The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1860-12-14
THE WEEKLY PIONEER AND DEMocR At

with great 10th and inconvenience and will
considerable expense to the government
Let US trust that the state legislatures will
repeal their unconstitutional and obnoxious
enactments; unless this shall be done with
out unnecessary delay it is impossible fo
any human power to save the Union. Th'
southern states, standing on the basis Of tn
Constitution, have right to demand THU
act of justice from the states of the North
Should it be refused them, the Constitution
TO which all the states are parties, will hav'
been wilfully violated by one portion o
them, in provision essential to the domes
nestle security and happiness Of the remain
der. In that event the injured states, aftel
having first used all peaceful and constitu.
tional means to obtain redress, would be
justified in, revolutionary resistance to the
1 government of the Union. I,5Guo- 3Gi 49, p
1 have purposely confined my remarks tt
revolutionary resistance, because it has beer
claimed within the last few years, that any
state, whenever it shall become her sover
eign will and pleasure, may secede from thu
Union in accordance with the constitution
and in accordance with the constitutions
rights of the other members of the confeder.
acy that as each became parties to the
Union by the vote of its own people assem-.
bled in convention, so any one of them may
retire from the Union 10 similar manner
by the vote of such convention. In order
to justify secession as constitutional rene
dy, it must be on the principle that the fed
eral government is mere voluntary associ.
alton of states, to be dissolved at pleasure
by one of the contracting parties. If this
be so, the confederacy is rope of saEd, and
to be penetrated and dissolved by the first
adverse wave Of public opinion in any oil
the states. In this manner our thirty three
states may resolve themselves into as many
petty, Earring, and hostile republics, each
one retiring from the Union without re,
sponsibility, whenever any sudden excite
ment might impel them to such course
by this process Union might be entirely
broken into fragments in few weeks, which
cost our iorefathers many years of toll, pri-
walton and blood to establish.
Such principle is wholly inconsistent
with the history, as it was framed with the
greatest elaboration and care, it was sub
mitted to conventions of the people OF the
several States for ratification, its provisions
were discussed at length in these bodies
composed of the first men of the country
Its opponents contended that it conferred
power upon the federal government, dan.
gerous to the rights Of the States, whilst its
advocates maintained that under fair con.
struction Of the instrument, there was no
foundation for such apprehensions. In that
mighty struggle between the first intellects
of this or any other country, it never occur
red to any individual, either among its op-
ponents or advocates, to assert or even to
intimate that their efforts were all vain la.
Dor. because the moment that any State
felt herself aggrieved, she might secede from
the Union. What crushing argument
would this have proved against those who
dreaded that the rights of the States would
be endangered by the Constitution? The
truth is, that it was not until many years after
the origin of the Federal Government, that
such proposition was first advanced. 1t
was then met and refated by the conclusive
arguments of General jackson, who, in his
message of the 10th of January, 1888, trans
hitting the multiplying ordinance of South
Carolina to Congress, employs the follow
ing language:
The right of the people of single
State to absolve themselves at will, without
the consent Of the other States, from their
most solemn obligations, hazards the liberty
and union, and happiness of millions COM
posing this and cannot be acknowledged.
Such authority is believed to be utterly
repugnant, both to the principles upon
which the General Government is constitu-
ted, and to the objects which it was ex-
press!y formed to attain 1t is not pretend
ed that any clause in the Constitution gives
countenance to such theory. 1t is alto
gether founded upon inference, not from any
language contained in the instrument itself,
but from the sovereign character of the
several Ststes by which it was ratified ;
but it is beyond the power of state, like
an individual, to yell portion of its SOW.
ereigu rights to secure the remainder"
In the language of Mr.. Madison, who
has been called the Father OF the Constitu-
tion, it was formed by the States, that is by
the people in each of the States, acting in
their highest sovereign capacity, and form.
ed consequently by the same authority
which formed the state constitutions moi
is the government of the United States
created by the Constitution, less govern
ment, in the strictest sense of the term
within the sphere of its powers, than the
governments created by the Constitution o.
the states are within their several spheres
4 1t is like them organized into legislative
executive, and judiciary departments. Il
operates like them directly on persons anG
things, and like them, it has at command a
physical force for executing the powers
committed to it; was intended to be per.
petual, and not to be annulled at the plea
sure of any one Of the contracting parties
of the Confederation. A perpetual unio-
between the States, and by the 18th arti
Gle, it is expressly declared that the articles
OF this Confederation shall be inevitably
observed by every state, and the Union
shall be perpetuated.
The preamble to the Constitution of til,
United States, having express reference tx
the articles of Confederation, states it wa
established in order to form q more perfec
Union, does not include the essential attri
butte OF perpetuity, but that the Union wa
designed to be perpetual, appears conclus
lively from the nature and extent of tn,
powers conferred by the Constitution OF
the federal government. These power
embrace the very highest attributes of ma
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