★ Keep up to date with the latest news - subscribe to the Transcribe Bentham newsletter; Find a new page to transcribe in our list of Untranscribed Manuscripts
1824 March 14.
With respect to our State & Federal Governments, I
do not think their relations correctly understood by foreigners.
They generally suppose the former, subordinate to the latter, but
this is not the case. They are coordinate departments of one simple
integral whole; to the State governments are reserved all legislation
and administration in affairs which concern their own
citizens only; & to the federal government is given whatever
concerns foreigners, or the citizens of other States, their functions
alone being made federal. The one is the domestic;
the other the foreign branch of the same Government, neither
having controul over the other, but within its own department.
There are |^^^| or two exceptions only to this partition of power. But
you may ask, if the two departments shd claim, each the
same subject of power where is the common umpire to decide
ultimately between them? In cases of little importance or
urgency, the prudence of both parties will keep them aloof
from the questionable ground. But if it can neither be avoided
or compromised, a convention of the States must be called to ascribe
the doubtful power to that department which they
may think best. You will perceive by these details, that
we have not so far perfected our constitutions as to venture
to make them unchangeable, but still in their present state
we consider them not otherwise changeable than by the immediate
authority of the people, or a special election of representatives
for that purpose expressly. They are till then
the Lex legum.
|
Identifier: | JB/012/222/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 12.
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
1824-03-14 |
|||
|
012 |
|||
|
222 |
|||
|
001 |
|||
|
correspondence |
1 |
||
|
recto |
|||
|
richard doane |
|||
|
copy of part of letter 3071, vol. 11 |
4283 |
||