The southern press., 1851-08-01

Il Vu9& WAN ~ WIN 4Ao&WtNU ~ ~
srs at tbs snsnmsncsmsat Of - mighty slpaGrls
! The issus whether we m undss ~ foveeyld1eal
Of independent States, or under HE eosesneaenl
Of an sbsoints majority. fesllng for thsmselves
only, h to b. dscided and II It IL 70 be decadsd
by force. we must not only be right, but We mus
understand the grounds upon which we move
have said that the States aeceded TO th<
compact ~ separate States, and to deny this Il
to deny history. But 70 further, aud say thai
It was not only made by the States ~ States
but that they only can unmaks it--and ] Aay
that the federal government ut this day 10 but
the creature Of the States. How IL the instvu
ment 10 be amended or altered Is It by the
people of the Union! No! Article 9th declares
that amendments may BE- proposed and IL rati
fled or adopted by 1.-THE Lfgislairres Of tAves
fourths Of the sEvgRAL STATES, or by CoHvEn
rIoNs in three fourths thereof" shall become part
Of tie Constitution. II is he States that mads
the Constitution and II 10 the States alone thai
can alter IT, Three-fourths Of the States cur
make new Constitution and new govern
ment under 1t. Suppose three -fourths Of ths
States, by amendment to the Constitution, dc
clare there shall be no navy and no army, OK that
there shall be no President and nothing but q
Cong,es Of States Can thew not do 80 and
where then is the power Of this government
belong to it, independent Of the States! To
talk about the government having substantive
powers Independent of the States, is nothing
but naked assertion. Suppose simple MAORI
ty of the States should refuse to elect or SEND
senators to Congress, where would your govern.
ment Of inherent powers be! ! admit. as long
as we are in the Union, it is n constitutional
| duty in the States to elect senators but sup,
pose they should think it duty not to elect
where is the power to compel them! Ii under
force they are compelled to send senator's tits moi
of their free election, and itself changes the
! government. There can be no law made with
out senate, aud only use this to show how
completely the government is in the power oi
the States. In fact it is government of States
and Of no simple majority of people. Wher-
ever reposes the power in any community Ia
make or amend the organic law by which the
community ia kept together, there resides SOW
ereignty. If the written Constitution be the su-
preme law of the land, the power that can make
it or alter it is the supreme and sovereign power
of the land. have shown that the States alone
made the Constitution, and that they alone can
| alter or amend it, even so as to alter the whole
government itself, and if that be not sovereign
power, then am ut loss to conceive what can
be. The truth is, the federal government has no
sovereignty.
1t is an agent limited by the specific grants Of
power made by the States. The only thing that
even appears to contradict this idea, is the power
given to punish treason. Treason is an offence
against sovereignty. But this power itself is
limited by the States who grnnted it, for they
refused to give the power to define treason, and
have themselves defined it in the very grant to
punish it, and declared in what only it shall con-
sst and have even laid down how it shall b..
proved. 1t shows they intended to grant no SOW
ereiguty, for they limit and define exactly the
power of the government-even in treason,
And the treason they define, is treason against
the conjoined sovereignty of the States, not
against the government. For ia " levying war;
against the United States" that constitutes
treason, and nothing else does. AS long as the
States are united, there can be no treason, but
when they are no longer united, and sovereign
power has absolved them, there can be no trea-
son, for it cannot exis against the government.
| All this shows that the government has no sub
stantive powers and that the compact is com
pact with co-States, and on a question involving
| the original powers of the compact itself, if a
State make an issue, it is not with the federal
government but with the co-States. And there
is no power granted in the compact to the gov
ernment to enforce obedience, but the States
themselves must sit in judgment on the issues
made, and three-fourths of the States can affirm
the power denied for they alone can add to OF
amend the Constitution, or afirm what it is 10
bind a sovereign member of the confederacy
| Any power short Of this is usurpaton, and
changes the whole genius and theory Of our svs-
| TEN, The whole system rests upon friendly
discussion, upon a compromise-falr argument
and truth, and full hearing and final decision by
independent and sovereign Srates, with all their
moral and political weight. In this point OF
view, the States are the Peers of each other
And if three-fourths decide against sovereign
State, then may arise the question of final Sc
cession-and If three -fourths not only affirm the
power but grant force to the use of the gov.
ernment to carry out that affirmation, secession
can then be adopted finally at the risk of the
State But if compulson or force be used be-
fore this, it is lawless, and the government as
sumes power not granted, and must end in
despotism.
The States of the confederacy in many points
of view, are the estates Of The realm. And on
all vital questions involving the organic law by
which they are united, their power must be recog-
nzed, or there can be no real independence
There can be no political liberty, unless these
estates are fully and fairly consulted Without
this, we have made no advance over Europe in
civil liberty itself, to suit the issues of modern
society. If oppression be intolerable, the lowest
serf of Russia can appeal to arms and to revo.
luton, and so can the Turk-but this is no sys-
tenn of liberty. The European draws the sword
and appeals to revolution to vindicate his liber.
ties, but we appeal to sovereign States, with or
ganized governments, who shall give such au-
thoritatve declarations of the fundamental law
as shall guard and protect our liberties, without
an appeal to arms in the first instance.
They made the Constitution, and can alter it
and they alone, in great emergency, can reform
and rcgenerate the action of the federal govern
ment This makes us a confede.acy, as contra
distinguished from simple democracy, where
the sense Of States has to be taken on sectional
questions affecting the liberty of the parts
Without this, we hare central unchecked gov
ernment, under the control of a majority antago-
mist to US, instead of confederated republic
where the power of the head is not inconsisten,
with the liberty of the p rts. This Is the origi.
nal conception of our system, and part of its
| verv existencp.