The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1852-04-06

deprive tic people Of the mcanspo
electing Representatives. Congress
/ Wouldn't once, "in puis,iantc" j
9. power expressly, granted }by th'
4 CONSTITUTIONS proceed To- provide
4 necessary election laws, and I b,
virtue off, these laws, a handful o
peeIle might. lawfully elect tall Iii,
Representatives to which, the State
slicula be entitled. hThc consequence
would be- that tic, ,clloice Of Repre-
scntatives, would fall exclusively
] into, the! hands Of those opposed, by
| supposition. to, the State, and Oh
the y sile3of the Union. It would
not helpatho anatter, that the Legis
laturo shoul,l s5have$acted unleriand
injunction from Convention. ID 'rhc
ordinance ofi,Convcntion. cI,joining
the act, would be of no higher
authority tl,an tile Constitution .,ot
the State. Indeed, every ordnance
OF Convention, ,-is, in theory, n part; Of
the State asConstituticg But, the
Constitution, Of the ,'Uni,cd States
exrrcsslyldeclares, that all laws made
in pursuance thereof, shall he the
supreme lawaof the land, anil that.
"thc Judges in every State shall be
bound thereby, any thing in the
Constitution or.laws Of any State to
thefcontrary, notwitls anding.''' THUS
twill DC seen, that Representatives
elected under the circumstances de.
scrlbcd, by a handful Of people, lin
some corner tf the State, would have
to be regarded as lawful Representa-
tivcs not tnly by tie United States
authorilirs, but by the Judicial
Tribunals Of tic State ITSELF. And
should The Legislature, in obedience
to an injunction from Convention,
declare it an, ,otfence to participate in
such elections, the State Courts
would be bound, by oa,Ls Of office, TO
declare the act of the Legislature
unconstitutional and void. There
would DC 10 way Ct generating The
noesslsla N Sa;tS5h,s. plTssbs the
Cunvcntioii,' AfsRs'SefiitoHfscing ,3udicidlly
upon the Constitution OF the United
States, should sol.mnly dccIa@, that
the State had never intended to
si'ant'to Congress the power to pro.
vile for elections. And where is
The possibility or the dcsiderability,
that a Convention Of the people of
South Cal oiiila should ever lie
brought to utter SO ralIable false
hood! ..
Bat it is needless to say moro, with
the view of showing that the Convcn.
ton anl the Constitution Of the State,
have noil.inSto d. with the matter of
United States Senators and Repre-
senta,ivcs. If as | have already
sail, the people should choose not to
elect Representatives under an act of
Congress for the purpose, they would
violate neither the laws or the Con.
stitntion, Of the United States but
it must be borne in mind, that though
eve person III the State, cxcelt
fifty voters should refuse to 90 to the
polls, these fifty would be considered
as constituting the people, and the
persons elected by thclE, would be
lawful Representatives. A distin.
gnished Representative from South
Carolina, was once elected by thirty
votes, there being no opposition.
Bat III point Of expcdiency, what
good consequences can he pointed
out as likely to follow? Not ono, |
apprchcnd.a That portion of the pco.
pie, who, for any reason should
chooseto to respect the will Of the Con.
vcn.ion, would become disfranclized
as tothe election Of Representatives:
and the election would fall exclusive.
Yinto the hands Of those who would
disregard the will of the Convention.
10 prevent this INDUSTRIOUS injustice.
the j ,dicial tribunals would be resort.
ed to; but I1havc 81: >wn how these
authorities would, inevitably, be
placed in conflict with the Convcn.
ton, and onthc side of4thoso who
should dcspise It's command and love
the Union. lIowHlong would such a
state OF things be tolerated by the
people i?
Nor can it be doubted that public
opinion in our sister States, would
be unanimous against us. Our friends
there being, in great measure, held
rcsponsiblefor our acts, would fec
that we had, uselessly put upor
them an unreasonable responsibility
and that it stood them in hand, to bt
foremost to reprobatc an act, whicl
it would be vain to attempt to defend
whether as Constitutional or as revo
lutionary--for the act would be no
more repugnant to the Constitution
than it would he unworthv -nf III,