Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-12-28

INC frCSuent has no hesitation regarding
>he attempt of State To release herself from
The control of the Federal Ju liciary, i'm a mat
Ter affecting her sovereign rights, as violation
uf the Constitution.
Ii Is unnecessary to enter into an elaborate
examination of the subject. 1t surely cannot
admit of doubt, that by the Declaration of
Independence, the several Colonies became
s9ree, sovereign, and independent States" and
or political history, will abuodan,ly shcw that
| a, every subsequent change in their condition
up to tho formation of our present Constitution,
| the States preserved their sovereignty. The
discovery of this new feature in our system,
| that the States exist only members of the
Umon-that before the Declaration of lnde
! peDdcnce, we were known only Omitted
Colonies"-and that even under the articles of
| confederation, tho States were considered
| forming "collectiI ely ONE NATloN"-without
any right Of refusing 10 submit to "nny decision
OF Congress'-was reserved TO the President
aud his Immediate predecessor To the latter
"helongs the Mrentton, and upon the former,
will unfortunately fall! the evils Of reducing ii
10 practice"
South Carolina holds the principles now pro-
mulgatcd Ivy the President (as they must al
ways he held by all who claim to be support
trs of the rights Of tho Statcs.) las contra
| dicted by the letter of the constitution
unauthorized by its spirit-inconss,ent with
| every principle on which il was foundcd-dc-
| structive of all the objects for which il was
framed'-utterly Incompatible with the very
existence of the Siates-snd absolutely fatal
to the rights aud liberties of the people. South
| Carolina has so soIemDly and repeatedly ex-
pressed to Congress and the world the princi-
pies which she believes to constitute the yory
pillars uf the Constitution, that i, is deemed
unnecessary lie do more ut this time, than bare
ly TO present a summary of those great lunda
mental truths, which she believes can never
DO subvcried without the inevitable -des,ruc-
of the liberties nj rho DenplS ppd, IF hp
Union itself. South Carolina has ney err claimed
,as is asserted by the President) the right of
"repcaling, at pleasure, all the revenue ia,rs OF
the union," much less the right Of "rcpealing
the Constitution itself, and laws passed to give
it effect which have never been alleged 10 be un-
, cOnStituttonGl.' She claims only the right to
Judge q; ATTRACTIONS of the constitutional com.
, pact, in violation of the reserved rights of the
State, and of arresiing the progress Of usurpa-
ton within hor own limits, aud when, as in tho
Tariffs of 1928 and 1882, revenue and protec-
Unconstitutional and unconstitutional OBJ
Jects, have been so mixed up together, that il is
+ found impossible 10 draw the line Of discrimi-
nation she has no alternative, but TO consider
tie whole as system, unconstitutional in its
character, and 10 leave il to those W no have
woven The web, to unravel the threads."-
Sonth CaronG insists, and she appeals 10 the
whole political history of our country, in
support of her position, shat the Consli-
tuition Of the United States is compact
between sovereign States,-that it creates
n conledora ed republic, not having single
feature Of nationality in its founda!ion-that
the people of the several States distinct po
!iticnl communities ratified the Constitution,
each > ate acting for itself, and biEdins its own
ciiizens, and not those of any other Stale, the
| act OF ratification declaring il TO he binding on
the States so ratifying-the States are its au-
lhors, their power created it-their voice cloth
ed 1T with authorlty-the government which it
formed, is composed of their agents, and tho
! Union OF which 1t is the bond, is Il Union of
States aud not of individu als-that IS regards
the foundation and extent of its power the
government of the United States is strictly what
! lis name implies, Federal Government-that
tie States ale as sovereign now they were
| prior TO the entering into the cOmpact-lhat
the Federal Constitution is confederation in
! the nature of Il treaty--or an alliance by which
so many Sovereign States agreed to exercise
! their sos ereign mowers conformity upon certain
objects of external concern in which they are
| equalfy Interested, such as WAR, PEACE COM
MERGE. Foreign Negotiation, and Indian Trade;
and upon all other subjects of civil govern
| ment, they were TO exercise their Sovereignty
| separately.
| For the convenient conjoiut exercise of the
Sovereignty of the States, there must of neces
sity he some common agency or fnnctoDary
This agency is The Federal Government.
represents the coniederatcd States, and executes
their joint will, as expressed in the compact
The powers of this government are wholly de
uvatve. 1t possesses no more inherent sove.
rcIgnty, than an Incorporated town, or any
other great corporate body--it is a political
corporation, aud like all corporations it looks
for its powers to an exterior source. This
| source is the States.
| Sonth Carolina claims that by the Decara-
ton Of Independence, she became, and has ev-
or since continued tree, sovereign and inde-
| pendent State.
That a Sovereign State, she has the inhe-
rent power, TO do all those acts, which by The
law of nations, any Prince or Poientate NAV of
right do. That like all independent States she
neither has, nor ought she 10 suffer any other
restraint upon her sovereign will ana pleasure,
than those high moral oblig atoms under which
all Princes aud States are bound before God
! aud man to perform their solemn pledges The
| inevitable conclusion from what has been said
| therefore is that as in all cases of com0act
between Independent Sovcrcigns, where
from the very nature of things, there can be no
common Judge or umpire, each sovereign has
Il right - to Judge we'll Of infractons as of
| the mode and measure of redress" so in the
! present controversy between South Carolina
| and the Federal Government, it belongs solely
| to her, by her delegates in solemn Convention
| assembled, TO decide, whether the federal com.
pact he violated aud what remedy the State
ought TO pursue. South Carolina therefore,
cannot and will not yield to any department
OF the Federal Government, right which en-
tcrs into tho essence Of el sovereignty, and
without which, it would become a bauble and a
Uamc."
Such are the doctrines which South Carol-
ma has through her Convention soomnIy pro-
muIgatcd To the world, and by thon she will
stand or fail: such were the principles prOmuI-
gated by Virginia 10 '95, aud which then receiv-