Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1860-12-13

any imports or exports, except what may be alb
solutely necessary for executing its inspection
laws " and if they exceed this amount, tho
excess shall belong to the United States.
And " no State shell, without the consent of
Congress, lay any duty cf tonnage keep troops,
or ships Of war, in time of peace, enter into
any agreement or compact with another STATE,
or with l2raisn power or engage in war, I'M
less actually invaded, or in such imminent dan
ger rs will not admit OF delay
In order st!u ftrther 10 secure the uninter.
rupted exercise Of thes2 high pow 2rs against
State nt}rpj3tjon, ii is provided " that this
constitution and tn laws Of the United States
whca shall b. made in pursuance thereof, and
all treaties made or which shall be made, under
The Authority OF thY United S:at23, snail be the
supreme law Of tbc land and the Judges in
every Stntc shall be bound thereby, anything in
the constitution or laws OF one State to the
contrary Notwithstanding.
The solemn sanction Of religion has been
auperadd4d to tho obligations Of official
duty, and all Senator's ard Representatives OF
the United States, all m9mb2rs Of State Legis-
aturts, and all executive or judicial officers,
" both Of the Unitcd States and Of the several
States, shall be b)nnd by oath or affirmation to
support this constitution"
In order to carry into effect these powers,
the constitution has established perfect gov
crnment in all its forms, legislative, executive
and judicial, and this government, to the ex-
tent OF its powers, acts directly upon the indi-
vdual citizens Of every State and exercises Its
own DEGREES by the agency Of its own officers -
In this respect it differs entirely from the gov
eminent under the old confederation, which was
confined to making acquisitions or the States in
their sovereign character. This Left it in
the discretion of each whether to obey or re-
fuse, and they often declined t. comply with
such acquisitions. 1t thus became necessary
for the purpose of removing this barrier, and
" in order to form more perfect UnOn,' to
establieh government which could act directly
upon the people and execute its own laws
without the intermediate agency of the States
This has been accomplished by the constitution
Of the United States.
In short, the government created by the Con
stituton, and deriving its authority from the
sovereign 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 onuner
ated cases, that each one of them possesses over
subjects not delegated to the United States Blu t
" reserved to the States r spectiycy, or to the
people,
10 the extent of the delegated powers, the
Constitution of the United States is as much a
part of the Consultation Of each State, and is
as binding upon its people, as though it had
been textually inserted therein.
This government, therefore, is II great and
powerful government, invested with all the at
tributes Of sovereignty over-the special subjects
to which its authority extends. Its trainers
never intended to implant in its bosom the seeds
of it's own destruction, nor were they at its
creation guilty Of the absurdity of providing
for its own dissolution 1t was not intended
by its trainers to be the baseess fabric of Il
vision which, at the touch of the enchanter
would vanish into thin air, but substantial
and mighty fabric, capable of resisting the slow
decay of time and of defylng the storms OF
ages. Indeed, well may the jealous patriots of
that day have INDUCED fears that government
of such high powers might violate the reserved
rights of the States, and wisely did they adopt
the rule of a strict cons ructlon OF these powers
to prevent the danger Bat they did not fear,
nor had they any reason t. imagine, that tho
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
her people from all or any Of their federal o3ll-
cations.
IL may be a~ked, then, are the people OF The
States without redress against the tyranny and
oppression Of the federal government? By n
means. The right Of resistance on the part OF
the governed against the oppression Of their
Governments. cannot be denied. ltc@lsts indie
pendently of ali constitutions, and Las hoeu cX-
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