Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1860-12-08

"stH sutil itluISIt!tH~. IL iilIo bcCdihc itCt6
sary, for the purpOse Of removing this barrier,
and Gin order TO form a more perfect Union"
To establish :! Government which could act di-
rectly upon the people, and execute its own
laws without the intermediate agency OF the
States. This has b en- accomplished by the
Constitution of the United States.
In short the Government Great Il 10y the
Constitution, and deriving its authority from
the sovereign people ni each of the several
States, has precisely the same right to exercise
its power over the people of al these Stat, :, in
the enumerated cases, that each ,ne Of them
posstssrs over subjects not delegated 10 the
| United States but ''rescrv,d Il TO the States res
pectively, or to the people
To the extent OF the d,lcIat.d powers the
Constitution OF the United St,t, IL ss much a
part ot the constitution OF each STATE, and Is
as binding upon its pcopl', Us though 1t had
been teXtuaily inserted thrrcin
This GoyeInment, tiIrI,iu.e, 's It -Iclt and
powerful Government. invested "Iiu all the at
tributes OF sovereignty over the special sub
pets To which its authority extends. Its fra
IucTs never intended Ia mplaut in its bosom
the seeds ui its own d, struclion, nor were they
at it, crc.tion guilty OF the ahsurity Of provd
ing iur lis own di-s, luton. 1t WAS not intcudcd
by it, iiIim,Is tp hc TIE blsrless fabric of "a
visiou whiri ai the touch Of the enChautcr
"pHi' NAiliHll H. ~ hlls bl4A
and mighty fLhi', capable of resisting the slow
decay Of time aud ui dctNing the storms OF ages.
Indeed, well may he ialurIs patriots Of that
day have INDUCED tcuS th.tr gutcIumcnt Of
such high pOweIs might violate th' reserved
rights ui the State s. and wis-iv did they adopt
the rule Of Il strict CuustTIctIyH uI these pow
I els to prevent the danger i;.t tLcy ii not
fear, nor bad they any reason To- INA iuc that
the Constitution would ever he $50 Interpreted
as 10 enable any State, 10y L-I uNII act Uud
without the consent OF her sister >tit,s To III 60
charge her people from all or any ui tnor Fed
eral obligations
IL may bc asked, then, are the people of the
states without redress az glinst the tNrIny and
oppression Of the Federal Government Ey no
m, ans. The right OF assistance On tie pant Of
the governed against the oppr' ssion Of their
governments cannot be dcnir Itcxists indt-
pendently Of all constitutions and has been
cxercs,d d at all periods of the worlds history
Under 1t old guyrInm. uts have been DESTROYED, ,
and new ones have taken their IlIcr. Ii Is
embodied in strong and express language in
our own Declaration Of Independence. But
the distinction must ever be Observed that this
Is revolution against an established Govern
mcnt and not a voluntary sec, ssion from II
10y virtue OF an inherent constitutional right.
la short let US look the danger fIirly in the
face. Secession is neither more nor less than
revolution. 1t may or it may not b: justiiit
hlc revolution, hut still il i, revolution.
What, i'll the mean cine, is the responsibility
and true petition If the Executive II,
is bound by solemn oath before God ana
the country to take care thatthe law.
be faithfully executed and from tLis obiga
ton he cannot he atsoiV"i D.; any human
power. Bot what il the p.rlriu.alc, OF thi,
duty, ia whole or in part Ia h.,u rcud,re,
impractiCahc Nv events "lr, wli,a hr Cou d
have exercised uo C'it o. ~.Da, 4 the pres
enc moment, Is the C,t-c tLrO I-ii ut th" State
OF South CIulina, 50 far IS tho Laws of the
United States To secure the admin Suu'iuu O
Justice by mean # thr F,lcnl JUdioiIty art
concerned. All the FEDERAL oil .cls .,itail it,
limits, through whose agency alone these lawr
can be carried into execution, have already re-
signed We no longer have district judge, :
district attorney, OF II marshal, in South Caro-
lima. In fact the whole machinery OF the +, q
eral Government, nee s-ary for the distribution
OF remedial justice amonS the pc pie, has been
demolished AMI il woud b. dIiHrult. il HOi
impossible, TO replace it.
Tie only acts Of CuuEr = on the statute
book, bearing upon this rui rrt, are those o
the 18th February, l1@j ana ID Match, 1907
These authorize the President, after he shall
have ascettainci that the MARSHAL with his gO.,
conitaiUs is unable to execute evil II criminal
process in any particular case, to c,ll forth the
militia and employ the army and navy To aid
him in performing this service, hlvin. first Iy
froclamition commanded the insurgents 10
disperse and retire pelCcably 10 their r,spcciiv,
abodcs, within limited time This duty
cannot by possibility be- performed in State
where no judicial authority exists to Issue pro
cess, and where there is no marshal to execute
it, and where, even if there were such an oiii-
Ger, the entire population would constitute one
solid combination t. resist him.
The bare enumeration OF these provisions
prove how inadequate they are without further
legislation to overcome a united opposition in
a single State, not 10 speak Of other States who
may place themselves in similar attitude
Congress alone has power to decide whether
/ the present laws can or cannot be amended 50
as to carry out more ctlrctGally the objects Of
the Constitution
The same insuperablc obstacles do not lie in
the way of executing the laws for the collection
of the customs The revenue still continues
to be collected, as heretofore, at the custom
house in Charleston; aud should the collector
unfortunately resign, a successor may be ap-
pointed TO perform this duty.
Then in regard TO the property Of the United
States in South Carolina. This has been pur-
chased for fair equivalent. "hy the consent of
the legislature of the State, "ior the erection
of forts, magazines, ars,nals," &c, and over
these the authority ito exercise exclusive legis-
iation' has been expressly granted by the Con
sttutiOn 10 Congress. 1t is not believed that
any attempt will lie made 10 cXIel the United
States from this property by force; but ii in
this should prove to be mistaken, the officer
in command of the forts has received orders TO
act strictly on the defensive. In such a contin-
gency, the responsibility for consequences
would right(ully rest upon the heads of the as
salants.
Apart from the execution of the laws, SO far
as this may be practicable, the Executive has
no authority to decide what shall be the rela-
tionS between. the Federal Government and
South CzllAsa. lIs has been invested with no
such dssrerfon. = BE possesses no power to
change the relations heretofore existing between
them, much less to acknowledge the independ
enCe Of that State This would be to invest Il
mere Executive officer with the power of re-
oognising the dissolution of the Confedoracy
among our thirty-three sovereign States. 1t
bears no resemblance to the recognition of a
foreign de fdciO government, involving no such
responsibility. Any attempt to do this would,
on his part, be naked act of usurpatiOn. 1t
is, therefore, my duty to submit to Congress
the whole question in all itl bearings. The
course of events is so rapidly fastening for
waI,l, that the emergency may soon arise, when
ypu may ic e. illp1 upon t1 decide the nOmen