Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1850-02-11

mates to be its settlement and erection into new
states. 10 train up these infant communities.
unoer such institutions as may fit them 10 become
members ofour confederscy, 10 ar object Of tho
highest Importance )" and he adds, that Congress
Is dlvesteu OF the power Of government when the
,niant confederation arrives at its majoritt.-when
I'LL strong enough to assume the responsibilities Of
sovereignty. and comes as State into the con-
federacy.
The power Of legislation, said Mr.. c., 10 here
reduced from ana6gical views, furnished by the
CONDITIONS OF youth and manhood in natural life.
and BY their application to the lives Of communi.
ties.
Analogy never presents a very safe ground Of
argument, and least Of all in constitutional discus
sion; watch should be marked by severity Of in.
vas,igation rather than bfilliahcy Of Imagination.
have lived under territorial governments the
greater part my active life, and have 10 learn
| TIL now that they had any peculiar Congressional
training which prepared them for their political
transformation. Their training comes to Them as
II comes to all other American citizens. by expert
ence, observa ton and refection.-"Train I'd
child in the way he should 60, and when he is
old, ne VIII not depart from it," This paternal
injunction has no place here, and least of all. is it
the foundation for the exercise of this great nower
Inc territories may be young, while the citizens
ihhaoiting Them may be and are Of mature age,
ana as intelligent as any in the Union. 81 am
surprised" is the remark of the traveller from the
Eastern States-and formerly ii was the universal
one, when visiting the Western country, II am
surprised It the responsibility and intelligence Of
your people" But, while he pays this equivocal
compliment, intended however, to be unequivocal,
ne forges the fact that this population necessarily
possesses those elements enterprise progress and
Improvement, which enter largely into the INTEL
lec'ua advancement ola COMMUNICATED many
man sinks into apathy at home, who would
De reused INTO active exetion by the change which
emigration brings with it, and that he who ex-
changes the comforts Of an old society, for the
hardshlps OF new one, and commences a war
with the forest, which if victory comes it comes
only with time. and suffering, and labor, must
possess some caiml to consideration even from
those regions Of our common country, where the
great work Of settlement and improvement has
been done BY generations which have passed away
Now sir, this application of the principles Of
OF the physical growth and intellectual develope-
ment Of political communities, is happily conceived
and iorclbly expressed for certain purposes ofehe-
real illustration. But whatever its true place may
be, that place is not here, and yet it comes from
one OF the ablest and most accomplished men a.
mong us, to whom all always listen with
pleasure. There is nu goyernhse Mt Of natural or
moral strength, or majorties or minorities in tho
lines Ut our territorial communities. Their first
organization, as We have seen, was under the old
confederation, when each State had one vote in
Congress. 1t would have been equally impoltic
ana UNJUST, to give to a new political body one
fourteenth part Of the power Of the Union, unless
1t contained number Of inhabitants bearing some
reasonable proportion in population, consequently
IN It's caE acty to sustain political burhens to the
older members Of the confederacy. Sixty thousand
was assumed as that number, and when territory
obtained 1t, 1t was entitled to admission into the
Union, not because had reached its majority, or
had been trained to its new duties, for the right
came by numbers. and not by time and knowl-
edge, and might be exercised the first year, az
well as the twentieth year, if the required popu-
ation We're there to demand it, The first ordi-
nance, April 23d, 1854, illustrates this view. It
declares, ''that whensoever any Of the said States
shall have of free inhabitants as many as shall
then be In any one Of the least numerous of tho
thirteen original States, such State shall be ad-
rnued by its delegates into the Congress OF tho
United States, on an equal footing with the said
original States" Ohio was trained as it is call
ed, thirteen years Indiana sixteen years; Ten
hessee SIX years; Louisiana seven years; and l.
owa nine years and while Alabama more preco.
cious than her sisters, required but two wears Of
Congressional education, Michigan and Arkansas,
1t would appear, the least gifted Of the family,
each llved-,he former having been trained for
thlriy-two, and the latter for thirty three years.
But unfortunately for this analogcal illustration,
The territories legisate for themselves. Congress
organizes the Government, and the machinery
goes on with little more relation to the Congress
of the Constitution than the Congress of the Con-
federation.
After brief allusion to the 3D., 4th, 5th, 9Th,
7th, sh, 9Th, 10th, inclusive, reasons giten by
the advocates of exclusive legislation by Con-
gress, as relative above, Mr. C. said it was i'm
possible to contemplate these various PROPOSE
tons, and the argumentsand illustrations indeed
with which the whole discussion abound.. with
out being amazed at the facility with which tho
very first principles of our constitution are ovet.
looked, and The tendencies they exhibit to attri-
butte powers to the government, because it is a
government, and not because they are granted
by the people, and thus 10 prepare the way for
the dangers of consolidation 1t seems TO be en-
.tirely forgotten or dsreearded that the govern
ment ofthe United States exists by virtue of a
written compact, where, and where alone it's
powers are to be sought and found, and that the
powers are not only strictly defined but carefully
limited by that emphatic declaration, which, in
feseryng to the States respectively, or to the peo-
pie, all powers not delegated to the United
States says to all the functionaries of this GOV.
ernment:-
"Thus far You go, but no farther"
ITO be Continued)