Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1838-03-08

needed In great emergency, then might
they be taken ohSjust compensation. But
iftahero hs any one thing clearer than
another, Sit is,S that abolition was not |
the public use contemplated in the Con-
stitution, They cannot be taken without
Just compensation oven for public use.-l
How eau money be drawn from the
public treasury, except through appropria
,ion by law? There can be no legal ap
preparation, cxccpl TO carry into effect some
specific power granted by tho Constitution,
or clearly implied as absolutely necessary
to carry into elect some specific grant
1hcrc IS no specihc power to abolish slave
ry, q it being itselfa high exercise Of sub
stuntivo power, cannot be implied as abso-
lu:ely necessary 10 carry into effect any
other power. AS we'll might VIC pass ap-
preparations to pay the people Of this Dis
trict for their cattle and horses, to give them
the blessed privilege of running free and
unrestraned over the barren hills and waste
commons around this capitol. AS To prin-
ciples and power, it is The salnc.
But it is said, all the States may eman-
cipate, and this District be left without the
means OF changing its condition. This is
certainly any Thing but Il constitutional ar
guncnt, for answer, that even if this were
10 be tho case, it is the Constitution, and
and will he SO until it is changed by the
proper authorities, There is really no diff
ficulty OH this point, as those who choose
can now c,nancpatc, by deed Or will. In
connection with tho constitution, let us for n
moment examine tho act OF ccssion from
Virginia. The proviso declares .tha, no
thing herein contained shall DO construed
TO vest i'll the United States any rights of
property i'll the soil, or to affect the rights
of individuals therein, otherwise than the
same shall, or may be transferred by such
individuals 10 the United States" Let it
be understood that this follows immediate
~ after the clause describing the tract Of
country and particular extent of territory
ccdcd. l admit the terms arc somewhat
cqulVocal at first. If tho words ''lhe rights
OF individuals therein" refer only back to
control the property i'll the soil, then they
were Of no use for under tine Constitution
alone Congress could not have interlcrcd
in the freehold. Ono of the first principles
of tho Magma Charla is. that no freeman
shall he dcscizcd of his free hold without
the Judgment Of his peers, If those words
mere meant only to limit the power OF tho
Government over the freehold of Il citizen,
then they arc useless vCrbiaGe. Those
who inserted them must havc,meant some
thing more. When we look at the scnsi-
tivcncss OF Virginia Oh the interesting and
vital subject Of the peculiar property of her
citizens she was about to cedc. we arc led
10 believe that she must have meant in the
words rights Of individuals tllcrcn," 9th
er rights than those Of soil" Connect
this with tho clauses in the Constitution,
and no man can refrain from admitting that
ii is 10 say the least ot' ii, Il doubtful power,
which every patriot in n limited Government
would refrain from claiming us under the
Constitution.
But. Mr.. Speaker, take higher ground
than this, and contend that, according to the
bill Of rights, Of Maryland, and the Consti-
tuition OF Virginia, those States themselves
could not have ccded absolute aud unre-
strained power over private property Of any
kind i'll this District. The citizens of this
District had peculiar rights secured in their
property 10y the Constitution of their own
States; and ii Virginia and Maryland had
attempted to ccde absolute power over this
subject, they would have violated the rights
of their own citizens, and would have com
mitted not q legal act, but an act Of force
Next to life and liberty. these citizens had,
under the paramount laws Of the adjoining
States, the rights of property secured in
the most solemn and unqualified manner
AS well might Virginia now divorce from
herself amy portion Of her frccmcn, and
transfer them. bound hand and loot. to the
jurisdiction OF N. York, rs to have thrown
the citizens of this District, in their rights
to pecdllar property upon the u"rcsrain-
cd ami tender mercy of this Government.
Again. No State, from the Potomac
to the Mississippi. under its Constitution
as 1t now stands, has any ri.hr to abolish
slavery without the consent of tic individ-
uat owners. ! assert this upon that great
principle OF English liberty, which is in
corp"ratcd into every Constitution, that no
freeman shall bc deprived of his property
but by the judgement Of his peers or the
laws of the land. The constitutions arc
the paramount laws of tho land, which
The action OF no Government, constituted
under them, can legally snbvcri. States
may do unlawiul acts which their citizens
may assent to or acquiescc in, but this does
not constitute legal authority. Those States
that hold slaves as property, might if thew
desired, assemble in. their conventions re-
presenting the sovereign power of the com
munity for the specific object of abolishins
that property, and the people might choose |
ii'elr delegates for that alone. But this |
would bcarc- organization of the body polite |
above the Constitution. And even in con- |
ventlon. they would do it under the unwrit
'ch au" organic law that governs all sim !
pie consolidated communities, and which |
exists from the necessity of the case, that
tic majority must govern. This exists ONLY
III consolidated community. when it is
thrown into its simple and original elements
Aud even then the minority ac1uiesccs
more from calculation Of cxpcdicncy than
Sir, ii this view be true of the great prin-
cIPlcs that regulate even the power of the
States on this subject how tntiIc uuL .I,I