M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-12-13

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Congress. II is not believed that any
attempt will be made to expel the
United States from this property BY
force; but if in this | should prove to
DO mistaken, the officer ia command
Of tho forts has received orders to act
strictly on the defensive. In such
contingency, lllcresponsibiliU for con
sequences would rigallully rest upon
the heads of the assailant. Apart
from the execution of the laws. SO far
as this may be practicable, tho Exec.
ntive has nu authority to decide whaG
shall DC the relations betweea the Fed.
oral Government and South Carolina.
He has been invested with no such
discretion. lie possesses 10 power to
change the relations heretotoae exist.
ing between them, much less to &C.
knowledge the independence Of that
State. This would be 10 invest Il
mere Executive officer with the pow
cr of ofrecognizing the dissolution Of the
conIederacy among pnr thirty.three
sovereign States. 1T has no resem.
blance to the recognizing of foreign
de'facto government involving no
such responsibility; any attempt to do
this wonld on his part be q naked act
OF usurpation. II is, therefore, my
duty to submit II Congress the whole
question in all it's bearing. The
course of events is so rapidly hasten
ing forward that the emergency may
arrive when you may be called upon
to decide the momentous question
whether YOU possess the power by
force OF arms. to compcla State TO re"
main in the Union. should feel my.
selfrecreant to my duty were hot to
express an opinion on the important
snbject. The question fairly STAGED
is: Has the constitution delegated to
Congress the power to force II state
into submission which is attempting
TO Withdraw, or has actually with.
drawn from the contederacy? II an.
swered in the affirmative, it must be
Oh The principle that the power has
been conferred upon Congress to de-
clare and TO make war against n
State. -
After much reHectionl have arrived
at the conclusion that ne such power
has been delegated to Congress or to
any other department Of the Federal
Government. 1t is manifest, upon an
inspection OF the Constitution. that
this is not among the specific and
enumerated powers granted to Con.
eress; and it is equally apparent that
its exercise is not necessary and prop.
er for carrying into execution any enc
of these powers. So far from this
power having been delegated to Con,
gress, it was expressly refused BY the
Convention which framed the Consti-
tuition. .-.
II tappcars from the proceedings of
that body, on Tie 31st Of May, 1857,
that the clause Authorizing an execu.
tion Of the force OF the whole against
a Delinquent State came mp for con.
sideratiGn. Mr.. Madison opposed it
in a brief, bat powerful speech, from
wich | shall extract but single sen.
tence. He observed ";he use Of force !
against a State would look more like
o declaration Of war than an infiction
oi punishment, and would probably .
be considered by the party attacked, |
as a dissolution Of all previous com.
pacts by which it might be bourd."
Upon his motion the clause was
unanimously postponed, and was
never, believe, again presented
Soon after, ON the Sth Of June, 1887,
when incidentally adverting to this
subject, he said; "Any government
for the Uni@d. States, formed on the
supposed Applicability OF using force
against tle!nc6Dstiutional proceed
ings ofthc StaeR wonldprove as Wis.
iohary, anT tFiIYious as the govern.
nent CqGgress,,. evidently meaning
tho then fi:gT %'gss %@ngros' Of the old
to particulars, it may be safely as.
serted that the power to maize war
against State is at variance with the
whole spirit and inteut OF the Const-
tuition. Suppose such war should
result in the conquest Ola State, how
are we 10 govern it afterwards Shall
we hold itas province and govern it
afterwardsl Shall we hold it as a
province and govern it uy a despotic
powerl In the nature of things we
could notify physical force control the
will OF the people, fasd compel them
to elect Senators and REPRESENTATIVES
to Congress, aud to perform all the
other duties depending upon thoir own
relation, and required. from the free
citizens Of u free State as a constitu
tiVnal member OF the Confectionery
But it we possessed the power, would
it be wise to exercise it under the CIR
cumstancesl The object would be
doubtlcs to preserve the Union, but
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