I indulge a strong hope that
the view herein presented will not be without effect, but will tend to
satisfy the unprejudiced and impartial that nothing more was granted by
that part than a power to _appropriate_ the public money raised under
the other part. To what extent that power may be carried will be the
next object of inquiry.
It is contended on the one side that as the National Government is
a government of limited powers it has no right to expend money except
in the performance of acts authorized by the other specific grants
according to a strict construction of their powers; that this grant
in neither of its branches gives to Congress discretionary power of
any kind, but is a mere instrument in its hands to carry into effect
the powers contained in the other grants. To this construction I was
inclined in the more early stage of our Government; but on further
reflection and observation my mind has undergone a change, for reasons
which I will frankly unfold.
The grant consists, as heretofore observed, of a twofold power--the
first to raise, the second to appropriate, the public money--and the
terms used in both instances are general and unqualified.
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