The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1851-07-29

'"'S oupPo'tSui ~ Ill ttutCS pcEIOoS
wars with our blood and with our
treasure--we have made it rich and
strong by cndowments of both land
and money; we have given it terrific
ries vastcr (by half) than its origin.
al limits; and it has not only lavishly
distributed them to others, to our ut.
ter and special exclusion, but con-
vcrted them into dens and places of
refuge for our plundcred property.
We have paid more than two.thirds
Of its enormous debts, incurred not
only against our remonstrance and
our counsels, but by system of pro-
fligacy, corruption and extravaganza,
that might we'll justify tho most
scrupulous honor in repudiating; we
have contributed more than two
thirds to lis forty millions of revenue;
we have betrayed all its lavish ex-
pcnditures, even while condemning
and reprobating them; VIC have sub.
mitted to taxation, while her very
proceeds are even now as once be.
fore, appropriated to arm myrmidons
and prepare fortresses for our en-
slavement and destruction; we have
borne this onerous and unequal bur
den from the profits of our slave
labor, and. satiated with taxing, they
now threaten to take away, and, like
Pharaoh of old, deprive us of the
straw, while they still demand the
same tale Of brick; and yet we still
cling to union with them. Still we
clasp, we feed, we pamper, and
nestle in the warm bosoms, and nur-
ture with the generous blood of these
sovereign States, the migrate, the
monster, and the parricide. Yes,
still we hug the chain; still we kiss
the rod: still we suffer, endure; and
yet we cherish, and fondle, and con-
fide in it. Yes:
"Though monster of such hideo,s micn,
AZ To he hated, needs but 10 be seen;
but seen too of, familiar with its face,
We first endure, hen pity, then embrace
Is it not we'll to pause in this pro.
cllyity to the consumlnas.en of our
ruin! Is it not we'll t. consaley ths
peril of submission, or acquicsceDco
in wrongs and cxactions like these?
Is it not we'll to reflect (even in it's
worse aspcct) whether we should
bear the intolerable ills We have, or
re5olutely rush to end them?
How stands the matter between us
and this confederacy? What are our
relations, what are our rights; what
are our duties and what is our re.
dress?
For the purposes of common de-
fence and general welfare only we
consented to institute this govern
ment by written compact with the
other sovereigns Of this Union, and
by which each Of the parties reserved
to itself the right Of fseccssion hcrcaf-
ter, by virtue of the same authority
by which they acccded to it then.
10 guard against constructive power,
'tspecifcally stated that all powers
not granted in the Constitution we're
reserved to the States.
The government, therefore, can
possess or exercise no power which it
has not derived from that compact;
aud IS, by the reservation of all other
powers to the States as expressly
prohibited, as it would seem, from
substituting its own construction OF
the constitution for the constitution
itself.
But how comports its practice
with these clear and obvious rcstric.
tons on its authority? Why, when
we claim the intcrposi.ion Of the con.
stltution against the operation of
bounty and protective laws, we are
constructiyciy pointed to the caption
OF an act under the acknowledged
guisc Of revenue system. When
we appeal from this selC:constituted
decision, the army and the navy of
the Union are invoked to be the stern
arbiters aud interpreters Of constitu,
tionnl law--when to every eye and
to every understanding the govern.
ment has abandoned itself and all its
great political behcs!s, to the direc.
ton Of fanatical and freesoil party
when that party has avowed its OBJ.
legation and its purpose to extirpate
the national sin of slavery has been
excluded, and the slave trade has
been abolished, in the common do.
main Of the North and South, when
we have been Invested Of our terrific
ries, when our institutions are threat
ened to be SWEPT away by the IRE.
slstlble torrent Of universal spirit of
emancipation, and when in view of
these wrongs and perils, and after
having exhausted every otlior expedi.
ent, We ask to retire from the con
tedcracy, (leaving all these acauisi-
tons which we had contributed, as
much 90 any other. tn ohtaip to on.