The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-10-13


nine States was required to pass Law the
operation OF the government Gas in case of rev.
enue and of forees,) dependent on the
sent and will Of each State and the articles
were only amendable by the unanimous voice Of
the State legislatures
Turn for moment your attention to the
eonhrmalory effect of this summary upon the
question already discussed, the relations of the
colonies previous TO the confederation, and you
VIII perceive It's complete accordance with the
view already taken of the latter
! For II the powers which possessed under the
confederation were derived from and held de-
/ pendent upon the will aud consent of the States
" sucn It's feeble condition, after something of
permanence and extension of powers had been
given TO IL by The compact or league; powers
which il had besought from the States, n IT be.
fore possessing them, | ask, what must have
been its pre-existent authority! Clearly not
that inherent power Of nationality aedged to
have resided in the general Congress supreme
over the individual colonies For if this nv
pothesis be adopted, we must suppose that
Congress, the central power, voluntarily, and at
a period which called for the exercise of every
power it possessed for the common defence.
disrobed itself Of its Inherent authority, and
shrunk to the feeble shadow of the old revolu-
tonary Congress. History informs of repeated
solicitations by Congress for more enlarged
powers from the States, but fails to give us one
single instance in which any, vested in the CEN
trail government, was ever renquished by it of
| its own free villa fact conclusivey against
the hypothesis Moreover, if G Jngress were the
source, and the colonies the recipients the one
the supreme, and the other the subordinate a,l-
thority; think you the articles of confederation
would have "dlegated" powers to Congress,
while 1t reserved others to the States? And il
this feeble fabric Of the confederation was really
an acquisition to the central authority, what
could it have been originally, but what all his
! tory proves it was, absolutely nothing? And,
II nothing, what, in mathematical language but
entirely Its complement, was that of the States
Thus, in whatever view we regard this question,
the political unity of each State, prior to the
confederation, and its continued existence az
such under it, is established beyond all con-
troversy.
Weak and feeble as were the powers of Con-
gress under the confederation, they constituted
the fnlcrum upon which centralism' placed its
lever, resulting at this day in its almost entire
ascendancy. Scarcely possessed of power, it
camored for more and the revolutionary period,
though glowing with splendors which no patriot
would obscure, exhibits instances Of usu,patiou
which necessity alone could excuse or Justify.
Thus it was the very weakness of the govern
ment which gave rise to its encroachments upon
tie reserved rights of the States Necessity
throws over usurpaion the mantle of forgive
ness, and lends the gttering glory of patriotism
to Its most dagrant aggressions upon right.
Power oft nvades the paradise of peace, the
sanctuary of liberty, clothed as an angel of light
md whispers its bright temptation into the ear
OF its Innocent and unsuspecting victim.
The fact OF these usurpatons is notorious,
and was so spoken of by the ablest writer's of
that day, among whom may be mentioned the
authors of the Federalist 1t is indeed, stamped
upon the present'condition of the country for
no Vrglnian can ever forget that, by the ordi-
nance of 1877, from the empire given by her to
the Union, her institutions have been forever OK
cloded and still more sadly must he fear, that if
ever the Union is dissolved, its ruin may be
traced to this unwise and pal pabe usurpation-
this fatal precedent established by the old con-
federation.
As striking fact evdencing the disposition
of the confederation to increase its power, may
mention proposition suggested in 1871 in the
report of a committee to Congress, to give to it
the power to enforce compliance by the States
with its determinations in pursuance of the arti-
cles of confederation, by the use of the army and
navy of the United States 1t never further
saw the light, ard persisted, as it subseque
did in the federal convention, as we shall here
after sect
The treaty of peace-ratiied early in 1884.
and distinctly recognizing the sovereignty of
each of the States by name-released them from
the evils of war, and turned their attention to
their internal concerns Thus far external
causes had driven the States to union; hereaf.
ter we find the influence of those which are
Internal
partial convention of States of their own
motion, only five being represented, met at An
napolis in 1856, with view to some general
system to be adopted by the States respecting
their external commerce.
They adj ourned after brief session, recon-
mending to their respective Legislatures to pro-
pose "a convention of deputies from the several
States, to devise such further provisions as shall
appear to them necessary to render the constitu
ton of the federal government adequate to the
exigencies of the Union"
The convention so recommended assembled
in Philadelphia on the 25th day of May, 1887,
and, as is well known, after session of four
months, adopted the present constitution, which,
with all its virtues, it must be ad nitted, gave
increased efficiency and influence to the already
strongly centralizng tendencies of the Union.
1t is a subject of proud satisfaction however,
that the amendments engrafted upon the origi-
nal draft, and suggested first by Virginia, are
most important to the clear and distinct mani.
tcstation OF State sovereignty as an element in
the system established by it,
The history of the struggle between central
and State power, under the present constitution.
IS a mournful, but soon told story.
II may be said to have begun with that re-
markable manu- whose admiration of the Brit
ish constitution was honestly entertain d, but as
honestly expressed, when, in the federal conven.
ton, he indicated his opinion, that what was
called its corruption, (meaning the power of pat
ronageO was "an essential part of the weight
which maintained the equilibrium of the consti-
stitution.P In his Gen. Iamilton's) famous
report of 1871, he declared that It belonged ITO
the discretion of the national legislature to
pronounce upon the objects which concern the
general welfare, and for which, under that des-
cnptlon, an appropriation of money is requisite
ana proper; and there seems to be no room for
doubt, that whatever concerns the general in
tsrests of learning, of agriculture of manufac-
lures, and of commerce, is within the sphere of
the national councils, as far as regards an appl-