COMMUXJCATWXS
FOR THE FREE PKESS.
"The times have come, Antonio, '
'When every knave with a smooth
chin, and a dull humor,
"Shall thrust his lean pate into the
councils of kings:
-And call himself a Statesman." j
Mr. Editor:
As WM. Ii. CRAWFORD
is a candidate, among others,
for the Supreme Magistracy
of the United States, a know
ledge of his character and quali
fications becomes a subject of
great importance to every lover
of his country; and to canvass
and to develop freely the con
duct of those who ask such high
and important offices from the
people, is an indeieasible r;
in the people. Had Mr. Craw
ford been content to have mo
ved in the humble walks of pri
vate life, and never interfered
in political concerns, I would
not have troubled you or the
public with this communication,
since his vices or his virtues
could have but little relation to
our national happiness and pros
perity; he might then, sir, have
glided down the current of life
in obscurity, and at least have
had the consolation to know
that his deformities were hidden
from the world. But as, sir, he
has appeared on the stajre of
public life in a variety of situa
tions, and now boldlv offers
himself as a candidate for the
Presidency, he will please to
excuse the liberty I take to in
vestigate a character, which,
from a false opinion of, our coun
try may confide her dearest in
terest to.
It is my duty, as it is my
ivish, to give Mr. C. credit for
every great or good quality he
possesses, and to speak with
gratitude of any services he may
have rendered America, in the
course of a life busied some
times with public cares. Hut,
sir, it is my duty to speak of
those other qualities of his
heart and mind, which have
been also employed in the na
tional affairs of our country.
I desire to believe, but I shall
not assert, sir, with the friends of
Mr. C. that nature in profusion
has gifted him with talents,
a brilliant fancy, a penetrating
genius, and a native elegance of
diction, combined with a thirst
for knowledge; has formed him
a man of learning and taste,
deeply read in the philosophy of
natural history,observantof men
and things, and attentive to the
theoryof political concerns. But
to balance these singular favors,
(which it is denied he possesses)
nature has denied him others,;
which "to move in the tempes
tuous sea of liberty," or guide
the helm of a great nation, are
tfmorc utility and absolutely
indispensable. But where, I
would ask the warm panegyric
al friends of Mr. C. has he dis
played such mighty talent? On
what field has his literary talents
"been cloven down?" What
mighty stroke of genius and fi
nance has he displayed to the
world, as to draw forth such
praises from his friends? None!
none, but an annual dull, mono
tonous communication to Con
gress of the state of the Treasu
ry. When Col. Hamilton and
the late Mr. Dallas were Secre
taries of the Treasury, in their
communications to Congress
great talents and genius, and
deep financial research were dis
played; and along the fiscal path
their genius, like a meteor in
the gloom of night, brightened
the page of financial history.
As to Mr. Crawford's political
life, let me conjure him, sir, to
call to remembrance the history
thereof, from a regard to his
peace and reputation, not to in
volve himself in that disgrace
which must inevitably attend
his acceptance of the Presiden
cy. In 179S, we find him a
strong Federalist, congratula
ting the President, Mr. Adams,
on the passage of those hateful
acts, the Alien and Sedition
Laws, when all true Republi
cans in the United States were
strenuously opposed to them.
He is now, they say, $ Republi
can; such political tergiversa
tion in Mr. C. shows either, that
he has always worn his politicks
as loosely as his coat, and that
he could put off either when his
crooked purposes suited him, or
from weakness of nerves, want
of fortitude, and total imbecility
of character, which have mark
ed his whole political career.
But, sir, Mr. C.s want of firm
ness in his political principles,
may not be a fault of his own.
Though he must be conscious of
his defects, to accept the impor
tant office of President, when
the liberty and rights of mil
lions, and the happiness of our
country are depending, it would,
in my opinion, amount to a!
crime. The present era is of;
high political moment to the'
happincss and welfare of the;
people of the United - States.
Our President, heretofore, has -
been elected sub silentio, with
out any notice being taken by
the people; but the present cri
sis will prove whether the great
body of the people of the Uni
ted States is to elect a President,
or whether a small party of
malcontents are first to recom
mend a President to the Ameri
can people, and next to elect!
one, although that people should
loath him: let the people be
ware of such a precedent, it may
prove in time the winding sheet
of American liberty. A Presi
dent should always spring from
the bosom of a people, and that
with a full vote of the people
who elect him. A President
should be elected bv a vote of
three millions of free citizens, ;
for that is about the number that
have votes in the United States;
he would then be the President
of the people and not of a party.
It is to be remembered, that six-
ty thousand votes elected Mr.
Madison; the choice was a good
one, it is only mentioned to
show that the people have been
negligent, and should on all oc
casions give their full vote for
a President. I would advise
the American people not to
choose a man who has resided
long at the seat of government;
not one who is hackneyed in the
intrigues of a court, or office:
not one accustomed to the en
snaring gayetics and follies of a
court, for there hypocrisy as
sumes the mask of friendship,
and vice the garb of innocence,
and the fallacious smile of en
dearment is meant to betray.
Choose a President immediate
ly from the people, and he will,
as should be done occasionally,
clear out the Augean stable at
Washington, dismiss a great ma
ny idle vagabonds that have for
years been like harpies preying
upon the vitals of the country.
NUMA.
For the Free Press.
In the third and fourth num
bers of this paper, I have read
with considerable interest, the
remarks of Mr. ALSTON, late
of the State Legislature, and of
ov. -BRANCH, our present
Senator 0f the United States'
Congress, upon the subject of
Caucusing, on which I propose
to make a few comments.
I did at first intend to dissect
the remarks of Mr. Alston, as I
have Gov. Branch's, but upon
maturer reflection,'! have deem
ed it unnecessary, as his late po
litical career has been so serpen-
tininz that it would be impos
sible to attach to it any fixed de
finition: I shall, therefore, com
mence with Gov. Branch, and
leave Mr. Alston to wind him
selF still further around public
opinion.
Gov. Branch, if I have un
derstood his remarks rightly, on
rising to express his sentiments
nn tbi occasion, stated to the
v 7
Senate "that he would confine
himself strictly to the subject
then before the house; that he
believed that the decision of the
Chair (which was that all further
discussion on the subject of a
Caucus was out of order) was
right; and that he should not
discuss any matter foreign from
the subject before the Senate.
lilt, OU v.
-nt rW An we find in his next
.uU. ........ --- .
breath?
Strange, indeed, the
Governor mounted on the very
subject which he had just dis
claimed his intention to enter
on, and which the Chair had
just decided was foreign and ir-
reveient to the debate then he
fore the House; on which, for
getful of his former declarations,
he poured forth a long conceal-
ed invective, containing many
bold declarations, but to estab
lish'the truth of which he has
failed, in every instance, to bring
forward a single proof.
The Governor makes his first
declaration, bv declaring "that
pernicious practices had grown
up under the Constitution, which
threatened ultimately to subvert
the liberties of the dcodIc. It
was the duty of an able surgeon
(continued he) to probe the
wound to the bottom, that he
might be the better enabled to
devise and apply an effective
remedy." To whom he alludes,
as being this able surgeon, I
cannot divine, except it be him
self, the strength of whose abili
ties has been clearly demonstra
ted by his subsequent argu
ments. The Governor here
leaves us, only with the bare as
sertion, "that pernicious practi
ces had grown up under the
Constitution;" and instead of
proving this, flies to the asser
tion of Mr. Macon, which he at
first represents with some de
gree of dismgenuity, by conceal
ing the latter part of the asser
tion, which is entirely explana
tory of the intention of the for
mer. Gov. B. said, that they had
been told by Mr. Macon, "that
the President had, since the
days of Gen. Washington, been
eiecieu uy congress. mis
declaration, when considered a
lone, would, as the Governor
has asserted, be alarming indeed,
by coming from such high au
thority; but, when connected
with the latter clause, it is of a
most simple and harmless na
liJ I mi
ture, "that Congress ever would" J
elect the President, in his opi-j
nion, whether the Constitution
be altered or not. " N&v, what
would any plain-common-sense
man make this declaration to
mean, when taken together, as
it was uttered by Mr. M. more
than it was his opinion "that
Congress (alluding to the Mem
bers of Congress) always would
have the greatest influence in
electing the President of the U
nited States;" and is there any
man in the community so ab
surd, as to contend for a moment
that the Members of Congress
will not always have their influ
ence in electing the President?
For on whom are the people to
rely for information relative to
the qualifications of the differ
ent candidates? On the venal
Editors of newspapers, or on the!
Members of Congress? .
would we have them to go
person to the houses oi trie cm
ferent candidates, to inform
themselves; a million of whom
would have to travel between
n . 1 1 f
one and two thousand muesr
This would be found impracti
cable; and surely the Members
of Congress, whom we select for
their information, for their ca
pacity and integrity, would be
better sources for us to acquire
information from, than from the
prostituted Editors of newspa
pers: But this Congressional
influence, net being understood
by ignorant politicians, and per
verted by low, mean, and dis
senting ones, has been used as a
bug-bear, by which they buzz
about the ears of the poor far
mers of the country, and endea
vor to excite fear and alarm in
them, of those who have proven
themselves by actions, and not
V . J
i bv words, always to have been
. , '
their nest inenub , m uii,
in
nn doubt to effect their
neian-
ous and diabolical purposes.
The Governor's next decla
ration is, that the "Constitution
provides that the President shall
be elected by the people, thro'
their electors, but we find that
apian has been found out (said
he) setting aside this provision,
and that the people are called on
only to conform to the will of
their rulers;" but to support
this, as the former, he has pro
duced neither proof nor argu
ment; and the Governor, as well
in this, as in his first declara
tion, conceals a very important
fact; as one would infer, from
what he here asserts, that the
people were at all events to elect
the President. Now the Con
stitution does declare unequivo
cally, "that in the event of any
candidate's not getting a majori
ty of the whole number of votes
given, the Members of Con
gress shall elect the President;"
and this clause must ever throw I
the election into the House
Representatives, whenever any
candidate tails to get a majont
of the whole number of votes
m-nn Anil will llio fJni'frnnr
say, that any one of the candi
dates will get a majority of the
whole number of votes, when
there are four, five, six, or more
candidates? The fact is, when
ever the number of candidates is
greater than two, the probability
will be in favor of the election's
going into the House of Repre
sentatives; when greater than
three, it becomes almost certain,
when the neonln. must he entirp-i
ly secluded trom any participa
tion in the election, and are left
entirely rcmedyless. There it
is, where THIRTY-SIX indi
viduals, representing but little
more than 2,000,000 of souls.
lave it in their power to dictate
to the people, who shall rule
over 8,000,000 of souls, equal
ly free with themselves: a result
which is at war with every prin-
ciple of reason, of equality, and
Republicanism; and it was al
most for the express purpose of
avoiding this result, and keep
ing the election into the hands
of the people, did the Republi
cans of '96 and E500 meet, to
consult on the propriety of uni
ting, in the support of some par
ticular candidate, so that the
people might make the choice;
by which means the right to
elect has been kept out of the
House of Representatives, and
has been exercised effectually bv
the people ever since the defeat
of Adams, Gov. Branch's asser
tion to the contrary notwith
standing; and thereby, instead
of having an unconstitutional
tendency, as Gov. B. has assert
ed, these meetings, .which are
called Caucuses, have operated
as an auxilliary to the Constitu-
Orjtfon, ill promoting its spirit, 3m;
in .keeping the election into thr
hrvurls nf thfi nponlp nnrl
j i uiuc
the Governor has pronounced
them, with all the orthodoxy 0f
an able surgeon, "to be unconsti
tutional," I defy him to p0int
out a single clause in that ar
ticle, which prohibits them in
any respect In this, then, the
Governor's declaration fajjs
harmless, for the want of proof.
and he had just as well have
asserted any thing else, for any
thing can be asserted, tho' facts
alone can be proved.
The next declaration wlM
attracted my attention, is this
"let us (said the Governor)
throw off this usurped authori.
ty, and return to the people uV
rights of which they have been
wrongfully shorn. I romwhence
(continued he) do the Membon
of Congress derive the power to
elect the President of the Uni
ted Mates?7' 1 he first of thesr-
questions is so novel, and cx-
i 1 ! 1 . 1 -w
iremeiy wiki, mat 1 must con
fess I am at a loss for an answer.
What usurpation of people's
rights is here alluded to, I an;
unable to say; but, if he means
that a meeting of the people to
nominate fit persons to repre
sent their interests, is a usurpa
tion, I say it existed before the
formation of the Constitution;
and must, from the nature of cur
Rcpublican institutions, ever
exist, while we arc a free peo
ple. Then it cannot be an usur
pation, either for the Members
of Congress, or for individuals,
to meet and determine to what
candidates they will give their
support; because the right to do
this, was in both the Members
of Congress and the people, be
fore the formation of the Con
stitution; and I challenge any
man to show an article in thai
sacred charter, that forbids such
meetings being held, either by
our Representatives, cr by indi
viduals. Now the term usurpa
tion means the derivation of
some right or privilege, which
previously existed: have these
meetings ever deprived any in
dividuals of any right, or privi
lege, that they ever before pos
sessed? Have we ever heard
any complaint of them, either
before or since the formation of
the Constitution, until the pre
sent Presidential Question has
been in agitation. This, too, as
the other assertion, falls for the
want of substantiation.
The latter clause cf his last
leclaration, "from whence do
the Members of Congress derive
the power to elect the President
of the United States." There
is but one case in which the
members have ever pretended to
exercise this right, which is the
one mentioned above, where
any candidate fails to get a ma
jority of the whole number of
votes. But the Governor, in the
following sentence, unequivo
cally denies even this right, for
he continues to assert "that the
power was not to be found in
the Constitution, and that it was
consequently an encroachment
upon the sovereignty of the
people, the more alarming as it
was exercised in the corrupt at
mosphere of executive patron
age and influence." Had the
Governor but have taken it on
himself to have read the second
section of the 2d Article of the
Constitution, he never could
have hazarded so unfounded an'
assertion; for there it is most
positively declared, "that the
Members of Congress, in all ca
ses in which any, candidate fails
to get a majority of the whole
number of votes, shall elect the
President and Vice-President of
the United Stnto " Nnw. if
what is here asserted is true, .
what the Governor has asserted