If this be true--and it
will scarcely be denied by anyone who has a correct idea of his
own rights as an American citizen--the grant to Congress of
exclusive jurisdiction in the District of Columbia can be
interpreted, so far as respects the aggregate people of the United
States, as meaning nothing more than to allow to Congress the
controlling power necessary to afford a free and safe exercise of
the functions assigned to the General Government by the
Constitution. In all other respects the legislation of Congress
should be adapted to their peculiar position and wants and be
conformable with their deliberate opinions of their own interests.
I have spoken of the necessity of keeping the respective
departments of the Government, as well as all the other
authorities of our country, within their appropriate orbits. This
is a matter of difficulty in some cases, as the powers which they
respectively claim are often not defined by any distinct lines.
Mischievous, however, in their tendencies as collisions of this
kind may be, those which arise between the respective communities
which for certain purposes compose one nation are much more so,
for no such nation can long exist without the careful culture of
those feelings of confidence and affection which are the effective
bonds to union between free and confederated states.
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