Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1860-12-13

own Constitution TO exercise IL. IL cannot be er.
ercised in any state except by the people In their
highest sovereign capacity when framing or
amending their State constitution. In like
manner II can only be exercised by people Of q
Territory represented in a convention OF delegates
Tor the purpose OF framing constitution prcpara.
tory 10 admission as a State In the Union. Then
and not until then, they invested with power TO
decide the question whether slavery shall or shall
not exist within their limits. This 10 an act >,'
sovereign authority and not Of subordinate Ter
torinl legislation Were II otberwise, then indeed
would the equality OF the States and Territories be
destroyed, end the rights Of property IN slaves
would depend, not upon the guarantees Of the
constitution, but upon the shifting psorities Of an
irresponsible Territorial Legislature Such a
doctrine, from its intrinsic unsoundness, cannot
long influence any considerable portion Of our peo.
pie, much less can Il afford good reason for q
dissolution Of the Union.
The most palpable violations Of constitutional
duty which have yet been committed consist In the
acts of derant State Legislatures 10 defeat the er
ccution Of the Fugitive Slave Law. It ought 70
be remembered, however, that for these acts nei-
ther Congress nor any President can Justly be held
responsible Having been passed In violation Of
the federal constitution, they are therefore, null
and void. All the courts both State and national,
before whom the question has arisen, has from the
beginning declared the Fugitive Slave Law To be
constitutional The single exception is that Of a
State court in Wisconsin. and this has not only
been reversed by the proper appellate tribunal but
has met with such universal reprobation that there
can be no danger from il as q precedent. The
validity of this law has been established over and
over again by the Supreme Court Of the United
States with perfect impunity. Il founded upon
an express provision fthe constitution, requiring
that fugitive slaves who escape from service IN
one State TO another shall be delivered up TO their
masters. Without this provision il ia q well
known historical fact that the ttsnlf
could never have been adopted by the Convention.
In one form or other under the acts of 1893 and
1850, both being substantially the same, the Fu-
gitiye Slave law has been the law of the land
from the days Of Washington until the present
moment Here, then, clear case is presented
in which it will be the duty Of the next President,
as 1t has been my own TO act with vigor in execut.
ing this supreme law against the conflicting en-
actments of State Legislatures. Should he fail in
in the performance of this high duty he will then
have manifested disregard Of the constitution
and the laws, to the great injury of the people of
nearly one.half of the States Of the Union. But
| are we to presume in advance that he will thus
violate his dntv7 This would be at war with ev-
cry principle of Justice and of Christian charity
| Let us wait for the overt act. The Fugitive
Slave law has been carried into execution in ev-
cry confessed case siLce the commencement Of the
present though often it is regretted
with great loss and inconvenience to the master.
and with considerable expense to the government.
Let US trust that that the State Legislatures will
repent their unconstitutional and obnoxious enact
ments. Unless this shall be done without un-
necessary delay, IT is impossible for any human
1 power to save the Union.
The Southern States, standing on the. basis OF
the constitution, have right to demand this act
of Justice from the States of the north. Should it
be refused then the constitution, to which all the
States parties, will have been wiillly violated
hv portiop of than, a essential 4
the domestic security and happiness of the remain
der. In that event, the injured States, after hav.
ing first used all peaceful and constitutional means
to obtain redress, would be justified in revoutiona-
ry resistance to the government. of the Union.
have purposeIy confined nv remarks to revo ..
lutionary resistance because il has been claimed
within the last few years that any State whenever
It shall be its sovereign will and pleasure, may
secede from the Union, in accordance with the con
stution, and without anv violation of the consti-
tutional rights of the other members Of the con-
federacy. That as each became parties of the
Union by the vote of its own people assembled in
convention, so any one of them may retire from
the Union in similar manner by the vote Of such
a convention.
:! In order to Justify secession constitutional
remedy it must be the principle that the federal
government is a mere voluntary association of
States. to be dissolved at pleasure by any of the
contracting paries. IF this be 50, the confedera-
cy is rope of sand to be penetrated and dissolved
by the first adverse wave OF opinion in any Of the
States In this manner our thirty three States may
resolve themselves in as many petty. jarring and
hostile republics, each one retiring from the I'm
ion. without responsibility, whenever any sudden
excitement might impel them to such COURSE
BY this process the Union might be broken into
fragments in a few weeks, which cost our fore
fathe s many years of toll, priyation and blood to
establish.
Such principle is wholly inconsistent with the
history as well rs the character of the federal
stituton. After it was framed, with the greatest
deliberation and care, it submitted to conven-
tons OF ihe people of the several States for ratif-
cation. Its provisions discussed at length in
these bodies, composed of the first men of the
country. Its opponents contended that it conferred
: powers upon the federal government dangerous tn
the right of the States whilst its advocates main
tanned that under fair construction Of the instru-
9 ment there was no foundation for such apprehen
sions In that mighty struggle between the frs
inteects of this or any country, it never occurred
], to any Individual, either among its opponents Of
advocates, to assert or even intimate that their e
: forts were all vain labor, because the momen
that any State felt herself aggrived she might
: cede from the Union. Whata crushing argu
ment would this have proved against those who
dreaded that the rights ofthe States would he en-
: dangered by the on.tituion The truth is, tina
twas not until many years after the origin of the
federal government that such proposition wa:
first advanced 1t was then met and refuted b,
the conclusive arguments Of Gen. Jackson, who in
: his message jan. eth, 1888. transmitting the
e nullifying ordinance of South Carolina TO Con
: gress, employs the following language:
"The right Of the people of a sing le State
. to nbsolve themselves at will, and wi hout
the consent Of the other States rom thei
: !, most solemn obligations, and hazard the lib
: erty and happiness of the millions composing
: . this Union, cannot be Acknowledged. Such
' authority is believed to be utterly repugnan
!. both to the principle upon which the gensral
u government is constituted and to the objects
i which 1t was expressly formed to attain"
IL is not pretended that any clause in the const
tuition gives countennnce 10 such a theory IL /:
i altogether founded upon inference. not from, an,
language contained in the instrument itself bu
y from the sovereign character of the several State
Q power Of "A State, like an individual, to yield
n portion Of its sovereign rights to secure The re
y mander. In the language Of Mr.. Madison, VIII
l. has been called the father OF the constitution
sr ut was formed by the States acting in their high
N est sove reign capacity; and formed consequent.
,e by the same authority which formed the Stat
constitutions "
). Nor is the government o the United State
created by the constitution, less n government Il
H the strict Of the term, within the sphere
y its powers, than the governments created by III
constitutions NJ the States nre within their
d. al spheres. II Is like them organised into legis
: lative, Judicial and executive departments
., operates, like them, directly persons and thing,
10 and like them Il has at commund physical fore
>, for executing the powers committed to II.