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

Win al lHS atllluulSS VI ouFSIclBuly
of the special subjects to which its
authority extends. Its fra mers never
intended to inplant in its bosom the
seeds of its own destruction; nor were
they, at its creation, guilty of the ab.
surdity Of providing for its own dis.
solution.
1t was not intended by its trainers
to be the baseless fabric OF a vision,
which, at the touch Of the enchauter,
would vanish into thin air, but o sub.
stantal and mighty fabric, capable Of
resisting the slow decay of time, and
ofdefying the storms ofages. Indeed,
well may jealous patriots Of that day
have INDUCED fears that a government
of such high powers might violate tho
reserved rights Of the States, and
wisely did they adopt the rule ofa
strict construction OF those powers, TO
prevent the danger; but they did not
fear, nor had they any reason to ina
gine, that the constitution would ever
be so interpreted as to enable any
state, by her own act, and without the
consent of her sister states, to dis,
charge her people from all or any Of
their Federal obligations. 1t may be
asked, ihen, are the people Of the
States without redress against the ty.
ranny and oppression Of the Federal
government BY no means. The
right Of resistance on the part ofthe
governed against the oppression Of
their governments, cannot be denied;
it exists independent Of all constitu-
tors, and has been exercised at all
periods ofthe worlds history. Under
1t old governments have been destroy.
ed, and under it new ones have been
replaced. 1t is embodied in strong
and express language in our own Dec
laration Of Independence, but the die.
tncton must ever be observer that
this is revolution against an estab-
lished government, and not a yolunta.
ry secession from it by virtue Of an in.
herent constitutional right.
In short, let US look the danger
fairly in the face; Secession is moth
ling more nor less than revolution
1t may or it may not be justifablo
revolution, bnt still it is revolution
What, in the meantime, is the respon-
sibility and true position ofthe execu-
tive, bound by solemn oath before
God and the country to take care that
the laws be faithfully executedl--
From this obligation he cannot be ab;
solved by any human power. But
what if the performance Of this day,
in whole Or in part, has been render
ed impractcable by events over which
he should have exercised no control.
Such, at the present moment, IL the
case throughout the State Of South
Carolina. So far as the laws of the
United States to secure the admins.
tration Of Justice by means Of the Fed
oral Judiary is concerned, all the Fed.
eral officers within its limits through
whose agency alone those laws can be
carried into execution, '.haye already
resigned. We have no longer Dis.
trict Attorney in South Carolina. In
fact, the whole machir&y of the Fed
eral Government, neSessaEN for the
distribution Of remedial justice among
the people, has been demolished, and
| it would be difficult, If not impossible.
TO replace it. The Cnly acts of Con-
gress on the statute book bearing up,
on t his subject, are those of the 2Sth
February, 1905, and 81 March, 1907.
These authorize the President, after
he shall have ascertained that the
Marshal with bis posse commiitatus is
unable to execute civil or criminal pro.
cess in any particular case, to call forth
the militia and employ the army and
navy to aid him in performing theser.
vice, having first, by proclamation,
commanded the insurgents to disperse
and returns speaceabg to their respec.
tive abodeS within a limited time
This duty, cannot, by any possibility,
be performed in State where no Ju:
dicial authority exists to issue process,
and where there is 70 Marshal to ex.
ecute, and where, even if there were
such an officer, the entire population
would combine N one solid column to
resist him.
The mere resistance Of these provi;
sions proves how inadequate they
are, without further legislation, to
overcome united opposition in sim
I gle State, not to speak of other States
who may place themselves in a simi:
lar attitude. Congress alone has
power to decide whether the present
laws cannot be amended so as to carry
out more ehectnally the objects of the
Constitution. The same insuperable
obstacles do not lie in the way of ex.
ecuting the laws tor the collections of
the customs. The revenue still con-
tinues to be collected rs heretofore at
the Custom House in Charleston, and
should the Collector unfortunately 70.