Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-01-26

westerns States in the said Territory shall be |
bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and |
Wabash rivers; direct line drawn from the |
Wabash and Port Vincents due north, to the
territorial line between the United States and
Canada: and bv the said territorial line to the
Lake OF the Woods and Mississippi. The
middle States shall be bounded nv the said
direct line. the Wabash. from Port Vincents
to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by direct line
drawn due north from the mouth of the Great
Miami to the said territorial line. and by the
said territorial line. The eastern States shall
be bounded by the last mentioned direct line.
the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said terri
torial line: Prorided. howerer. And II is further
understood and declared. that the boundaries
of these three States shall be subject So far to
he altered that If CONGRESS shall hereafter find
II expedient. they shallehav authority to form
some nne or two States in that mart Of the
said territory which lies north of An east and
west line drawn through the Southern bend
or extreme of Lake Michigan. 44rad ,cher,eer
ong Of The soid Stqtes shaH hire @1tu thousand
free Inhabitants therein. e,ch State shall he odraite9
by is delegates into the Con4ress of The Up5e5
Safes equal footing Nth the o,1ginal States IN
al respects ,chaeuer- Prorided. The constitu-
Ton and government so to be formed shall I've
republican, and in conformity to the princi-
pies contained in these articles: and. so far
as can he consistent with the general interests
of the Confederacv, snch admission shall be
allowed at an earlier period and when they
may he less number of free inhabitants in
the State than sixty thousand"
Now. this article was simply an "article of
compact between the original States" and
''the States in the said Territory States Io-
Gated. specifically laid off. and Described. 1t
was wholly distinct from the articles of com
pact with ''the people of the Territory which
secured to them ''life, liberty, property. reli-
gious. worship. the writ of habeas corpus.
jury trial ''and all the other rights commonly
Incorporated into the several constitutions of
the States of the Union. The language of the
Oregon act. .'the rights. privileges and adj
vantages granted and secured TO the people
Of The territory northwest of the rive r Ohio"
manifestly related TO these and not to the com
pact with "the States" carved out of Terrific
ry, which simply laid off their boundaries
and GUARANTEED TO them admission into the
Union mon the acquisition of 10000 inhabit-
ants. To assume otherwise would involve us
in inexplicable difficulty: to assume that any
part of this fifth section is extended to Ore
gon would bind us to assume that the whole
of it is; that is, that "there shall be formed
in the said Territory (of Oregon) not less
than three nor more than five States" and
then following as a consequence all the de-
tails to boundaries, with their several speci-
fications touching the Miami, the Wabash the
Ohio, the Mississippi, &c, which would he
supremely ridiculous. The undersigned will
not, however. further pursue this branch of
the argument.
There is single point in the Constitution
of Oregon against which he feels it his duty
to enter his solemn protest. He alludes to
the clause allowing unnaturalized aliens to
vote for members of the Legislature. He re-
CARDS this clause as violative of fundamep-
tai principle of the Constitution of the Uni
ted States. 1t cannot be doubted that such
alien electors are thereby 10 he regarded as at
once introduced n component part Of the
sovereign power controlling the FsddTal GoUern-
n'eRt. They thereby b"come, according 10
all practical usage, electors OF Representa-
tives in Congress. electors of those who
choose United States Senators. and hold the
power to determine the electors of President
and Vice President of the United States
Thus tn the body of aliens so introduced into
the body polite is given direct or indirect
power of control over every department of
the Federal Government. This he respect
fully but earnestly submits is subversive of
the very foundation idea of the Government
itself
The Constitution of the Unitod States was
established by the people or citizens of the Unit
ed States for their OCn benefit. and that of
those who are to come after them, and not
for the benefit of unaturalized foreigners.
owing no allegiance to the Government, and
not bound to defend it, 1t was ratified by
the States. and they are bound to observe
and respect its principles The first clause in
the Constitution is the following declarations:
I'VE the people of the United States, in order
to form more perfect union. establish Justice,
insure domestic tranquility. provide for the
common defence. and secure the blessings of
liberty 10 ourselves and oar posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United
States of America"
The undersigned would call attention to the
words 1.-THE people" The Supreme Court, in
the bred Scott dession, interpreting this clause
of the Constitution. expressly rclares:
The words the people ofthe United States and
citizens are synonymous terms, and mean the
same thing. They bo'h describe the political
body who, according tn our republican insti-
tutions, form the sovereignty, and who hold
the power and conduct the Government
through their representatives. They are
what we familiarity call the sovereign peo-
pie and eueTy citizen is one of this people and
a constituent member of this sovereignty"
That is, the Constitution, where it saws ''the
people" means &" the citizens, y and that
every citizen is constituent member of
the body polite, " who " form the sovereign
ty. "'' hold the power. and conduct the Gov
ernment through their representatives. " But
does this exclude unaturalized foreigners -
Unqnestionably it does. The Court continues
The Constitution has conferred on Con-
gress the right to establish uniform rule of
naturalization, and this right is evidently er-
ct'hsice, and has always been held by this court
to be so. Consequently, no State, since the
adoption of the Constitution, can by nat1ral-
izing an alien invest him with the rights and
priUileYeS Secured 10 citizen Of State under the
Federal GOUernment' &c.
Again, says the court, " the word citizen
excludes Hndfrdized foreigners the latter form
ing no part Of The sovereignty. owing il no ALE
glance and are therefore under no obligations 10
defend Il. The undersigned believes, with
the Supreme Court, that the citizens of the
United States are the body polite, ''Lhe sore
reignty;" and that 81 unatnralzed foreigners, -
who form no part of the sovereignty, owe 1t
no allegiance, aud are under no obligations
to defend it, cannot possibly be admitted to
hold the power and conduct the Government
through their representatives" without vio-
Hence To the Constitution.
He believes, with John G. Calhoun that
"alien and citizen are corrclative terms. and
stand in contradistinction 20 each other:'
that the "eiiect Of naturalization is To remove
alienagc;" that ito remove alienage is simply
TO put the foreigner in the condition of the
natiye-born;" that ''whatever difference of
opinion there NAV be as 10 what other rights
appertain to a citizen all must nj least agr,e