The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-02-10

Governof Houston - the Unions
General Sam Houston, Governor OF Texas,
In presenting to the Legislature Of that State
the resolutions Of South Carolina In favor Of
Southern Confederacy, argues ably and %.
triottcally against Texas joining In any such
project. We select o few paragraphs from his
mess3gc:
We're the Southern States to yield to the
suggestions Of South Carolina, and passing
over the Intermediate stages Of trouble. 4
Southern confederacy should be estahlished
could South Carolina oIer any guaranty for
ITS duration II she were TO secede from the
present Union, could one be formed with a
constitution OF more obligatory force than the
one which has been formed By our fathers in
which the patriots and sages Of South Caro-
una bore conspicuous part Sever the pre-
sent Union tear into fragments the Constitu.
tion-stay the progress Of the FREQ instit tions
which both have sustained. and what atone.
ment Is 70 be offered 70 liberty for the act !
rom whence .s to come the elements of "a
more perfect Union" than the one formed bv
the men OF the Revolution? Where is the pa.
sriofism, the equality, the RepubIicanism to
l.ame better Constitution! That which
nou.n ,hi Oaroiina became party to in 1873 has
10 tnis period proved equa to all the demands
made upon 1t by the wants of a great people
ono tne expensive energies Of q progressive
ase. Nelther ia peace nor in war has it ever
Des Dn .oond lnadquate to any emergency. 1t
mas, In return, extended the protection which
OnIon alone can give. The States have re-
ceived the benefit Of this union. II is left to
tnem TO abandon it at their pleasure--to desert
tne Union which has cherished them, and
without which they would have been exposed
70 al! the misfortunes incident to their weak
condition.
The Union was intended to be a perpetuity.
t,no hn ascepnng the condiasns imposed prior to
becoming a part of the con federacy the States
became part OF nation. What they conceded
comprises the power of the Federal Govern
ament out over that which they did not con-
,sa nneir sovereignty is as perfect as that Of
'ne Union In its appropriate sphere. They
gave ali mat was necessary to secure strength
ana permanence to the Union-they retained
al mat was necessary to secure the welfare Of
Texas cannot be in doubt ms to this question.
In entering the Union, ii is not difficult TO de-
termlne what was surrendered BY an inde-
pendent Republic. We surrendered the very
power, tne want of which originated the Fed
erai Union-the right to regulate commerce
win foreign nations. As an evidence OF it we
transferred our custom-houses as we did our
.,l torts ana arssnals, along with the power to
oeciare war. We surrendered our national
nag 1n becoming State of the Union. Texas
agreed mot to enter into any treaty, alliance
OF CONGREGATION, and not without the consent
oI congress to keep troops or ships of war,
enter Ihto any agreement or compact with any
other State or foreign power" All these rights
belonged to Texas rs "A nation. She ceased to
possess them as a State; nor did Texas, in
'efms or by implication, reserve the power or
ava thV tACICist VI Lue Ttpub 10 SeceOe
from these obligations. without the consent of
me otner parties to the agreement acting
through their common agent the Federal Cow
ernment. The Constitution of the United
states does rot thus provide for its own Ge-
struc'ion. An inherent revolutionary right
70 oe exercised when the great purposes OF the
Union have failed, remains !; but nothing else
Mignt not South Carolina if a new confede-
facy were formed, a any time allege that an
tnfraction Of the new Constitution. or some
deviation from its principles, had taken place
In such an event, according to the principles
now iald down by her, she would then exer-
else the same power which she now assumes.
Grant her assumption Of the right of seces-
SION, and 1t must be adopted as a general prin-
cip'e. Massachusetts may then nullify the
Fugitive Slave law by virtue of her right As "A
constitution, which she would thus violate,
quietly go out of the Union.
IL has been remarked by statesmen of South
Oarolina, when commenting upon the alleged
tggresslons OF the North upon the South, that
many or the evils Of which we complain
were OF our own making
II we have suffered from our own bad poll
cy In the Union-from giving the control of
our affairs to men who have not calculated
we'll as 10 results, (the niOn has enabled us
10 retrieve many of the false steps, and at no
time since the history of our government
nave so many Of the safeguards of law been
thrown around our peculiar institution. 1t
IS Tor us to sustain it and every other right
we possess in the Union. Sustained by the
Fedora! arm and the Judiciary, we may rely
upon the maintenance OF these rights which
we know we possess. Whenever these are Ia
ken from US, the Constitution has lost its now.
er. There will be no Union to secede from for
IN the death of the Constitution, the Union
likewise perishes; and then comes civil war,
and the struggle Tor the uppprmost.
II the present Union. from hich we are
asked to secede, does not possess in itself all
tne conservative elements tor its main tenance
il does seem TO me that ali political wisdom
and binding force must be set at nonght by the
measures proposed.
So long as a single State reserves to herself
the right of judging for The entire South as to
the wrongs inflicted, and the mode of redress,
ii is difficult to determine to what extent the
theory would be carried.
Texas is a border State. Indians rayage a
portion OF her frontier. Mexico renders inse-
cure her entire Western boundary. Her slaves
are liable to escape, but no fugitive slave law
is pledged for their recovery. Virginia, Mis-.
souri, and Kentucky are border S.aIes, and ex-
posed to abolition emissaries. Have they asked
for di3union as a remedy against the assaults Of
abOlitiOnism! Let dissolution come, and the
terrible consequences will fall upon all those
first, and with Il dou BILE force. South Carolina,
side, and a Gordon of slave S ates between her
and danger, has had but little reason for APP
prehension. Those who suffer most at the
hands OF the North seem still disposed TO bear
IN for the sake of the Union. When they can
bear n longer they can judge for themselves,
and should their remonstrances fail to call
the enemies OF the Cons q tiOn back 20 duty,
aud the Federal Government cease to protect
them, the pathway Of revolution is open to
them.