Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-02-04

as citizens of all the States, under the collect-,
designation OF The United States When i, :
said. therefore, that the Senator must hare be-,
citizen of the United States for nine year, !,
must be understood 10 mean a citizen Of SOM
one of the States TO be united under the Cons;
tuition. So understood, the words have prac,;
cable meaning. Understand them otherwise ana
Mr.. Kennedy himself being the Judge, they pre.
sent dilemma which no ingenuity can solve
When North Carolina came into the Union
had her Senators been citizens Of The C1;,st
States nine years7 So far from it, there had i,
tervened time of more than twelve months dn
ring which they had not the rights OF Citizens i
any other State, but they had been citizens Of \
Carolina all the time; and when North Caroln,
Joined the Union, they came thereby, under ,ba
description of citizens OF one of the States 10 !.
united, and actually united under the Cons,i,u
lion In any other sense of the word, the mem
bers of the Convention must have meant 10 mn.
nounce their own disqualification; Tor. anon,
them, there was mol a man, who was a, ,bss
time citizen of the United States in any orbs,
sense.
Using the phrase, then, only in this conne,ion
the trainers of the Constitution had no reason ~
fear any mi>construction, because il could moi r.
understood, but as Of "Citizens OF som. ono
Stale" but by imputing 10 them the mos; clarns
tory, and their proposed Government imprac;iS,.
BILE.
Let me add, that the Constitution clearly cor.
| templates, that, under the Union, men are 10 r..
tain the character of citizens OF their respective
States, which they could not be il citizens al >
new body polite called the United States. hi,
expressly required that The President and Vice
President shall not be citizens Of he same STATE.
Upon The whole. | am thankful 10 Mr.. Kenne
dy for suggesting an additional argument 10 prove
that there is no such thing as body polite
made up Of all the States, of which citizenship
can be predicaled, and no such thing as citizen
Of the United States, technically speaking.
When Texas comes into the Union, then, ,hoss
who may be called 10 represent her in the Senate
will have the necessary qualification if they have
been citizens of Texas nine years although never
citizens of any other State. Had they been So
il will make their case neither better nor worse
But Texas is foreign State; and any union
with her presents a case for the President AMI
Senate
beg those who make this objection 10 answer
me, whether any State can be admitted into tie
Union withou, being foreign Sia,el What is
the Union? A compact The terns Of which arr
found in the Constitution. Who are the partie,l
Sta,es-SovereignS .a,es-free, independent com.
peten to contract Are they not then, until they
so contract, foreign 10 each o;herl We deceive
ourselves BY the fact, that, when new States ar,
created within our ancient limits their indeper.
dence is assumed with a view TO Union, and
that when the Stale becomes independent in tie
next instant, and, as il were nno Ratu, She enters
the Union But it is not the less true, that in
that moment she is, and from the nature otile
thing must be, absolutely independent and 10.
reign.
1t does not always happen thus. 1t did not ii
the case of Missouri Her prefer of union was
rejected; and, for nearly whole year Afterwards.
she lived under her own Constitution laws and
officers, not connected with the United States by
any thing but good will, and the obligations which
the comfy of Nations deduces from the pending
negotiation for union. If MIR. X. will ask Col.
Benton, he will tell him, that. during that time
the laws OF the United States had no more efiec
in Missouri than they now have in Texas: that
the Territorial Government was abolished; that
writs no more ran in the name Of the United
States but in that of the State Of Missouri: thai
all Federal officers were superseded, and all the
functions OF Government performed BY men oyer
whom the United States had no control. Whe.
lher rightfuly or not Missouri was as independ.
enl and foreign then as Texas is now That She
was 50 righttully, do not doubt But that can
make no diiierence-She claimed 10 be so. She
asserted the claim and acted on ii; and her right
10 frame constitution 10 please herself va,
maintained BY her. and allowed by the T. States,
on Mis rcry ground and no either.
But can Congress make Treaty? Yes if
you call this Treaty. The ordinary power Of
making Treaties, is committed to the President
and Senate. But when the object is TO establish
that particular fodus, which is 10 bring Foreign
Stale into this Union, then the whole Congress
must act. The only objection that | ever saw to
the late Treaty was that it proposed TO bind Con.
gress. This, indeed, would have been an insu.
perabe objection, but that the joint resolution i.
Congress might have supplied the defect In
such case, all that The President, orlhe Presidel,
and Senate together could do, would be TO prepare
the way for the action Of the high contracting
paries-the People Of Texas in Convenlion-,he
United States in Congress.
would ask those who make this objection. this
plain question: Had Mr.. Tylers Treaty been
ralilied-were Treaty now made in the very
terms OF Mr. Browns resolutions, BY the P!e>
dent and Senate, would Texas be therein member
of the Union dc faeto, and without any resolution
of Congress! Not one OF them will say she
would. Yet now they cry out, tina, this is a case
for The Treaty making power, and that Congress
are usurping the functions Of the President and
Senate. Shame on them
4 CITIZEN Of VIRGINIA, and of no Slde
Or b0du 1olitir on earth bnf IJrojniq