The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-08-12
The Randolph EpAstlss ON the Right Of
6eoesston.

The Randolph Epastlss ON the Right Of
Secession.
No..
To the Presideas-- introductory One half If he
Southern Wigs Sssass-,ighss m<n.--Ssesssion re-
ssiis from the compact Denied by the Executive.
he Constitution bears The faculties u its orcn des,rue-
Dismemb<rn.enf cannot be Treason. - Tsco
STATES can dissoipe the Union under Constitutional
authority. also, ose.th Of the members II either
House Yisus Of .Messrs Clay, Cass and Webster.
The right Of rsuolution d.fnsd.--- The Secession
Of the Colonies from Great Britain. Geaerat
HashiMgicn's sentim<nts on Secession, Sc.
To HIS ExcELLEscr, MrLLARD FILLMORE,
PREsIDENr OF rHE UNITED SrATEs:
Sra One Of those unforeseen casualties which
'Aesh is heir to" has made your Excellency the
Chief Magistrate of the United States For the
first time in your life, you find yourself the repre-
sentative Of Southern constituency in Executive
Administration, and to a majority Of that con-
situency you owe your elevation to the Vice
Presidency, and through that, to the still higher
position which you now occupy. There were
circumstances, too, which gave yet more impo-
sing weight to the support you obtained in the
Southern States. OF the fifteen free States, your
ELECTORAL ticket obtained the victory but in screen.
or the fifteen slave States, the same ticket obtained
the victory in eight. Ofthe seven free States, in
which your ticket commanded pluralties Of votes,
it commanded popular maiorities in but three. or
the eight slave States, which cast their ELECTORAL
votes for that ticket, it commanded popular ma
jorities in each Of them. The aggregate Of your
popular maorities in the free States was sir
thousand eight hundred and .ffy-three.. The aggre-
gate Of your popular majorties in the slave States
was jorty-i,Oo thousand eight hundree and tlco. all
hese would be matters ofbut small concern in
administering the affairs of the Government in
ordinary times; but in so grave and farming
crisis in public affairs as now disturbs the public
must think that these are consdera-
lions worth remembering, should sectional issues
at any time, in the opinion of the President, call
for Executive action.
/ take leave, furthermore, to call your Excel
lency's attention to some other striking circum-
stances, which your party at the North has too
often dsregarded, but which In times like these,
may be worthy Of very special note. One inn
portant fact is, that the Wing party at the North
and the Wing party at the South, though concur
ring in the main upon measures Of public policy
yet, upon several essential points, they radically
disagree Another fact. or at least, strong proba-
blity is, that not of the favorite measures Of
the Wings Of the North--a National Bank--a
Bankrupt Lava Protective Tarff--Internal I'M
provements, &C., would be likely to command
majorities ut the South, though the Democrats Of
that sectionwholly RETAINED from the polls; and as
TO all the anti-slarery issues upon which the Wings
of the free States are quite or nearly unanimous,
the Wings at the South are just as unanimous on
the opposite side. From the close Of Mr.. Mad-
sons Administration in. 1917, through the whole
Of MIR. Monroe's, the distinction of parties was
scarcely preserved at the South, and upon the
opening of that Of Mr.. J. q. Adams in 1925, the
old Federal party there rallied upon him, while
the State-rights men in Overwhelming majorities
rallied upon General Jackson. Even as late as
1882, land before the Wing party 60 nomine was
KNOWN in the Presidential contest bntween Mr..
Clay and General Jackson, the former could only
muster Federalists and National Republicans
enough in all the South to him three States,
with popular majorities as follows: Kentucky
with some 1000, Delaware 166, and Maryland
with a! While General Jackson supported by
the Statesrshts party, carried the balance of the
Southern States with an aggregate of majorities
reaching to one hundred and forty thousand But
the most important fact Of all is, that fully one-half
Of the Wing party at the South were original State
rights men, who left the Democratic party some Of
them in opposition to the latitudnaran doctrines OF
Gen. Jackson's proclamation against South Caro-
lima, Notwithstanding his disavowaIs in the Globe
and Enqurer) others Of them account of his
removal of the deposites, &C., others Of them on
account of their preference Of Hugh L. Whteto
Martin Van Buren,, Others of them through an
inscription Of the disastrous financial crisis of
1897 to the policy and measures Of the latter; bull
not Of them, that Ihape heard, r any dissaifac-
ton with the doctrines Of Siaes rights, and stic.
construction Of the Federal Constitution
From these premises, think il may be safely
taken for granted, that fully one half the Wings
Of the South, with the Democratic party thither
en- masse, are emphatically State-rights men,
who stand upon the platform made by Messrs.
Jefferson and Madison in 1898, as set forth in the
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and Report,
drafted by them for each of these Commonwealth
respectively, and which were based upon the
broad principle, that this Union results from a
Compact between the States, to which they became
parties in their sovereign capacities, with full powers
and rights inherent In each, (as in all other COM
pacts,) to dissolve or to seceds from such COM
pacts, for breaches of any Of its fundamental con-
ditions or material stpuations, and of which each
State of itself and of necessity must be the exclu-
sive judge. In other words, and an inevitable
corrolary from the premises, the Southern people,
in overwhelming numbers, hold as principle of
our political institutions the right Of secession in
these States. or course, your excellency is too
sagacious and profound statesman, and too ac-
curaieIy yersed in the past public questions Of the
country, to confound, (as Mr.. Clay so recently
and so unaccountably did in the Senate,) the doc
trine of secession with that of modification. Day
and night are not more deeply and enduringly in
contrast than they Through secession, an OPP