New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-05-10

TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 10, 1858
POLITICAL NONSENSE.
ssusnt Legislature INDUCED in the usual amuse
nsnt, % frequently resorted to by Legislators
Il passing resolutions. 1t did not depart fror
~ usual rule Of making the resolutions a
nsaaineisss - possible. verbiage, of cours,
\ ~ wanting; and underneath the mass G
NWds tho sense, II there be any, is almost con
soole4 from view. Here is the resolution:
4ssesd, That this caucus doth explicitly and per
oey declare that It Views the powers Of the Fedora
ecQent - resulting nom the compact 70 which thu
"a 4 o. lnsruns.t oonitutisr thas compact,
1>Ar valid tAan they authorized By the grants emu
psipeSis and dsnrssOss szeruis Of other powers moi
G1ntod b III eopao the States who parties there
&c " & s s.s sSa e
QiAa sr rrpefive limits the authorities rights apt
lIbasss sppsFtsini.s to thsm.n
70 this cunning Mr. John Slidell responded
"a Barrow RoreE. April q.
mr. s1--I have received. through Mr.. Wilson, tn
rulukipn adopted BY the democratic caucus, held Oh
Wednesday evening, for the nomination Of q candidate
I mso sss 70 sssb
1aEs auays entertaiusd and exprsesed and which
ns.d ~ asquAinsd ssssnt y0yrsspsctfuly, your obi
~ " ~ M, chairman.
Wsll, the answer is as clear as the resolution,
which Is a. clear as mud" means anything
q nsthing, and is what contemporary en-
paa1isslly and justly styles the whole affair,
g brilliant balderdash."
he resolution means anything or nothing.
Il y ~ marc grandeur of verbosity. 1t would
pusu1s ~ ~ Intelligent to draw clear idea
- Il, whilst the stupid would be utterly con-
hn1sd d the perusal Of such grand talk and
involved sentences
- deliberate, palpable and dangerous ak
sreiss # other powers not granted by the COM
past''-who can decide what is or may be such
: deliberate palpable and dangerous exercise
Il other powers What is meant by sc other
poNsrss" The Constitution, noble an instru-
msnt - 1t is, does not and cannot provide for
TIE details Of legislation. 1t is merely gene
ri chart, by which to sail the ship Of State
IS = nots Like the laws of the Modes and Per-
slanes unaltersble. It has already been amend
- and h the progress Of time may be amended
aGain. The balderdash defamation Of &c the
stxist constructionist" is to us the merest non
sgnse. Il means anything or nothing. Who is
- construct Who il to be set up as an suthori-
y q this mstter OF construction The most
lenfnsd jurists. the ablest lawyers, the wisest
snd mast experienced statesmen, have differed
n sonstruing the Constitution. Some have de-
alared this or that point constitutional, while
Others have gone revsrsely and declared the
vwy same point or points unconstitutional
Now, Il the resolution Of the democratic caucus
means anything. it means that the right of re-
bsllicn, upon mere point of Judgment, is as
sorted for the Individual as well as for the State
For, Why should an individual, more than a
State, submit to tyranny or palpable outrage
We cannot answer the question; because we
cannot determine in whom the right or power Of
construction lies, whether in the indiyi dual or
in The State.
Recently we had Indeed, we still have,)
curious illustration Of the doubts to which such
rvoelution properly gives rise, and to the ques
tiohs II. also, raises. In Mississippi there was
. large and respectable minority, to whom the |
ssFiss q measures known as the Compromise
was = ssricusly Objectionable, that they pro-
nounced 1t unconstitutional and in violation of
the rights Of the States; and, therefore, they
proposed extreme and secessionist measures
Here WAS Tor is) one State IS divided against
itseks Could it be argued that the State
authorities. at one time decidedly ultra and
Dscsesionist in tone, had right to repudiate the
action Of the General Government and ali con- |
nsotion with that Government On the other |
hand, could a popular fsrment of opinion, 50 |
common in free, democratic republican coun-
tries. where the privilege or liberty Of discus
sion i unlimited, be taken Immediately as the |
deliberate, well-reasoned conviction of the
people
The resolution merely asserts the right of
rsvolution. II asserts nothing more and moth
NJ les. The necessity Of asserting any such
light b > curious thing to us. The resolution
> totally unnecessary, as it is entirely grandil-
quent, and really senseless 1t has, however,
Mischief n T. It il an insinuation to the people
bet our republican government already threat
~ 70 become tyranny. and such an insinuated
oubt or suspicion will tester in and rot many
heart which otherwise might have been true '
nd honest, into black treason and feculent &C.
iticn. 6uch resolution is a folly and blum !,
sr, heart-treason lisping courtly nonsense
sck Cade-ism urging on the unthinking to
pen tumult and sedition. What emergency
alls for suoh resolution Is there not peace
'ithin our borders! Do we not dwell in amity,
|orth and South Can the demag6gue find no
Asme which does not involve incipient treason ! l
Prating resolutionists may talk in set phrase
f"dsliberate, palpable, and dangerous exer. :
lee |" Of powers !" not granted by the compact !
he Constitution is a noble instrument, a plo- 3
ions chart. . rich repertory. But above the t
constitution, higher, and stronger, and more
sligious than it, there are solemn ties by which
I'd and Nature have bound us together, as one ,
sople, forever One language, common inland
~; trsversing rivers; interlacing railroads
I'd canals; republicanism which must stand
nited against the tyrannies of the world the ,
Dcellitiss Of commerce; the relations of divided
miles; the recollections Of the past the hopes
the future. Terrible and disastrous would
J the results of Q separation or disunion, be-
md what pan can trace. The man who argues ;
oh probability is traitor at heart
Mr.. John Slidell was too cunning to endorse
Oh resolution in full. He lodged adroitly
} simply says, "that the resolution embodies q
inciples which l have always entertained and
Pesned, and which command my unqualified h
'snt" What principles" Mr.. Slidell o.
Mt Jon talk out like man, and say whether n n