Page:The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 Volume 2.djvu/83

 RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION 79 Saturday MADISON July  pose that the three powers, were to be vested in three persons, by compact among themselves; that one was to have the power of making -- another of executing, and a third of judg- ing, the laws. Would it not be very natural for the two latter after having settled the partition on paper, to observe, and would not candor oblige the former to admit, that as a security agst. legislative acts of the former which might easily be so framed as to undermine the powers of the two others, the two others ought to be armed with a veto for their own defence, or at least to have an opportunity of stating their objections agst. acts of encroachment? And would any one pretend that such a right tended to blend & confound powers that ought to be separately exercised ? 4 As well might it be said that If three neighbours had three distinct farms, a right in each to defend his farm agst. his neighbours, tended to blend the farms together. Mr. Ghorum. All agree that a check on the Legislature is necessary. But there are two objections agst. admitting the Judges to share in it which no observations on the other side seem to obviate. the Ist. is that the Judges ought to carry into the exposition of the laws no prepossessions with regard to them. ed. that as the Judges will outnumber the Executive, the revisionary check would be thrown entirely out of the Executive hands, and instead of enabling him to defend him- self, would enable the Judges to sacrifice him. Mr. Wilson. The proposition is certainly (not} liable to all the objections which have been urged agst. it. According to (Mr. Gerry) it will unite the Executive & Judiciary in an offensive & defensive alliance agst. the Legislature. Accord- ing to Mr. Ghorum it will lead to a subversion of the Execu- tive by the Judiciary influence. To the first gentleman the answer was obvious; that the joint weight of the two depart- ments was necessary to balance the single weight of the Legis- lature. To the Ist. objection stated by the other Gentleman it might be answered that supposing the prepossion to mix 4 Crossed out: "Every man must see that such a fight had a tendenqr shortly to bring Take another illustration".

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