Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1850-03-20
Having now established, beyond con


!roversy, that the sovereignty over the Ter.
that is, in the several States composing The
Uninn-and that the power of lesisla'InS
over them is expressly vested in Congress,
il follows. that the individuals in Calilor.
MIA who have undertaken 10 form Con
sli,uIon aud Slate. aud to exercise the
power Of lesislating without lbe consent
Congress, have usurped the sovereignty
of the Slales and the authority of Con-
sress, aud have acted in open defiance
Of both. In other words. what they have
done is revolutionary aud rebellious in It's
character, auarchical in its tendency, aud
calculated TO lead to The mnst dangerous
consequences. Had they acIed from pre-
meditation and design, il would have been,
in fact, actual rebellion; but such is not The
case. The blame lies much less upon
them than upon those who have induced
| them 10 tai. course so unconstitutional
and danser,u They have been led into
it by language held here, aud the course
pursued by lhs Executive 5rauch Of the
! Government.
have not seen the answer Of the Ex-
ecutive to he calls made hy thetwO linu-
ses of. Congress. for information ssr1o the
course which il took, or The part which It
acted, in reference 10 what was done in
California. ] understand the answers have
moi yet been printed. But there is enough
known 10 justify the assertion, that those
who profess 10 represent aud acl under ihe
authority of tire Executive. have advised,
aided and encouraged The movement.
which terminated in lnrmins, what they
called Constitution and a Slate. Gen.
Riley, who pro(essed 10 acl as civil Gov.
ernor, called The Conven'ion, determined
on the number and distribution of The dele.
gaIes-nppointed time and place of its
mee,ius-was present during the session,
aud gave its proceedings his appreciation
and sanction. Ii he acted without au>
thority, he ought To have been tried, or at
least reprinanded and disavowed. Neither
having been done, The presumption is, that
his charge has been approved. This, of
itself, is sufficient 10 identify The. Execu.
live with his oc,s, and TO make it respon'
sible for them. touch not The question,
whether Gen. Riley was appointed, or
! received the instructions under which he
professed to acl, from tho present Execu-
live, or its predecessor. If from the for
lner, i, would implcale the proceeding as
we'll as The present Administration. lInot,
the responsibility rests exclusively on lte
present.
Ii is manifest from this statement. that
the Executive Department. has undertaken
10 per(urm acts preparatory to the meeting
Of The individuals 10 form their so called
Constitution and Government, which ap-
pertain exclusively 10 Congress. Indeed,
they are identical in many respects, with
The provisions adopted hv Congress. when
il gives permission to Territory to form
Constitution and Government. in order to
be admitted as a Stale into The Union.
Having now shown thai the assumption
upon which the Execulse aud The indi-
vi.luals 10 CaIfornia acted throughout this
whule affair. is unfuunled. UncoDsliIution-
al. and dangerous, il remains TO make Il
few remarks, in order 10 show that what
has been done is contrary to the entire
practice af the Government, from its com i.
mencenent 10 the present time.
From ls commencement uGli the time
lha, Michigan was admitted. the practice
was uniform. Territorial Governments
were first organized by Congress. The
Government of The Uniled States appoint
ed the Governors. Judges, Secretaries.
Marshals, AMI other nllicers, and the in
habilanls Of Ihe Territory were represented
by legislative bodies. whose acts were sub.
iect to the rcvisiuns q! Congress. This
slate Of things continued until the govern
ment of Territory applied 10 Congress
TO permit lis inhabitants 10 form a Cnnsti-
tuition and Government preparatory 10 ad-
mission into the Union. The preliminary
act To giving permission was, 10 ascertain
whether the inhabitants were sufficiently
numerous TO authorize them to be formed
into a State. This was done by taking IL
Census. That being dono, and the mum
ber proving sufficient, permission was
sranlius it fixed all the preliminaries-,he
time and place Of holding the convention,
the qualification Of The voters; establish
meQt Ol us DDuNldTicst dnu dl blUcT lled-
sures necessary 10 he settled previous TO
admission. The act giving permission
necessarily wihdraws the sovereignty Of
the United States, and leaves the inhabi-
tan.s of the ncipienl State as free TO form
their Constitution and Government, as
were The original States Of The Union,
after they had declared their independence.
! Al this stage. the inhabitants Of the Ter
rilnry became for the first lime people,
ia legal aud constitutional language. Prior
to this, they were, by the old acls of Con-
gress, called iuhahitan,s, and not people.
All this is perfectly consistent with the
sovereignty of the UGiIed States, with the
powers of Cotgross, and viii the right of
people 10 self government.
Michigan was the first case in which
there was any departure from the uniform
rule OF acting, Hers was a very slight
departure from established usage. The
ordinance Of 81 secured to her the right Of
becoming State when she should have
10000 Inhabitants. Owing 10 some neg
lecl, Congress delayed taking the census.
10 The meantime her population increased,
until it clearly exceeded moro than twice
The number which entitled her TO ad,ns-
sion. AT this Stage "le formed a Consli.
lulion aud Government without the census
being taken by the Unied Slales, and Con-
gress waived the omission, as there was no