The constitutional union., 1860-12-21
NUMBER r.


 which was confined to making acquisitions on the States, in their sovereign character. This left 1t in the discretion of each, whether to obey or to refuse, and they often declined to comply with such acquisitions. It thus be- came necessary, for the purpose of removing this barrier and in order to form 2 more perfect Union, to establish a government which would act directly upon the people and eXecuto its own laws without the Intermediate agency Of the States. This has been accomplished by the Constitu- tion of the United States. In short the Gov ernment created by the Constitution, and deriving its authority from the sovereign peo- pie of each of the several States. has precisely the same right to exercise its power over the people of all these States, in the enumerated cases that each one of them possesses over the subjects not delegated to the Uuiscd States, but reserved to the States respectively, or to the people To the extent of the delegated powers the Court of the United States are as much the part of the Court of each State, and is as binding upon its people as though 1t had been teXyuaily inserted therein. ihis Gov mrent therefore, is 8 great and powerful Government. invested with all the attributes
 and sovereignty of the special subjects to
 which ita authority extends. Its tramers never intended to imolant in its bosom the seeds of its own destruction, nor were they, at it's ere at,on, guilty of the aosurdlty of providing for its dissolution. It was not intended by its tlamcts to be the basecss fabric of a vision which, at the touch of the enchanter would vanish into air, but substantial and mighty fabric capable of resisting the slow decay of time and of defying the storms of ages in- deed, well may Jealous patriots of that day have indulgod fears that Government of such high powers might violate the reserved rights of the States; and wisely did they adopt the rule of strict construction of these powers, to prevent the danger; but they did not fear. nor had they any reason to imagine, that the Constitution would ever be so inter prctcd as to enable any State by her own act and without the consent of her sister States, to discharge her people from all or any of their Federal obligations. It may be asked, then, are the people of the States without redress against the tyranny and oppression of the Federal Government? By no means. The right of resistance on the part of the gov erned against the oppression of their Govern mCnts cannot be denied; 1t exists independent of all Constitutions and has been exercised at all periods of the worlds history. Under 1t the olJ Governments have been destroyed,
 and under 1t new ones have been replaced. In 1t is embodied in strong and expressive
 language in our own Declaration of Indepen-
 donce; but the distinction must ever be observed that this is revolution against an established Government. and not a voluntary
 secession from it by virtue of an inherent f constitutional right In short, let Us
 look the danger fairly in the face;
 secession k nothing more nor less than ! revolution. It may or 1t may not be
 iustiEabIa revolution, but still it is rovolu-
 ton. Nilat. in the laeau1lnc. k the resDC9- sibiIitv and true position of the Executive, bound by solemn oath before God and the
 country. to take care that the laws be faith
 fully executed. From this obligation he can A not be ab,olvcd hy any human power. But what f the performance Of this duty, in whole or in part has been rendered iuprac-
 ticable by events over which he could have
 exercised no control? Such at the present
 moment. is the ease throu-h5ut the State of
 south Carolina. SD far a~ the laws of the , -ntel States to secure the administration of , justice by means of the Federal Judiciary is
 concemed all the Federal officers within its
 
 f law, can be carried into execution. have d. ! ready resigned We have no longer Dis , trict Judge or District Attorney in South ' Carolina. In fact the whole machinery of
 the Federal Government, necessary for the
 distribution of remedial justice among the , people has been demolished and 1t would be
 difficult, if not impossible to replace it. l The ouIv acts of Congress on the statute l book bearing upon this subject are those of n the 18th February, 1795, and 3d March, r 1897. These authorize the President, after e he shall have ascertaincd that the Marshal - with hls posse comitatus is inable to execute . civil or criminal process in any particular case, r to eel, forth the militia, and employ the army n and navy to aid him in performing the seri- y ccs having first by proclamation, commanded $ the insurgents to disporse. and return pcdcoa- { hiv to their respective abodes within Q limited e time, This duty cannot, by any possibility , be performed in a State where no Judicial | authority exists to issue process, and where, s there Is no Marshal to execute, and where $ even if there were such an officer, the entire t population would combine in one solid col l. umn to resist him. The bare resistance of Il these provisions proves how inadequate they
 
 !, united opposition in a single State, not to - spoal, of other States who may place them n selves in a similar attitude. Congress alone 2, has power to decide whether the present laws l. can or cannot be amended so as to carry out l. more efectuaIly the objects of the Constitu- l. ton. The same iusuperable obstacles do not ,- lie in the way of executing the laws for the 1T collection of the customs, The revenue still ,- continues to be collected. as heretofore q at the Custom House in Charleston j; l. and should the collector unfortunately 3, resign, a successor may be appointed to 3, perform his duty Then, in regard to the l. property of the United States in South Caro- c lima, this has been purchased for fair equiva- h lent by the consent of the Legislature of the '. State for the erection of forts. magazines, r. arsenaIs, etc, and over these authority to st exercise exclusive legislation has been ex- e presslI granted by the Court to Congress. 1t s, is not believed that any attempt will be made d to ezpel the United States from this property Ie by force. but if in this l should prove to be