|
The Maysville Road veto occurred on May 27, 1830, when President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill that would allow the Federal government to purchase stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Road Company, which had been organized to construct a road linking Lexington, KY. and Maysville, KY., on the Ohio River, the entirety of which would be in the state of Kentucky. Its advocates regarded it as a part of the national Cumberland Road system. Congress passed a bill in 1830 providing federal funds to complete the project. Jackson vetoed the bill on the grounds that federal funding of intrastate projects of this nature was unconstitutional. He declared that such bills violated the principle that the federal government should not be involved in local economic affairs. Jackson also pointed out that funding for these kinds of projects interfered with paying off of the national debt.〔Glyndon G. Van Deusen, ''The Jacksonian Era: 1828-1848'' (Harper & Brothers, 1959) p. 52〕 Proponents of internal improvements, such as the development of roads and bridges, argued that the federal government had an obligation to harmonize the nation's diverse, and often conflicting, sectional interests into an "American System." Jackson's decision was heavily influenced by his Secretary of State Martin Van Buren. Some authors have described the motives behind the veto decision as personal, rather than strictly political. The veto has been attributed to a personal grudge against Henry Clay, as well as to preserve the trade monopoly of New York's Erie Canal, in Van Buren's case.〔Charles M. Wiltse, ''The New Nation: 1800-1845'' (1961) p. 114〕 Martin Van Buren then became known as a failure in the White House because of the economic problems at the time. ==Debate in Congress== Supporters of the bill insisted on the project's national significance. This particular project was intended to be a part of a much larger interstate system extending from Zanesville, Ohio to Florence, Alabama. If the highway as a whole was of national significance, they argued, surely the individual sections must be as well.〔''Congressional Debates, 21st Congress, 1st Session.'' p. 433-435 (Sen. Tyler). p. 831-833 (Rep. Polk).〕 They looked to the Supreme Court decision handed down six years before in Gibbons v Ogden, in which the court confirmed the power to regulate commerce among the states including those portions of the journey which lay within one state or another. Additionally, the road connected the interior of Kentucky to the Ohio River, and therefore served as the main artery for the transportation of goods. Kentucky Representative Robert Letcher made this argument regarding the road's connection to the rest of the nation: The road designed to be improved is intended to intersect at the great national road in the State of Ohio. It connects itself also on each side with the Ohio River. These two connections most certainly and justly entitle it to the appellation of a national work.〔''Congressional Debates, 21st Congress, 1st Session.'' p. 820 (Rep. Letcher)〕 Moreover, the federal government had provided funding for other intrastate projects when they benefited the rest of the nation. As Representative Coleman stated: But gentlemen say, every inch of the Maysville road is in the State of Kentucky. How can it be national? I answer, every inch of the Delaware Canal, sixteen miles in length, is in the State of New Jersey; and every inch of the Louisville Canal is in one county; nay, I believe in one city. How can they be national? Yet, Congress have subscribed for stock in both of them.〔''Congressional Debates, 21st Congress, 1st Session.'' p. 828 (Rep. Coleman)〕 These arguments were all intended to illustrate the road's overwhelming national significance. Opponents responded that this line of argument would establish that every road was a national road; there would be no limit to federal power.〔''Congressional Debates, 21st Congress, 1st Session.'' p. 831 (Rep. Polk)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maysville Road veto」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|