Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-09-28
The American Opposition.

Of those days, what was the ultimate ground that
each measure had TO stand upon, We shall fnd that
there was still, though old party names had been
abandoned, Federal and Republican party-ihst
Between WEBsTKR and CALHOUN, as between Ham.
1EToN and JEFFERSON, ths ultimate question was,
shall the Central Government those Of the sepa-
rate States be most strengthsnsd-shall the cOnstiu
tiOn be 50 interpreted to assign to the Federal
Government all that has not by express prOViso
been reserved to the States or shall the national act
which crested the Central Government be subject to
sfrsst cOasrEctiOa go to allow the Legislative and
Executive authorities at Washington nothing but
what had explicitly been conceded TO them in cur
acts of confederation?
These measures Weres Protective Tariff, National
Bank, Internal improvements, Distribution, &C., and
incidentally the discussions Ofthe reception Of Adolf
tion Petitions and the Veto Power osmetO he resOlV
ed into the same issues vizr Centrslism and the
diffusion Of political power.
Il is only briefly that we can sllude to these mat
ssrs In detail The PROTECTIVE TARIFF then was
defended on the ground that the Federal Govern
nsnt Was authorized by the constitution to regulate
commerce. 1t was opposed because the powers
claimed would enable the Central Power to cherish
enc Of the conflicting productive interests of the
country ct the expense Of another, and 50 bring
all on their knees befOr the dispOsing power. The
NATIONAL BANK was defended on the ground that
central standard was necessary to establish uni
form currency and regulate exchanges, &C., through
cut the country. II was resisted as placing the
money power out Of the hands Of the State
Hovereignties. TIE DIsTRIBUTIoH OF TIE PuB-
zIc LANDS among tbs State governments was OPP
posed by the Democratic party the ground that it
would render the State Governments pensioners on
She Federal Treasury and SO far dependent upon il.
And the powers claimed by the Central G Overnmsnt
for the psrpose Of Publis improvements were re-
sisted the ground that it would enable the Cen
tral Government in the first place, TO interfere in
matters belonging to the State Legislatures and in
tbo second, to exercise an undue influence in the
States BY being enabled to offer bOOns to one State
and withhold them from another.
And so In regard to the constitutional questions,
abe reception of Abolition petitions was resisted be-
cause the reception of such 3 petition was looked
upon So the first step towards asserting legislative
powers In regard to a matter which more than any
other, jealOusy reserved for the cOgniEaLos of
the State government
Thus one way or the other the conflicting doc
4rinss Of centrslism and the diffusion of power lay
NJ the bottom Of the great questions at issue.
Before the mind of Mr.. WEBSTER, the expansion
Of the Federal powers 3 gorgeous sPscts-
cle promisings great concentration of the material
and personal resources of this vast continent, in a
splendid imperial administration, which should give
force and expression to the ne1haustibs ospsbili-
fiss Of national power which those resources rem
dersd possibility; while behind this gorgeous spec
1scle Mr. CALHoUS discerned the shsdoWy Inca
msnts Of bsleful spectre,-Of the Centralized
DespOtism which fully developed in Imperial
France, under which the Civic and Military re-
sources Of the country, the Church, the Press the
Educational and Municipal interpretations, all |
OOerced and hidden to express the Imperial will
30 be silent and inert
Now although we have ever since we examined |
seriously into these absorbing questions recognised
4he position of MIR. CALHOUN that which il was |
incumbent on us to viudIOste, We have never been
blind to the fact that the opposite Of this the fede
Eal aspect of things, is that needs be asserted
also. These two sntsg Onst tendencies are in fact
fhe centrifugal and centripeal forces the resultant
Of whose mutually controlling agencies is the hsr
monious movement Of political cosmos, and the
action of neither could be spared from the general
working of the system without sacrifice Of that
equilibrium upon which the stability of the whole
depends
Only there are peculiar circumstancesupOn which |
depends the question, who shall VindcSts the one,
and who the other. This is question that has to |
be determined by quite other matters than The men
Sal predictions of the individual. Ones political
principles are never determined by mere intelleo
Gual process, but the position the individual Occu
pies In the body corporate, and the circumstances
By which be is surrounded place him in q certain
attitude for the contemplation Of these antagonist
questions, and determine his action accordingly.
AZ involved in the interests Of the South and as
identified in ell that concerned that portion Of the
United States, we convinced that the side We
have already spoken of is oursthst it is our vital
interest to embrace it-Our mission and duty to
defend Il. Two circumstances alone are sufficient
30 determine this On the one hand, the South
embraces In itself more than q mOiety Of the re-
sources Of national wealth and greatness; on the
other It is numerically in minority. The FEEDER
nj Government, with some checks and limitations,
represents the will Of the numerical ms orty Of the
whole people The State Governments represent
8hs will Of the respective States in regard to those
questions, the COgniEance of which they have not
GOnceded to the Central Government. Those, there
fore, who have the numerical majority possess 9
power which is best asserted through the Central
administrative authority, and are the natural vim
dicators Of that element in the body polite while
chose who are in the minority in that particular
bat not inferior as it regards their Importance in
the element Of national greatness, find their de !
fsnsiye position in the assertion Of those ndefeasi
bic immuuities which have been reserved to the I
several states While, therefore, the due balance
and proportion of the National system demand that
both the Central and Difusvs elements in our pOliti
sGl system shall have their due weight and influence
assigned them; these are circumstances which will
always determine the South as the natural support
IRE Of the lstter-tbs North of the former
At the same time this view leads US 10 yield pro-
lound respect to the honest convictions Of those
who, from their circumstances, were led to throw j
themselves into the opposing ranks and vindcats -
he antagonist idea. Truly those were the wars of
Rants those we're the days when men entertained
Ast conceptions based upon deeply laid feunda- =,
ion Of principle; strong convictions carried out
nth proud consciousness Of right aud lofty en-
husissm, and yindioated with q subimity of elo-
uenoe that in respect Pses before the lustre Of
be palmiest days of DEMosrHENEs snd AscHIxKs, =.
{ CICERo and HoRT ENsIUs, or of PITT, Fox, and bis
IURKR
We linger among the "reminiscences of these pal
" days, when ought to be occupied in tracing u
he cause of that deplOrable dsoAdence in public 81
selling which iss transformed public assem- 70.
lies from the arena of a gOdke strife into the go
'sthsOs cock pit in which the profits Of the pub Ii
% treasury are scrambled for by the blseElegs Of
be Hobbies. This, the less pleasant part Of our
ask, We shall have to undertake to morrow, when
Ie arrive 81 the period when the Wing party absu-
Onsd its principles, but retained its party orgsni
stiSn, and 50 became simply THE OPPOSITION
THE Two CoMMANDERs-IH-C of the -
sH York papers says that the Duke Of Cambridge n
usen VfoTORIA's cousin, and cOmmauder.iD-ebisf y
, the British army was about being ssrt ., III iDE