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

uOt Hetesaaiy anu proper Tor carrying lntO eX
eoution any one of these powers. So far from
this power having been delegated to Congress,
it was expressly refused by the Convention
which framed the Constitution
1t appears, from the proceedings of that body,
that on the 3lst of May, 1857 the clause Eau
thonzinS All OK rtion OF the force of the whole
against delinquent State" came up for con
s'!eIatiOn. Mr.. Madison OPP osed it in brief
but powerful speech, from which shall extract
| but single sentence. He observed .'Ihe use
of force against State would look more like n
dcclaration Of war than an iniicton of punish
| nient AMI would probably be considered by
| the party attack, d as a dissolution of all pre-
vious COM acts by which it might he bound
Upon his motion the clause was unanimously
! postpone Il, and was never again believe pre-
sent, ,d. soon afterwards, on the Sth June
| 1877, when Incidentally adverting TO the sub
| jet, he said : Any Government for the United
States, formed On the supposed practicability
| of using tuIcc against the unconstitutional pro.
cecdines Of the States, would prove as visioLa
~ aud ialiacious as the government of Con
grcss,' evid, ntly meaning the then existing
Congress of the old Confederation.
| Without descending to particulars, it may be
| safely asserted, that the power t. make war
against State Is at variance with the whole
| split and intent of the Constitution. Suppose
sliti u wal silouIl fchuIt III tnc conquest Ol
State, how are We to govern it afterwards ?
Shall We hold i, as Il province, and govern it
by despOtic power, In the nature OF thin IS
We could Tot, by physical force control the
will OF the people aud compel them TO elect
scuat rs and representatives, to Congress, and
| IL perform all the other duties depending upon
their own voition, and required from the free
citizens of tree STATE as constituent member
! Of the Coniedrracy
/ Eut, il possessed Of this power, would it be
! wise to exercise it under existing circumstan-
crs The object would doubtless be to pre-
sly the Union. War would not only present
/ the most etirctual means OF DESTROYING it but
would ban,h all hope of It's peaceable recon-
/ stIuctlou. Besides, i'll the fraternal conflict
| v.,t amount Of blood and treasure would be
! cxr,nI,d. rendering future reconciliation be
| tween, the States impossible In the mean
timr, Who can foretell what would be the sui
| friug and Privntinn of the people during its
| existence,
| The fact is, that our Uuion rcsts upon public
| opini II AMI can never be ccmcntcd by the
blood f its citizens shed in civil war If it
can not live i'll the affections OF the people, it
must one day perish. Congress possesses
many means OF preserving it by conciliation :;
but the sword was not placed in their hands TO
preserve it Ivy force.
But may be permitted solemnly to invoke
my countrymen to pause aud deliberate, be-
fore they determine to destroy this the grand
est temple which has ever been Dedicated to
human freedom since the world BEGAN 1t has
ben coGsecri;el by the blood of our fathers
10y the glorcs OF the past, and by the hopes of
the future. The Union has already made Us
the most prosperous. and, ere long, will. II
preserved, rrndcr Us the most powerful nation
Oh the face Of the earth. In every foreign re-
giOa of the globe the title Of American citizen
is held i'll the highest respect, and when pro
nounCcl in a foreign land it CAUSES tho hearts
OF our cOuItrynen TO swell with honest pride
Surely when we reach the brink of the yawn-
ing abyss We shall recoil with horror from the
lat fatal plunge. by such dread catas ro-
pho the hopes Of the friends OF freedom
Throughout the world would be DESTROYED. and
a long night If d,spOtism would enshroud the
nations. our example for more than eighty
years wouli not only be lost +; but would be
quoted a. il conclusive proof that man is unfit
t.r stlt government.
1t Is mol every wrons-nay, it is not every
grrviOUS wrOng-which can instity a resort g.
such a fearful alternative This ought to be
the las, desperate remedy of a despairing IeO
pie, after every other constitutional means OF
! Cancellation had been exhausted. We should
re Il ct that under this free government there
is an incesslnt ebb and flow in public opinion
The slavery question, like everything human
will have It's day. / firmly believe that it has
already reached and passed the eliminating
point. But if, III the midst of the existing cx
citrmcnt the Union shall perish, the evil may
then become irreplrable. Congress can con
tribute much to avert it by proposing and re-
commenting to the Legislatures of the several
States the remedy for existing evils which ttt
Ia, l,l ,,,
seryation. This has been tried at different ciit
cal periods of our history, and always will
eminent success. 1t is to be found in the fiftl
article providing for its own amendment. -
| Under this article amendments have been pro
| pCscl by twO-thiTdS of both Houses OF Congress
and have been " ratified by the Legislature,
Of three fourths of the several States" and
| consequently become parts of the Constitution
| To this process the country is indebted for the
| clause prohibiting Congress from passing any
law respecting the establishment of religion, oI
ahridgiug the freedom of speech or of the
press, OF OF the right Of petition. To this VT
are also indebted for the Bill of Rights which
secures the people against any abuse of power
| by the Federal Government. such were tbs
apprehensions justly entertained by the friend,
OF States rights at that period rs to have rem
dered it extremely doubtful whether the Con
slitution C uld have long survived without these
amendments.
| Again, the Constitution was amended by the
same process after the election of President
jefferson by the Hous. of Representatives,. in
| February, 1905. This amendment was render
ed c,ssary 10 prevent recurrence of the
dam gers which had seriously threatened the
| existence of the Government during the PEN
| dcncy of that election. The article for its own
amendment was intended to secure the amcable
adjustment of conflicting constitutional ques-
tions like the present, which might arise be-
| tween the governments of the States and that
of the United States. This appears from con-
| tcmporaneous history.
In this connection, l shall merely call atten-
ton TO few sentences in Mr.. Madison's Justly
celebrated report, in 1893. to the legislature of
Virginia In this he ably and conclusively
defended the resolutions of the preceding
legislature against the structures OF several
other State legislatures These were mainly
founded upon the protest of the Virginia legis
lature against the ''Allen and SeditiOn Acts
as ''palpable and alarming iniractions of the
Constitution" In pointing out the peaceful
and constitutional remedies and he referred to
none other, TO which the States were authori
Il d to resort. on such occasions, he concludes
by saying, that the legislatures OF the States
might have made n direct representation to
Congress with view to obtain the resembling
of the two offensive acts or they might have