The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-10-06

States officer appointed by the President Il
guard against treason Suppose the xbolisi
slavery il the District of Columbia What SAY
you 10 the political power (not revolutionary
tor revolutionary rights belong TO the people o.
al condtiorF) of any one OF the States 70 seced'
from ne Uni0n for any such cause
! Why, sir, Vermont, who Is now sharpening
her awofd for our execution, would have a T'gh
TO secede, if Congress interieres against slavery
in the District OF Columbia, for though she ID
not interested for it, yet she could properly Sc
cede. because the government exercises power
not delegated, and even that State would have
the POLITICAL right to say in convention OF her
people where her sovereignty Is represented, we
VIII no longer belong 10 TINS government De
cause 1t exercises powers which we nave never
consented % confer on J.; the representatives
of the other States have violated the compact
and "we will no longer endure connection
with them we reserved TO ourselves all power
not granted we have not granted such power,
and consequently we will secede" Who will
say that this right does not inherently belong
to the sovereignty of State, and who will say
that it has ever been surrendered either in ex-
pross terms or by implication! The surren-
der of sovereignty at once annihilates the State.
The man who questions the peacable exercise
of this right of secession, denies 1t az polit-
cal right resulting from sovereignty, must see
upon examination, that by annihiating the power
of the State, he merges all the States into
one nation, irresponsible to any State, and there
fore that he RENTS all the limitations in the
Constitution, consoldates the government, and
gives majority in Congress the power of es-
tablshing religion, abolishng slavery, obliterat-
ing State lines, setting up hereditary mon
archy, or anything else that an absolute or des-
petc government could do or conceive it proper
to attempt.
Each State siugly. without recognizing the
power or consulting the will of any other State,
adopted this Constitution for itself, by which it
imposed restraints as well as granted powers
1t is absurd to restrain government, il the
power which malfes the government and re-
Strains it, cannot exercise power of itself to
command the observance Of the limits which it
prescribed to it in the act of its creation. II
follows then that the government thus formed
must not in its practical operation look beyond
the powers granted by its makers. 1t must
always enquire what II has the authority from
its makers to do, and not consult its ideas of
what act would rebound to the general welfare
Of the whole or to particular section.
The power of State, in its relation with the
other States, has been compared TO the feeble
and humble relation which county bears to
State; and it is frequently and vauntingly asked
if county can secede from the rest Of the State?
No. A county cannot secede, because it is only
a part Of the State, and has no sovereignty.
There il not the slightest similtude in the rela-
ton which each bears to the other The State
is sci f-creatad-the State is one great commu-
nifty, with fixed boundary WHICH it has marked
out, and the world is notified to respect it.. 1t
has sovereign Jurisdiction within its limits, the
power Of legislation and taxation, and all other
powers with which any Independent nation is in
vested, except those granted to the United
States government, and those which it has agreed
to forbear from exercising. 1t makes counties
at its pleasure-alters their names and their
lines, divides them and joins parts of two or more
of them together without regard to their poiper,
and often against their wishes. The majority of
a Sta has perfect control and command Of a
county, because it is part and parcel of its own
community.
The State makes compacts with other States,
and has the political power to enforce them. A
county, on the contrary, can do nothing without
the authority of the State, not even to levy
tax for poor school, or to build a courthouse
and Jail. This comparison reducing State to
the level Of q county is so dissimilar and map
proprlate that it is ludcrous. but nevertheless
it proves something against those who are weak
enough to rely on it that is that the federalists,
to maintain their doctrines Of consolidation, are
pressed TO introduce arguments which will not
bear examination.
To be Continued