Mr. MCDOUGALL. It seems to me, Mr. President, that there is a disposition to abandon altogether the principles of our system of government and the ideas which were thought by its framers to be incorporated into the Constitution of the U.S and the organization upon which they undertook to establish a republic of States. It seems to me that gentlemen have forgotten that the most important lesson which was studied in that day was this: that there should be 3 distinct powers in the Government, and that these 3 powers should be carefully, honestly, and loyally maintained intact a pure judiciary, not to be may ligned by the press and not to be assailed by Congress, either in this or in the other Hall or from the presidential chair; a President, clothed with his high office to discharge all the functions of to him properly as adminis. tering, as the Chief Executive, the Government of the Republic; and the lawmaking power, to which Congress belongs, and we are not to be interfered with either by the judiciary or by the Executive; and each branch of the Government independent in itself. Among the early fears of the founders of the republic was the fear of usurpation by one class of officers over the other. And where did they locate their apprehension? Was it with the Executive? No; he was a single man; he had no immediate relation to the popular voice. Was it with the judiciary, sitting silently to hear causes and adjudge them 7 No, it was in the lawmaking power, consisting of the HoRep, coming directly from the people, a stormy, noisy, quarrelsome, bel ligerent crowd, and the Senate of the U.S., supposed to be an assemblage of the fathers for consultation. The different functions of Government were thus arranged, according to the best lights of the oldest antiquity, and all the lessons drawn from the example of the intermediate States down to our own time, and the lessons of the French Revolution as well. The absolute necessity of holding each one of these 3 depts in its appropriate place was deemed to be one of the most necessary considerations in the discussions that led to the organization of our Government. You will find it through the debates, you will find it through the Federalist. It was illustrated by reference to the history of all the republican States that had existed in the world, where the necessity of these 3 powers coordinate being maintained in their respective spheres was man ifested. It was then held that the danger of usurpation was on the part of the legislative power the body of Representatives elected by the people and Senators seeking office. The Constitution provided for the judges as a great conservative power holding their terms during good behavior; the Senators next conservative; the Representatives not at all conservative. The discussion that related to that question was continued through many debates; and the necessity of a division of power between the 3 branches, and the independence of each branch, led to those provisions in the Constitution which were meant to secure that division and that independence. But, sir, we have now fallen upon &vil times, and we are meeting the evil that has been prophesied for us by men who have thought on these great questions and thought since this Republic was founded. Comte is probably the most learned philosopher there is now living, and his sociology or positive science, if you please to call it so, is the most accepted; and what does he say about us, discussing our institutions and discussing republican institutions generally? He takes up the societies of the world from the family up, away back from the days of the theocracy through all the various forms of government to monarchies, to republics, and to despotisms; and what is the evil? The evil is in the multitude of offices. For every office there are always ten aspirants, and the 9 who are necessarily unsuccessful are demoralized in seeking office, and the one who gets it is demoralized after he gets out of office. There is an evil that is patent in our institutions and has been, and it is an argument against the policy of creating offices, which seems to have been the popular notion of the day. What have we been doing here for 6 years past? because I will speak only of the short period I have been here. Making offices. The whole country is swarming with officers; the Treasury Dept, the postoffice Dept, the Land Office Dept, all the various Depts are swarming with officers; and is the result? When you walk along the principal avenue of the capital city of the U.S. you may safely assume that out of every ten men you meet 9 men are hunters for some place in the patronage of the Government. This is an evil which is patent, and can only be corrected by stopping this practice of multiplying offices. It is the radical evil; that is the root of the thing. But, sir, who has the power of appointment to office? A judge under our system of government has no business to appoint an officer except he be an officer of the court or subor dinate to the court. We have no business to appoint an officer, unless he belongs to the Senate or the House, or is subordinate to some of the officers of Congress. To the Executive, the other dept of the Government, belongs this power. We must have rules, for there is no government without rules. There must be sway even in a republic. There must be power; and it must be exercised by him who can exercise it by the right of the authority with which he is clothed, and not be challenged by every loud mouthed talker who may get up and speak on the hustings, and threaten the Sio Executive of the U.S. by word of mouth or by pen and ink and paper with impeachment in our high court when it shall be organized. These very patent evils must be corrected, and they can only be corrected by a higher moral political sense than has been brought here, either into this or the other Chamber, except it be by the chance of an accident. The POTUS has charge of the executive business of the Government. It is his function to superintend its general business, to see that the offices are filled and well filled. Upon him rests the responsibility. By whom is he created? By the people of the U.S.; by their votes in a popular election. He is not an accident, although the present incumbent has been called an accidental President. It may be so in this sense that he was the VEEP and acceded to the office of President. I did not design embarking in this discussion; but I think it well once in awhile to look back and see where our anchors were cast in 1787, and whether we are still holding ground. It has seemed to me that we are dragging our anchors, and have been for a long time past. I think it is about time to take up the anchors and take the wind by the sky sail. I have not heard a reference to fundamental, elementary, constitutional law here for some days, and particularly not in this discussion. I have not heard a discussion of how the 3 coordinate branches of the Government stand according to the sense in which they were established. I say “established, ” but established only for a short time, only from 1787 to 1861, because establishing means both building and founding. The very foundations and the superstructure of the great edifice built by our fathers have been trembling since then. And by whose advice or authority? Wise and informed men? Men who have studied the science of government? Men who have read history? Men who have read those authors from whom the men that organized our Constitution took their les sons? No, but men who considered merely whether they could be elected to the HoRep or to the Senate of the U.S.; men who did not live above the condition of today; men who had not courage enough to rise above the moment; men who did not understand that a man should live as if he would live forever, and did not know what it was to die, calling himself one portion of the Infinite. Sir, those who produced this measure and concomitant measures here may rejoice in their strength for a day. The sun may warm about them and they may grow with rapidity, and there may be moisture about their soil; but if they grow, they grow like Jonah's gourd, and they will wither in a day. I say “a day, ” but I will take a decade for a day. It is thought by some that by pursuing this policy they will acquire such potential power as will establish particular local interests. Sir, we are one country. I live in the extremest West; my friendfrom Massachusetts lives in the extremest East; but we have got to be one always. These things have to arrange themselves and settle down into the right. There cannot long be enmity between Maine and Texas or between California and Florida. There is a strong disposition to maintain an extreme enmity, and for what purpose? For no good purpose, I think, as F'. in the presence of my Maker no good purpose on the part of those persons who are disposed to urge that kind of controversy. I have found in a reasonable experience in this life that there are good men in all parts of the world East, West, North and South, and in the middle region good men everywhere. There are as good men in Boston as there are in SanFran cisco; but among the good men I do not rank party politicians, of which, thank God, Inever Was one. I say here we should avoid all these ugly controversies, and take a lesson from a man who wrote a long time since, though it is not everybody that approves him, but what he said in this particular respect I think is orthodox: The truth lies in the mean between extremes. A man who is 45 degrees on one side today and swings around tomorrow to 45 degrees on the other side is not right; he must settle himself in place; and among the old philosophers it was said that until a man found his place where he could rest he was never right. A piece of advice was given, consequent upon that old Greek instruction, by the person who was commander of the Sun, and was called the Sun himself. He said to Phaeton, who was an intimate friend of his, “Take my car: drive it up and around the heavens; but be careful: drive it not too high or you will burn the heavenly mansion; drive it not too low or you will put the earth in ashes; not too far to the right or you will meet the constellation of the Serpent; not too far to the left or you will come in contact with the constellation Althaea: maintain the middle course; go righton. In medio tutissimus ibis.” Therefore neither the mansions of heaven nor the earth were burned or destroyed. And it is in maintaining the truth between extremes that the right is justified. I say that is perfectly applicable to this very question herepending, this undertaking to over. turn the careful equipoise made by the gravest men who ever sat in council when our Constitution was formed, and who designed to leave the executive its branch of power, the judiciary its own vocation, and the legislative halls their proper place, all to be respectful of each other. I have seen the time when if a gentleman of the other House was spoken of rudely in this House he was called to order by the Chair, and the same in the other House; and in the supreme Court, if a rough word was said about a gentleman of either body of Congress the person offending was called to order immediately. This was a manifestation of the respect deemed to be due by the several branches of the government to each other. It would be well for us to get back to those times and to think that there is something like dignity which belongs to Government. When we forget that, when that ceases to be a consideration bearing upon our minds as public officers, we may as well give. this whole scheme of a Republic, for it will be then very rotten, and very apt to drop to pieces.