The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1845-03-27

enter the shipping Of any foreign nstos, from thoso
ports shall BE- admitted on the terms into the
porsa Of the United States and The Presideot Of the
United States, BY proclamation, authorized To an
nouncs the privilege. Hoss is . general compact,
rendered IL ho whole world although Affecting large
iy our foreign and extra territorial relations Will
bind tbs public faith, accepted by any foselgn
nston2 Who doubts III Who ever suggested that
this law was unconstitutional These cases eluc
date the power Of Congress TO make conpacis alone
with foreign 0stions They result from the express
power 10 Congress, "to regulate commerce with for
ogn nations" Is not the power Us pienary TO Con
gress, 10 admit new States into the UnionP
And now, sir, after tins brief analysis Of The extent
of The ire aty-Daking power and the power OF Con-
gress VT bring home these distinctions 10 the mea
sure before the committee. Is the admission Of
foreign State into this Union entirely an information
siextra' territorial Affair." capable OF being executed
by the EIecutisei II So IA is for the treaty making
power alone Is II an internal municipal interest
II SO, although II may be external and International
ia al It's bearings, II Is proper subject for con
gressional Intervention and control. A glance al The
objections raised, will show the real bearing Of this
measure. Ii Is said, that 10 admit Texas is uDcon
stitutionaL is not this an internal municipal al
tar II is said that 1t will destroy the squipoise be-
tween the different sections of the Union, extond
slavery, promote free trade, and weaken and de-
slroy the Union BY too great expansion. Are not
all Of these, internal municipal considerations
The only external effect alleged land that too Is In
ternaD Is, that II will produce And where
does the ~ar-making power reside, but IN Congress
alooei II Congress thought proper to make war
with Mexico or England, and received Texas into
the Union 10 occasion H. Il has right 10 do ~ The
act would only be another form Of declaring
Sir, firm these views, | submit that II properly be-
longs 10 Congress, both ia and end, 10 admit
Texas into the Union.
The second great objection To admitting Texas into
the Union, is that Joregn State cannot by the Con-
stitutiob, be admitted into the Union.
This objection rests on the Independence Of To-
reign State. The idea seems 10 be that a State
10 be eonstitutonaly admitted into the Union, must
be something less than State-t must be a sort OF
dependency. This appears TO me to be gross mis-
apprehension. To recur 10 the original formation OF
the Union. Who made II and first entered into il :
Sovereign Siates--were they mott The Declaration
OF Independence proclaimed, that they free,
vereign, and independent slates-and the second ar
ticle Of the Old Confederation re-aihrms the
thing. Sovereign, independent States then, fret
made and entered INTO the Unon-why, then, should
not the States which should Afterwards sner into IT,
be sovereign and independent Farther still. Every
State IN the Union Is now possessed OF It's full atri
butes Of sovereignty and independence. Will any
one deny this Then let him lay his hand on q sin
gle clause OF the Constitution which shows that the
States surrendered one atom of their sovereignty |
take Il for granted that wild as construction may
wanton and triumph with the solemn stpulalions Of
the Constitution, II will hardly attempt to construe
the very being out OF State. When the sovereign
~ the entity Of State is claimed to be surrendered
1t should be shown broad as the broad day Ii is the
last thing that, will be surrendered by State
and political suicide ought no more to be presumed in
State than in an individual. The Constitution of
the United States is concession of their sovereign
ty by the States. Ii is only a concession of certain
poleus Of sorueigniy-which the sovereign parties TO
the compact have agreed, by general agency to ex-
ercise together for their common benefit. The s,l-
prone ultimate authority TN Sfats which is sovereign
y IS still with the States, completely as before en-.
tering into the Union and far this attribute is
concerned every State IN this Union is foreign and
independent of another State as France or Britain
IL IS 90 this principle alone that the gentleman from
Massachusetts, Mr.. Winthrop commended that Mas
sachusetts had a right TO Judge of the Constitution;
and IN case Texas annexed TO the Union contrary
to Its terms, she had right to go of the Union
yield the right. Ii IS unquestonabe, if the CoDstitu
ton has any limitations. But 1t DESTROYS his whole ar
gument as TO the uncoDsttutonaty of admitting TO-
reign State into the Union Every State in the Union
being foreign and independent, in all matters foreign
to the Constitution, how can any State proposing to
come into the Union, be in any other condition. 10
be State like the United States, it must be sove-
reign. To be State at all, or to come into the
Union at ALL it must be sovereign. Without being
sovereign and independent 1T could not enter into the
compact OF Union. Its acts would be null and void
without any obligation on the people. And if il can
enter into the compact of Union, with the other
sovereign States Of the Union must it not be soye-
reign and independent too If a State belonged to
the Union, or was dependent upon it, the Union
might govern it, but it could not make a compact
with the Union. To make compact with the
Union, State must be State that is sovereign
and independent and TO come into the Union
State must be out of ii and if out Of it, then is
foreign to it, To be foreign State, so far as the
Union is concerned, is, therefore, necessary state
n a Slate into 10 TIpio
To deny his is to use terms without meaning
But will be told, the States which have hitherto
been admitted into the Union, have first been terrific
ries and dependencies the Union. This is not
true, far as the original States are concerned
They were no dependencies on the Union; and each
as it separately into the Union, was the acces.
sion of foreign State, politically independent of
The Union as any European power. But suppose
they were ALL as some OF them have been, once de.
pendent as territories the Government of the
Union, how does this at all affect the argument?-
They did not come into the Union, as dependencies
This is impossible for then they could not be one of
the States of the United States. They came into it
as equals-soyeregns-cap of making the COM
pact of Union with the other States Not only does
the nature OF things require this but the acts passed
by Congress, show that they assumed it. Ohio, Iud.
ana, Illinois, and Missouri, were all authorized by
Congress to make constitutions, and erect State Gov
ernmen.s under them, as sovereign States, with the
pledge, that afterwards, they ISL all be admitted into
the Union, upon an equal footing with the original
States, IN all respects whatever" Suppose after
Missouri had made and adopted her State Constitu-
tion and erected herself INTO sovereign State, and,
therefore, capable of entering the Union as one of
the States she had been kept out of the Union by the
objections raised the institution of savery-where
would she have been now / suppose, as foreign TO
the Union as any other State in Chrstendom Yet
her position would not in the least have changed, by
the mere continuance Of her exclusion. She was
abr
State, and absolutely foreign to it, as if she had
been out of thousand years But il may still be
argued, that she was not sovereign until Congress
had approved Of her Constitution and admitted her
into the Union. The acts of Congress show that this
position is untenable. The assent of Congress to
these states, being States, is absolute and uncon-
doDal Congress required the constitutions adopted
by the people of those States to be submitted to them
with The view OF fulfilling that condition in the Con-
stiutoD which requires that each State in the Union