BUCHANAN,
BUCHANAN.
existence of this power is denied. We are now
required to believe that all which former presi-
dents have done was wrong; the first Congress
was entirelj' mistaken in its construction of tlie
constitution, and that the president does not
possess the power of removal without the concur-
rence of the senate. If ever a question has occur-
red in the history of any country that ought to be
considered and settled it is that one. A solemn
decision at first, adopted in practice afterwards
by all branches of the government for five and
forty years makes the precedent one of almost
irresistible force." In the next session of Con-
gress, December, 1836, he delivered a speech
defending the President's action in the removal
of the public deposits and in support of Senator
Benton's " expunging " resolutions, which pro-
posed the cancellation on the journal of Mr.
Clay's resolution, condemning President Jackson
for the act. In his speech, which has been char-
acterized as the ablest effort in the senate, he
deftly separated what was personal or partisan
in the controversy from the serious questions
involved, and covering the whole field of argu-
ment upon the really important topics in a tem-
perate, courteous, but firm discussion, placed his
I side of the debate upon its true merits. The reso-
" lutions were adopted by a strict party vote.
' During the latter part of General Jackson's
administration the subject of slavery began to be
agitated, and uLimerous petitions were made to
Congress for its suppression in the District of
Columbia. One from the Quakers of Pennsyl-
vania was presented by Mr. Buchanan. His
attitude at that time upon the slavery question
is best expressed in his own words in the senate,
Jan. 7, 1836: " The memorial which I have in my
possession is entitled to the utmost respect from
the character of the memorialists. If any one
principle of constitutional law can at this day
be considered as settled, it is that Congress has
no right, no power, over the question of slavery
within those states where it exists. The prop-
erty of the master in his slave existed in full
force before the Federal constitution was adopted.
It was a subject which then belonged, as it still
belongs, to the exclusive jurisdiction of the sev-
eral states. For one, whatever may be my opin-
ions upon the abstract question of slavery, — I am
free to confess they are those of the people of
Pennsylvania, — I shall never attempt to violate
this fundamental compact. The Union will be
dissolved and incalculable evils will arise, the
moment any such attempt is seriously made by
the free states in Congress." In June, 1886,
■when a bill was proposed in the senate to restrain
the use of the mails for the circulation of in
cendiary publications in the south, Mr. Webster
addressed the senate in opposition to the bill, and
Mr. Buchanan argued against him. In 1836,
when Michigan sought admission to the Union,
Mr. Buchanan spoke in favor of admitting the
territory as a state. His whole career showed
him to be pre-eminently a state rights man.
Among his many loyal friends President Jackson
had none more staunch than Mr. Buchanan. He
supported him in his financial measures, advo-
cated the recognition by Congress of the
independence of Texas, and at a later time its
annexation. Mr. Buchanan supported the princi-
pal measures of the administration of Mr. Van
Buren, including the establishment of an inde-
pendent treasury. He was re-elected to the
senate January, 1837, for a full term, being the
first United States senator re-elected by the legis-
lature of Pennsylvania. President Van Buren
invited him to his ofiicial family as attorney-
general to succeed Mr. Grundy, but Mr. Buchanan
declined, claiming that he could best serve his
country in the senate. On Feb. 2, 1842, in reply
to Mr. Clay, he delivered a speech on the veto
power of the president, in which he said: "Of
all the executive powers it is the least to be
dreaded. It cannot create, it can change no
existing law, it can destroy no existing institu-
tion. It is a mere power to arrest hasty and incon-
siderate changes imtil the voice of the people,
who are alike masters of senators, representa-
tives and President, shall be heard." In 1842 he
opposed the ratification of the treaty between
the United States and England, which Mr.
Webster had negotiated with Lord Ashburton.
In 1843 the legislature of Pennsylvania re-elected
him senator for a third term, and in 1844 his
political and personal friends were anxious to
propose him as Democratic candidate for the
presidency. But he saw that if he permitted his
friends to have their way, his interests would
clash with those of Benton, Van Buren and other
prominent men in the party. Mr. Buchanan
accordingly promptly withdrew his name in a
public letter, and James K. Polk was nominated
and elected, and at the invitation of the President
Mr. Buchanan accepted the position of secretary
of state in his cabinet. Here he had some criti-
cal questions to adjust, including the settlement
of the boundary line between Oregon and the
British possessions, and the annexation of Texas,
from which aro.se the war with Mexico. He also
advised President Polk to strongly re-assert
the Monroe doctrine, which was in effect
that no European nation should in future be
permitted to settle a colony on the American
continent or in any way to interfere with Ameri-
can affairs; and he also advocated cultivating the
most friendly relations with the Central Ameri-
can states. When the Whigs came into power
in 1849, Mr. Buchanan retired for a time from
