Weekly national intelligencer., 1851-01-18
T HE PAS T
THE SOURCE OF THE EVIL OF THE DAY,

i NorE.-Havng in the first of two preceding numbers
pointed out the favorable between the present crcum
stances Of the country and those Of this twelve months
ago and having, in the second exhibited with particu-
ay que It's importance fact and its still greater conse
an issue the position taken by Of the Southern
upon the ground Of grievances alleged have been
sustained In consequence Of the Unions being South
no longer what was but source Of unnumbered wrongs
ana inures 1t is fit that cursory review should be taken
me Pass IN order to ascertain how far these aega-
asast 'ne Union true, and to what extent the
UNION Justly chageabe with the offences which the accus-
ing State lays at its door, To this task we devote the pre
| sent number.
II we look back to the foundation of this Covert
ment, we shall find that it was called into being bv
the very general convictions on the part Of the lead
ing patriots in every State of the Confederation of
the United States, after the close of the War
Of Independence that the Government, as it was then
composed, was too weak to sustain itself, and. If
not strengthened by the process of a re-organiza-
ton, must fall to pieces, and leave the States and
the People to be the prey of wild anarchy, with
probable certainty Of civil war;
The cause of this imbecility in the Government
was the absence of any authority in Congress to
enforce its acts but through the agency of the
State Governments, and that agency voluntary
one merely. The United States, as then consttu-
ted had an indefinite discretion to make reqsiions
upon the States for men and money, but had no
authority to raise either the one or the other by
regulations extending to the individual citizens of
the country. The consequence of which was,
that though, in theory, the resolutions of
Congress concerning those objects were laWs,
constitutionally binding on the members of the
Union, yet in practice they were mere recon-
'aendations which the States obeyed disregarded
at their option. The concurrence of as many dis
tinct wills there were States in the Confede-
ration requisite to the complete execution
Of every important public measure that proceed
ed from the Union. The result of all this was
as might well be imagined, had we not direct
testimony to the fact-that the measures of the
Union were not executed: (" the delinquencies of
the States had, step by step, matured themselves to
an extreme which had at length arrested all the
wheels of the National Government, and brought
them to an awful stand.' The greater deficiencies
of some States furnished the pretext of example
and the temptation of interest to other States.
Why should we do more (sad they) in proper
ton than those who are embarked with us in the
same political voyage? Why should we consent
to bear more than our proper share in the common
burdens :" "These were suggestions" says the
high authority from which we quote, (which hu-
man selfshness could not Withstand. Each State,
yielding to the persuasive voice of immediate inte-
rest or convenience, successfully withdrew its sup
port till (says author) the frail and tottering
edifce seemed ready to fall upon our heads and to
crush US beneath its ruins -
Undor circumstances such as these it was that
the patriots, who had carried the country through
the great crisis of revolution and war, saw the in
disPensabe necessity of infusing into the existing
Government greater energy and vgor, or of SUBJ
stituting for it one which should have the capacity
of executing as well as resolving what was for the
good of the country. In view of this state of things,
Gen. WASHINGTON, availing himself Of the occa-
sion of resigning his commisson in the army, ad-
dressed to the Governors of the several States in the
Confederacy circular, calling their attention, in
the most impressive terms, to the condition of things
which we have concisely described, and pressing
upon them, with the greatest earnestness, the
siy Of nusing greater efficiency into the Government
upon their conduct in regard to which recommen-
dation, he assured them depended whether the
try would be respectable and prosperous, or con-
temptible and miserable as nation for, he said,
according to the system of policy which the States
should then adopt, they would stand or fall and,
by their course in that conjuncture, it was yet to
be decided whether the Revolution must ultimate
ly be considered blessing or a curse, not to the
present age alone, but to unborn millions whose
destiny was involved in this question. This let,
ter, much less generally known and studied than the
FaresoeH Address of WASHINGTON, is worthy, for
its fervd patriotism and its profound political wis
dom, of being engraved, by the side Of that Ad-
dress, on the base Of the Monument now rising on
the bank of the Potomac TO his memory. In this,
Letter the General specified three things, which, he
humbly conceived, were essential to the wellbeng,
and, he even ventured to say, to the existence of
the United States as an independent Power, viz:
81. An indissoluble union of the States under
one Federal head.
a. A sacred regard to public justice.
90. The prevalence Of that pacific and friendly
" disposition among the People of the United
" States which will induce them to forget their.
" local prejudices and politics, to make those
" mutual concessions which are requisite to the
" general prosperity, and, in some instances. to
sacrifice their individual advantages to the inte-
rest of the community"