Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-02-19
REPORT ON DISUNION.

On our first page will be found a report
from a select committee of the Senate Of
Ohio, which is at once pathetic and patriotic,
furious and frothy. For so short a report il
contains a vast amount OF crude ideas and
erroneous doctrines, some Of which we de-
sign to examine and in order to
at the right place, we shall 90 back to tho
beginning-to the petition upon which the
report is founded. Here it is =
TO the General assembly Of he Stale Of Ohio.
The memorial of the undersigned, inhab-
itants of f., respectfully represents, that
at a recent session of your body, the follow
ing resolution was passed
"Resolrea, That in the name and on be-
half Of the people of Ohio, we do hereby pro-
test against the annexation of the republic of
Texas to the union of these States, as unjust,
ineXpedient, and destructive Of the peace,
safety, and well-being of the Nation and
we do, in the name and on behalf of the said
people, solemrly declare that Congress has
no power conferred on it by the Constitution
Of the United States, TO consent to such an
n%eXation; and that the people of Ohio can
not be bound by any such covenant, league
or arrangement, made between Congress and
any foreign State or nation"
As the act of Texan annexation has been
consummated, and her Representatives and
Senators taken their seats in the National
Council, we would therefore request you to
declare the Federal Union dissolved, recall
the Senators and Representatives of Ohio
from the city of Washington, and re-afirm in
the language formerly used in your resolu-
| ton. - that the npnnls oG Ohio copnot ha honpA
by any such covenant, league or arrange
ment, made between Congre, and any for
eign State or nation"
This request the Committee pronounce
" traitorous and disloyal," and the Senate
endorses the charge. If it be traitorous 10
ask the General Assembly to stand by its
own resolution, if it be disloyal 10 ask it to
declare the people of Ohio are not bound by
what a previous Legislature asserted could
not bind them, what words can be found TO
describe the character of those who adopted
the resolution incorporated in the memorial 7
Thu committee has passed by the action of q
former Assembly without note or comment,
while the lesser crime of the memorialists
has been visited with the heaviest maledic-
tons, owing, perhaps, 10 the fact that the
memorial bears a stamp of sincerity and ear
n%cstness of purpose of which the resolution
was probably never suspected. But let this
pass.
1t is traitorous to petition for a dissolution
of the Union, say the Committee-perhaps
the memorialists may think the assertion
needs no other reply than that which Patrick
Henry made TO a similar charge, though pre-
ferred upon other grounds, IF this be trea-
son, make the most of it," We should like,
however, to know where the Committee got
its definition of treason; certainly not either
from the Constitution of Ohio, nor from that
of the United States. But if the memorial
lists be traitors, as the Committee have re-
ported, and the Senate by solemn vote de-
clared, why do not these good and loyal citi-
zens enforce the law against those who are
preaching their reasonable doctrines through
out the length and breadth of Ohiof Do
they not by their neglect to do so, render
themselves partakers in the crime?
They say that a proposition to dissolve the
Union " is not a thing 10 be entertained OF,
reasoned upon" Indeed And how long
since the American Union became so holy as
to be above the reach of reason? The On
%nipotent himself is willing and anxious that
his human creatures should reason about, and
investigate his laws and government, and his,
constant invitation is, Come and let us rea-
son together;" but this Committee has en-
d%eavored so to eXalt the American Union that
none shall presume to discuss its merits
Does it consider the fathers infallibIel was
it impossible for them 10 err? The p%roprie-
ty of discussing the formation of the Union
was never questioned. Every one felt at
perfect liberty to say what he chose for or
against the measure. Did the adoption of a
common Constitution deprive the fathers of
the right of discussion Did the decree
which declared the existence of the Union,
act as a gag upon the minority who opposed
it, forever sealing their lips, and the lips Of
their children, and their children's children
to the latest generationl The idea 10 absurd.