The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1856-01-11

w war, conclude peace, contract alliances
establish commerce, and to do all other act
,, and things which independent States may o
/. right do" The several colonies differed II
4 climate, in soil, in natural productions, II
| religion, in systems Of education, in legisla
, ton, and in the forms Of political admins
tration; and they continued to differ II
these respects when they voluntarily allied
, themselves as States to carry ON the war ol
the revolution.
\ The object Of that war was to disenthnl
, the United Colonies from foreign rule, which
bad proved to be oppressive, and TO separate
them permanently from the mother country
the political result was the foundation OF
a Federal Republic Of the free white men OF
the colonies, constituted, as they were, in
distinct, and rcciprocally independent, State
n Governments. As for the subject races,
whether Indian or African, the wise and
brave statesmen of that day, being engaged
in no extramgant scheme of social change,
left them as they were, and thus preserved
themselves and their posterity from the
anarchy and the eyer-rccurring civil wars
which have prevailed in other reyolutionized
European colonies of America.
When the confedeated States found 1t
convenient to modify the conditions of their
association, by giving to the general govern
ment direct access, in some respects, TO the
people the States, instead OF coniining 1t
TO action on the States as such, they pro-
cceded to frame the existing Constitution,
adhcring steadily to one guiding thought,
which was to delegate only such power rs
was necessary and proper to the execution
ofspccifc purposes-or, in other words, to
retain as much as possible, consistently with
those purposes, of the independent powers
of the individual States. For objects Of COM
mon defence and security, they entrusted to
the general government certain carefully de-
fined functions, leaving all Others as the un-
delegated rights of the separate independent
sovcrcignties.
Such is the constitutional theory of our
government, the practical Observance OF
which has carried us, and us alone, among
modern republics, through nearly three gen.
erations of time without the cost OF one drop
of blood shed in civil war. With freedom
and concert of action, it has enabled us 10
contend successfully on the battlefield against
foreign foes, has elevated the feeble colonies
into powerful States, and has raised our in
dustrial productions, and our commerce
which transports them, to the level of the
richest and the greatest nations of Europe.
And the admirable adaptations of our po-
ltical institutions to their objects, combin-
ing local sell.government with aggregate
strength, has established the probability of
government like ours to cover u continent
with confederate States.
The Congress of the United States is, in
effect, that congress of soyercigntics which
good men in the old World have sought for,
but could never attain, and which imparts
to America an exemption from the mutablc
leagues for common action, from the wars,
the mutual inmsions, and vague aspirations
after the balance of power, which conynlse
from time to time the governments oi Eu-
rope. Our cooperative action rcsts In the
conditions of permanent confederation pre-
scribed by the Constitution. Our balance
of power is in the separate reserved rights oil
tho Stltes, and their equal representation in
the Senate. That Independent sovereignty
| in every one of the States, with its reserved
rights of local sclf.goycrnment assured to
each by their co-equal power in the Senate,
was the fundamental condition of the Con.
stitution. Without il the Union would
never have existed However desirous the
larger States might be 10 rc-organizc the
government, 30 az to give to their pOpula-
tion It's proportionatc weight in the CON-
mon counsels, they knew it was impossible,
unless they conceded to the smaller ones au-
thority 10 exercise ut least negative infu-
cnce on all the measures of the government,
whether legislative or executive, through
their equal representation in the Senate
Indeed, the larger States themselves could
not have failed to perceive that the same
power was equally necessary to them, for
the security of their own domestic interests
against the aggregate force of the general
government In word, the original States
went into this permanent league on the
agreed premises Of cxerting their common
strength for the defence of the whole, and OF
all It's parts but of utterly excluding all
capability of reciprocal aggression. Each
solemnly bound itself to all the Others, nei-
ther 10 undertake nor permit any cncroach-
ment upon, or intermeddling with anothers
reserved rights.
Where it was deemed expcdicnt, particu-
lar rights of the States were expressly guar.
anteed by the Constitution but, in all
things beside, these rights were guarded by
the limitation of the powers granted, and
by express reservation of all powers not
granted, in the compact of union. Thus,
the great power of taxation was limited to
purposes of common defence and general
welfare, excluding objects appcrtaining to
the local legislation of the several States
and those purposes of general welfare and
common defence, were afterwards defined by
speciiic enumeration, rs being matters only
of correlation between the States themselves,
or between them and foreign governments,
which, because of their common and general
nature. could not be left to the separate con-
troll of each State.
OF the circumstances of local condition,
interest, and rights, in which portion OF
the States, constituting one great section OF
the Union differed from the rest, and from
another section, the most important was the
pcculinrity of larger relative col0rcd pop
ulation in the southern than in the northern
States.
A population Of this class. held in sub
lection, existed in nearly all the States, but
was more numerous and of more serious con-
ccrnment in the South than in the North, on
account of natural difference of climate and
production; and II was forcsccn that, for
the same reasons, while this population would
diminish, and, sooner or later, cease to ex-
list, in some States, it might increase in 9th |
ers. The peculiar character and magnitude
of this question of local rights, not in mate
rial relations only, but still more in social
ones, caused it to enter into the special stip-
ulations of the constitution.
Hence, while the general government, rs
well by the enumerated powers granted to
it, as by those not enumerated, and there
fore refused to il, was forbidden to touch
this matter in the sense Of attack or offence,
il was placed under the general safeguard OF
the Union, and in the sense of defence
against either invasion or domestic violence,
like all other local interests Of the several
States. Each State expressly stipulated, as
well for itself us for each and all of its citi.
zens, and every citizen of each State became
solemnly bound by his allegiance to the con-