty.ltr the Governor, to see the taws faithfully executed, does clearly and unquestionably appropriate the neces sary* pecuniary means-for that purpose. Therela afwavsa fund.iifthoTreusury to meet such icon iingqlil cases'as ninyhappeii, and the constitution directs the appropria tion, in aid of the execalioii of the laws, wjthuut requiring legislative interposition off the subject. This'has-been ltie v .seiiac.givcn to the constitution since 1790,as understood and practically enforced by every Govern-1 or, in. numberless cases; and as the same clause remains in the amended constitution, as adopted by the pbdple, w\thuiit change, I lake it for grunted this construction ot the constitution, met with the approbation of the community, 'ln interpreting the constitution, we'must look at all its provisions, as an entire instru ment—as constituting the'foundation of-a government, and nut at detached lines or sections; considering the whole constitution together,- ho intelligent man-can doubt'that deconstruction which has always prevailed, is right. It renders the functions of-gov ernment' harmonious, consistent and effec tual; but reverse the rule of construction'; aiid resort to the petty quibbling- which looks not beyond a section at a time, and we should have a government totally uncon nected, discunfhfl.t and impracticable; 1 the jest of. statesmen—the shame of all trite pa triots, and the derision of knaves.' Such a government, in my opinion, would the'pas ssgo of this bill prove 'ours to be. -a»sSiiice the principle contained in this hill, has. been assumed by the State Treasurer as the rule of action, I have forborne to offer rewards for-the »ppreheifsion o of those who htid perpetrated the must atrocious crimes, although ' several instaiices have occurred, in which I thought such rewards would have proved highly conducive to the cause of jus tice, 1 cannot but think any construction of the cotislilbiioff, which leads to such'a result, not only unfortunate, but disgraceful. It is unworthy of Pennsyjvdiiiia—it is at war with the enlightened spirit of theage. Such being my opinion .of this measure, I have felt its my duty tu'express it frankly, and fully;, and having done so, I'ii'uw sub mit.the whofe subject to ypur consideration, to. be disposed of as yim may think a sense of duty, and -a proper regard fur the const! ■ tutibn-and laws,.require.- - ;■ PORTER-. Ex ECUTJVE C IIAMEBR, ’ ~ .danunry,6, 1842. $ 1S JE JP die T Of a. Select , Committee, of the Seriate rf Pennsylvania, Upon the subject o/-, a Repudiation of the State Debit ' In Tiitf Senate of Pennsylvania, ■■ January 10,1842. ! Mr. M’LanaiiaN, from the Committeeto whom- wiis referred the proceedings of a inccting held in (he city of Philadelphia, on the 30tli of December, last, at which Wil liam C. Parker officiated as chairman,'and Alexander Browne as Secretary, - oil the subject of the repudiation of the State debt, Sic.; made a Deport, which was read as fol lows, viz:— That the subject presented to their con sideration by the: resolut on of the Senate, is one of deep and {thrilling importance, and has received their fmist earnest attention.— It speahs its own magnitude, fur it involves in its consequences, the faith, the honor, nay the very existence of the Republic. Your Committee deem it due. to themselves, to the Senate and'to the Country, that their deliberations upon .the- matters submitted, should be conducted with a moderation and firmness, that will prove not only decisive in its character, but in its purposes—that Will inspire the people.with confidence in' the prudence and integrity (if this branch! of the Legislature, and will prepare their I minds for the acknowledgment' and adop lion of those principles upon which the very , structure of the government reposes. . The question of the right disj o'tion of the public works, and of the resumption of spe- { cie payments by the banks, will claim'the 1 ., attention of this body at the proper time.— The. report of your Committee therefore, only refers to the position assumed.in the proceedings of themeeting, with regard to the repudiation of the State debt; aad this, •they conceive,"calls for llfe'uiost prompt! and unequivocal expression on the part of! the Legislature. , • It would seem almost.supcrfluoua, to cn- j ter into any argument upon a subject which | addressees itself mainly to the moral sense of~ inankinll .nnd'app'calsfor ifsa'anclion to • every law human and divine. The funda mental doctiineS of our republican institii-j lions, arose from and can only be sustained by the intelligence and virtue of the people. To either impair or destroy these great; securities of free government, is at once to, strike a fearful blow at the liberties of the | country. . Your. Committee, however, are satisfied'that the citizens of (his State feel u'virtuous-indignation against-the doctrine | which, would repudiate the payment of, tl e credit, the honor, .the integrity of the Cum- > monwealth. • Fully aware of the financial embarrass- incuts-(if the State, the general derange-! ment of the currency, and-the one ous im position of taxes on the people, your Com- , mittee are not surprised to find that the . public mind, lias been directed to. the con sideration of these important subjects.— They cannut, however, avoid an expression of astonishment and regret, when they learn from the proceedings referred to .them, that the mode proposed for relief from, present difficulties, is- the legislative disavowal of our public.debt; and while they would n.it uridertake to deny,, that much of the peo ple’s treasure may have been squandered' by improper and injudicious'lC’gislation, yet ; they hold in utter abhorrence; the' doctrine that .this renders the government irrespon sible, for.the payment of all its liabilities.— The! public; faith is pledged forVtbe true.per formance, of all. contracts made by the su-1 preme authority, in the State, under the, delegated . .powers! of the - constitution.— I These- chartered. ; powers, of ; Government,, derived ,frmn t|ie ;peuplttf-in their sovereign ] capacily. aroiculiferrcd 'by the constitution; arid , limited' by the bill of -rights; ■ have.becn riot only thuS-delegated, but have always, since the; adoption: of fhat insliu riiciit,. been [.exercised and acknowledged wilhoutaquestion. The debt of I'erinsylf yania’bits:been freely arid voluntarily con tracted./by the joint action of; the;.seycral corordinate departments .'of. .government, chosen at various times by the voice of the people)' The faith of th'e State has been most solemnly andsacredly pledged topay it as, ami when it becomes'due, in specie or its enuiyalent. That the money thus bor rowed, has been misapplied, wasted or lost, in extravagant'and unproductive specula tions, is uuf -fault.'or otir; misfortune. The toss ought to full upon those who have been the occasion* of it, and nut the unsuspect ing creditor, , who.bus' invested his .money in theconfidence that a great State, with a republican form of. government—with a population proverbial for integrity of char acter and '.Honesty tif with the most- ample resources;of wealth and prosperity, would/iiever prove'faithless , to its engagements, or fail by mere pecuni ary sacrifice, to maintain, its.character un • sullied; " : , . ... ■ The resolutions of the meeting which have been forwardedlous.affirm that the Legis lature has no power to contract a debt for the object' of internal improvement—that the laws which have passed authorizing it» are - without~constitutional - warrant; and-, therefore, null and void. The, committee are not disposed to enter into-the considera tion of the question whether a Stite would be bound in equity to refund money which had been received, appropriated and used by it, though under the pruvisiups of an uncon stitutional law; That can.never be made a question as regards the,debt of Pennsyl vania. The power of the Legislature to construct works of internal improvement, and to borrow money; if necessary, fur that purpose, cun admit of no doubt whatever in the niind of any one in the least-acquaint ed [with the best settled principles of con stitutional law. The constitution .of the -United States establishes, fur the Union, a government of limited powers. The au thority of its Legislative department iare stricled to the specified: cases, which/are enumerated in the Federal compact, arid:to those which are necessary and proper to carry them into effect. For every; act of Congress there must be produced .the war rant of the constitution, express or necessa rily implied. Such would have been the only legitimate, const! uction which cutild have been-put upon the original 'frame’of that instrumen'. But the- people of the United States have, net sein.fit to leave so They have expressly- declared in the article of the am end inch t," that “the powers nut delegated .to the United , States by the -constitution, nor prohibited- by it to the States, are reserved, to the States respec tively, or to'the people.’’' The universal recognition of this most important principle of our Federal Union, and the fondness with which it has evar-.beea cherished by, the great! body of the'people, has .sometimes' led to the ‘.rroneouf application of it to bur State governments. It.is, however, a prin j ciplejustns well, and lepeatedly recqgnlz-' led and settled by thejudiciary ahd every | department of government,..it is believed in ! every State, as well as the -concurrents-of the particular Slates may' excuse all the powers of sovereignty which reside in the body'of the people, except in those cases prohibited in the constitution of the United States, or.of tin; particular State. Tn a question on the constitutionality of an act lof the legislature it will nut do to demand the production of the article and section which authorizes it. The clause of the con stitution which prohibits it must be shown. If we turn to the constitution of the United < Slates we find there no prohibition on this I subject, unless the clause which restrains the States from einilting bills of credit, be cunsid’eruted applicable. But the decision of the highest judicial tribunal in the Union —the general understanding of the cbmftry —and the legislative enactments founded I upon that understanding have put this ques tion, if it ever was one—to rest. . The in- I strument by which a sovereign State engages 'to pay the money,at a future day, for ser* f vices actually rendered, of for inoney. bor rowed for present use, is riot ‘la bill < f cied- I it” in the sense in which the term is used i in the constitution—and were a, different construction ever.to be put upon that sec tion of the constitution, it must/shake the very ..foundation of ourpulitical and social security. It at once denies,-, against the very terms of that insti ament itself, the i ability ;to borrow money.lf tlie guvcrn ■> iileiit has .right to borrow, it is bound to pay. 1A cnutraVy doctrinc'eSectually destroys.all 1 national credit. . .. p In the constitution of this State it cannot be pretended Sfl.iat any express prohibition tain this subject is.to be found. That clause j I iii tbe declaration of rights, which proclaims, ! as one. of the inherit and indefeasible rights of all'men, that of enjoying and defending ' life and liberty—of ucqub ing, possessing ; and protecting property; if construed' jn the 1 sense assumed for it in the proceedings be -1 fore us, would at one stroke abolish the 1 whole power of legislation and. taxation. ' Fur every law is a restraint on natural lib- purpose, —though the mustwhu'espuicaiid necessary and without which government could not be' carried on or. even subsist—is an attack upon properly. It is needless to remark th ” their nr.—- that cilizunsure secure in their property as long as taxes cannot be imposed, unless with the consent; of their own representa tives, returned by their own free choice, at hriclVan'd coustuntly lecuning .intervals. But nut only do we find no prohibition in the constitution of Pennsylvania, hut the very first article and section .of that instrii -111001, has. expressly .vested, the whole legis lative power of the commonwealth in the ■ General Asseiubly,' By virtue and in pur suance of ilie, power so, delegated, the pro per functionaries. of .the government have entered into, contracts predicated on the faith of the State, and die. abrogation of such contracts by the legislature,.would be a hold infraction,of tlie ;,17tli section, of tlie, bill, of rights,. which declares, that no law .impairing -.contracts ,shall' be\ made. From the., period of~the revolution to the present, the puwei of burruwing mdney for every. va 7 riely. of .purpose,.. has againand again .been exercised- by. the govcrnrnent. witliuut tlic shadow of. doubtas to, its constitutionality I and to deny , it now is to light,the.'‘torch of revolution, and civil as well as.foreign war. For. we must uot/iii tlie conßideratioii of tlds ■very important subject, cbhcealidie’fact T ihat the-denial . of pa just debt igpntracied by •sovereign, power of a Slate.-with another country. or with the citizens orsubjects o) another country, is a just cause of war, ifcr cognized .In tlmcodc td; v tHe^cjijKt^z«^vrajcld ( . ['•Though - the'debt of: the Stat&ia’tSfgej it cannotbedoubted that ’her, reiontces are ample to meet it. She will meet it in good faith and with punctuality,.. The creditors may rest assured, that the citizens of the Commonwealth will frown with indignation u'pon r the doctrine that she .is not bound, or ought' not to discharge Iter honest engage- ~ incuts. ' Her representatives in the General Assembly, feel that they are acting in per feet ' accordance with the sentiment and wishes of their constituents, in. publishing to the world the most solemn and unequivo cal declaration or admission, that the fund ed debt'of: the State, is a; debt constitution ally and legally! contracted; and that it is the undoubted obligation of the Govern ment to provide adequate means ‘ fur the punctual ’ payment of the interest thereon, and the final liquidation oi the principal when the_ same may become due, in specie or its equivalent. ' . ' In the. opinion of your committee, every ob ligation of moral doty, national honor aiid pu litical integrity .requires that the state should sustain her faith, which has been cunstitu- .legally pledged by the proper authorities pf -her government. When the ultehnost farthing of the,,public debt shall , have been paid, then and nut till then may * it be said, indeed and in truth, that Penn sylvania isrredeemed. Therefore, Jfesolved, That the Senate reject the doc trine of repudiating the State debt, as un constitutional, immoral, and subversive of the fundamental principles of our republi can system of government; and that they will maintain the credit of the Stale unsul lied, by making adequate provision to meet all her engagements with promptitude and punctuality. .. Jltsoteed, That we entertain the fullest confidence in the citizens of this Common wealth-, that they will honestly andTailhful ly discharge' all the liabi)ities / bf the gov ernment, and that’ they will preserve the credit of. the State inviolate and inviolable. liesolved, .That the committee he dis charged from the further consideration of the'subject. . ... —On motion of Mr. McLanaban and Mr.- • ilMathers.' . The resolutions attached to: said .report .*■' rT-f • • -XJn.tlwquestion, . .;• - . v : i _,„.r„ - ; \V ill the Suiialeagreenn this lotion? •-•■'■;■ * , The Yeas and Nays were required.by Mr. Plumer and Mr,Mathers, and -Were as lolliiws, v'iz:^— : ' t , ■: YEAS—Messrs,. Bigler, Brooke. Brower, Cochran, Coplan, Crispin, Darsie, Dimuck, Ewing, Farrelly.Fegely, Timing* Gibuns, Gurgas, AJralz, Hays, Headley,' lliester, lluiltllcßon, Kline, 'Mat-toy, Mathers,. Mef Cully, McLaoahun, Mullin,- Pennimari, ' I‘lumer, Smith, Spackinao, Sletrait, Sulli van, aml Sfiohin, Speaker.—32. So it was unanimously determined in the affirmative, — l — - - - - On the question. Will the Senate agree to the second reso- 1 In ti