The Woodville Republican. [volume] (Woodville, Miss.) 1847-1853, 1851-01-28


where they swagger in open day. and arm.
ed cap-a-pied, and Kill police officers at plea.
I snre. And the meeting. loo az Syracuse,
I the locus OF abolition Conventions: aud
: above all, that at Cinciunati the paradise Of
bg-hatchers aud the capital Of the great
boohv ianatin OF she 4uess -rss- l...g,;.s.t.
: opinioa this National Union party is she
: most dangerous mine yet sprann upon lie
! South What is it that has endangered
! the uniong Is il not the measures com
} priced IN the COMPROMISED Yet these meet.
lngs IN defence OF southern rights sustain
them all without exception. The records of
their proceedings uniformly commence with
Wholesale approval OF the compromise
Consequently they maintain the doctrine
that the public domain is not the common
\ properly Of the States. any one. or any por.
ton Of which not constituting a majority.
may be exeludedat the pleasure OF the Abo-
llitionists, alias Free soers. They maintain
that those preliminary steps which have
hitherto been always considered as iads.
lpensible 70 the admission of new States, and
which are IN the present crisis the only
! guarantees for the right OF equal participa-
! tion onthe part Of the South are not neces.
sary They maintain that anybody may
\ come from anywherc take possession oi
the land belonging equally to all the States.
without permission, without purchase, OF
any shadow Of legal right whatever, and es-
tablish a government under the sanction OF
military usurpation. excluding one half Of
AL the proprietofs,
They maintain that the authorities Of a
State may be coerced into submission by
the exercise Of a power not conferred by the
Constitution, which. il will be rccoIlected,
only authorizes Congress--not the President
--to call ont the MlLIrIA, and not the stand
ing army or navy, % suppress ilisurrection.
execute the laws Of the Union, and repel in
vasion. There il nowhere right conferred
on the President by any constitutional pro-
vision which bears on this question, except
what may be inferred from the Injunction
thathe shat see the laws faithfully executed
meaning nothing more than that he shall ap.
point competent officers. and see that they
do their duty. II did not contemplate the
army and navy as Ordinary instruments for
the preservation of internal tranquility and
order, or in executing the laws as is now
the fashion in Europe; much less was il de-
vised for the purpose Of coercing or overaw-
ing State, when asserting what II deemed
its reserved rights. II was intended solely
to protect those very authorities against Sc
diiions and Instructions of their own citi-
zens; and as such was to be exercised only,
at the call of their Chief Magistrate when
the Legislature was not in session.
The act Of Congress placing the ar
my and navy of the United States per.
manently at The disposal of the Presi
dent, for all such purposes, and nof
merely for a special purpose, appears
to me a most dangerous concession.
and ought to be rescinded There may
possibly occasions arise, in which the
exercise Of this power may be neces-
sary, and if Congress should not be ID
session, il may be convened for The
purpose Of authorising the President
to employ the army and navy in exc
cutting laws, militia are insufficient fol
that purpose. The militia are in fact
the people, and the people will never
become their own oppressors.
But armies OF hireIings have no com
muniiy of interests or feelings with
their people the officer is the slave Of
his superior, and the soldier the slave
of his officers, whom il Is death to disc
bey. The trainers of the Constitutions,
never intended to place in the hands Of
the President the discretionary exercise
Of power which in every age, and in
all countries, has led to the establish
ment Of despotism. That one Of the
4 first acts of President, not the choice
Of the people, but the mere creature of
accident, should be an assumption Of
this power is ominons Of what may be
expected in future from that quarter;
and that he has not awakened the at
tention of Congress, is only another
melancholy proof that in these times
anything may be done under the higher
law Of abolition. Itfurnishes a solemn
warning to the South, indicating pref.
" clearly what it has to expect in fu-
lure, whenever its rights, its interests,
or lis safety come to conflict with a
dogma OF fanaticism, converted into
an instrument Of sectional ambition
and federal usurpation. But to return
10 The decalogus Of the great National
! Union party.
They maintain that Congress has d
right TO prohibit any species Of trade
between the States, that ofends the
delicate sensibilitles of Northern men
or foreigners and thai exclusive
Legislation" means iegiylating without
any restraint from the general spirit Or
! special provisions Of The Constitution;
thus giving Congress the power, il it
chooses to exercise 1t. ol making the
President king Of the iefmiIes square.
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