The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-12-07
WHOLE NUMBER 800.


United States. all members Of Stste Legiss
lstures, and ell executive and judicisl Oh.
Gers, both of the United States and Of the
several States, shall be hound by oath or 81.
frmationto support this constitutions. III
order to carry into effect these powers, the
constitution has established perfect aut.
eminent in all its forms, Legislative, exscu.
tive, and Judicial ; and this -governwent, to
the sxtsnt of its powers, acts dirsctly upon
the individual citizens of every State, and
executes its own DEGREES by thersgsney Of
its own officers. In this respect il differs
entirely from the government uudet the,old
confederation, which was confined % max.
ing requislions on the States in their soy.
ereitn character: This left II in the die.
cration Of each whether to obey or to refuse,
and they ofteo declined to comply with sneh
lreGuisitiols. Itthus became neeesssry,for
the purpose ofrsmoving this barrier, and in
order 10 form more perfect union, to %.
tabl.sh government which could act direct.
~ nP9n the people, and execute its own laws
without the intermediate agency of the
! States F.; this has been accomplished BY the
Constitution OF the United States. In short,
the govern nent created by the Constitution.
and deriving its authority from the sover.
eign people 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 suojactJ not delegated to the
| UHt,ed States, but reserved to the States re.
speGtlVely or to the people. To the extent
| OF the delegated powers, the Constitution of
the United States is as much part of the
! Constitution OF each State, and is as binding
upo0 its people as though it had baeu textu.
ally inserted therein. This Government,
| therefore, il great and powerful Govern.
mant, invested vita all the attributes of sov.
efeignty over the specified subjects to which
its auth ,rty extends. Its trainers never in.
tslded to imp.ant in it's DO son the seeds Of
It's own des'Tuoton nor were they ct iS
creaiJn guilty OF the Hb'urjity Of providiag
for its own dissolution. II was not intend
ed By its franars to be the bassless fabric Of
a Vhi>D, which, ut the touch OF tho enchant.
ed, would Vlniah INTO thin air; but sub.
stantill end mighty fabric, caplb.s Of resist.
i1g the slow decay of time, and of defyinR
the storms Of age. Indead, we'll may the
jealous patriots OF that day have iuduIgsd
ears that G1vernm ant of such high bow.
era night violate the reserved rights Of the
States, ani wisely did they adopt the rule OF
= strict c)nstrUctiJn OF these powers to pre-.
vent tas dagger. Bat they did not fear, nor
had they any reason to imagine 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
discharge hef psoDlo from all or any of their
federal obligations.
1t mGy tc ssted then, are the psopla o!
the States without redress against the tyran.
RY-nA- eP preston of the Federal Guvstn.
man.! BY no means. The right of resist.
ance on the prrt OF the governed againss the
oppression Of their governments, cam ot
be denied. II exists indepsndea of all con.
situations, and has been exercised at all Do.
riods OF the worlds history. Under il, old
governments have been dsstroy ed, ami new
ones have taken their place. 1t is embodied
in strong and express language in our own
D"claration OF lndspsudeace. But the dis.
'inction must ever be- observed, that this il
revolution ag1in'i an established govern.
menl, and not voluntary secession from il
bY virtue of an inherent Constitutional right.
Ia short, let ns look tbs danger fairly ia the
lace. Secession is neither more nor less
tn an revelation. II may or it NAV not be
ti4ble revolution, but still 1t 10 revolution.
Want, in the meantime, is the RESPONSE.
biIity and true position of the Executivel-
lie Is bound by solemn oath before G. ID
aad the country to take care that the law.
be faithfully executed snd from this obliza.
ton he csnnot be absolved by any hunlau
power. But what ii the performance o! this
d1!y, IN whole or in part, has been rendered
lmpfactclbe by events over which he could
have exercised no controI! Such, at the
present momsaf, is the case thro1 yhout the
State of SJuth Caroiinl, as far as the lava
OF the U Iitel Site. TO secure the adminis.
uat!1n o justice by means of the Federal
Jud!ciiFy are. concerned. All the Federal
off 'ers withil its limits, through whose
agency alone these laws can be carried into
ex.cu ion, hive aIreldy resigned. We no
longer have District Judge, District At.
tJrney, or Marshal ia SJuth Carolina. In
fact the whjle machinery Of the Fe isral
GJVerament necessary for the distribution
Of remedidl jusli2e among the people, has
been temJIish9d, and il would be diti ;ult, il
no. inp1ssi5le, - replace it. s1s
The oaly acts OF Congress OF the s,.lut0
b)oS bearing u3on tais subject are those Of
tns 2Sth February, 1875, and Sd Mirch,
1907. These authorize tho President, altar
he shal! have ascert4iaed that ths msrshal
with bis posse commitatus sunabIe to exeA
cute civil or criminal process in any psrtic.
uIr case, to call forth the militia, and en-
ploy the army and navy to aid him 10 per-
torniaS this service, having first, by proels.
mati,", cur.ma ldad the Insurgents to die
porse and retire psaceibly to their respective
abod5s within limited time. This duty
caOnot by possibility be performed in State
where no judicial authority exists to Issue
process, and where there is no msrshal to
execute it, and where even II there were
such an officer, the entire population would
constitute one solid combination t. resist
him. The bare enumeration of these pre-
visions proves how inadequate they are with
out further legislation TO overcome united
opposition in single State, not to speak of
other States who may place themselves in q
similar stttude. Congress clone has power
to decide whether the present laws can or
csnnot be amended SO az to carry out more
etfactuaIIy the objects Of the coHstitution.
The same insuperable obstacles does net lie
ia the way OF executing the laws for the, col.
lection OF tho customs. The revenue still
continues 10 be collected as heretofore &c
The custom house in Charleston, and should
the collector unfortunately resign, . success
sor may BE- appointed TO- perform that duty.
Tnen, in Fegard to the property of the
United States ia South Caroline. This has
been purchased for a fair equivalent b. the
consent of the Legislature OF the State fer
he erection of forts, arsenals, DC, and ever
Ihese the authority 10 exercise exclusive le.