Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution delineates the powers of Congress. Specifically, it details which programs Congress can and cannot spend money.

According to the Constitution, Congress shall have the power:

To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To coin money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

President Cleveland is to be admired for his responsible interpretation of Article I, Section 8. This is exhibited in his stand on subsidies.

President Cleveland's Stand on Subsidies:

Grover Cleveland vetoed Texas Seed Bill--in which Congress gave $10,000 for seeds for several counties in Texas that were experiencing a drought. Why veto?

1. "I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution."

2. "Federal aid, in such cases, encourages the expectations of paternal care of the part of the government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character."

3. "The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated."

What happened to the drought-stricken farmers in Texas? Americans responded very generously to their fellow Americans in Texas.

The Louisville Courier-Journal editorialized that "Kentucky alone will send $10,000 in seed or in money . . . to justify the President's contention that the people will do what is right."

Clara Barton, president of the American Red Cross, called on individuals, not government: "The counties which have suffered from drought need help, without doubt, but not help from Congress." The result was that Texas eventually received not $10,000 of government money, but more than $100,000 from givers all over the country.

More information on Grover Cleveland may be found at the following sites:

The White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gc22.html

President Cleveland's First Inaugural Address: http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres37.html

President Cleveland's Second Inaugural Address: http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres39.html

Grover Cleveland Life and Times: http://www.rain.org/~turnpike/grover/Main.html
This site was created and maintained by high school student from California.