The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1860-12-08

people In their hlkhsAt sovereign capacity, Wne
| framing amending their STATE Constitution. l
like manner ii can onIy be exercised by the psopl
| II tho Territory represented IN Convention q
delegates tor the purpose OF framing Constitu
ton, preparatory to admission as state into ID
Union. Then, aud not until then, are they investe
with power to decide the question whether Shaver
| shall or sL Ill not exist within their limits. Thi
il an act Of sovereign authority, and not Of subof
| dinate territorial legislation. Were 1t otherwise
then indeed would the equality OF the States In tn
/ Territories he destroyed, and the rights Of pro
perty in slaves would depend, not upon the guaran
tees Of the Constitution, but upon tho shifting IN
jorities of IN Irresponsible Lfgislatnre. Such
| doctrine, from It's intrinsic unsoundness, canno
long influence any Portion Of eur people, mael
less ii afford good reason for dissolution o.
the Union. The most apable violations or constitu
tional duty which have yet been committed consis
in the acts OF diGeresnt State Legislatures to de-
feat the execution OF the Fugitive Slave Law Il
ought to be,reme INBRED, however, that for til .,
acts neither Congress Nor any President can b.
Justly held responsible; having been passed in VIC
ta,ion Of the Federal Constitution, they there
fore null and void. All the Courts, both State and
National before whom the question has arisen
ha ve from the beginning declared the Fugitive
Slave Law to be CONSTITUTIONAL The single excep-
ten is that Of state Court in Wisconsin, and this
has not only been rtvsrsed by the proper appellate
tribunal, but has met with snch universal reproba-
ton has there can be no drnger from it as prece
dent. The validity of this law bias been estab-
lishcd over and over again by the Supreme Court
IF the United states with perfect ananimity. Ii
is founded upon express provision of the Consti.
tuition, requiring that fugitive slaves who escape
from service IN one State TO another, shall be de-
livered up TO their masters. Without this provision
it il we'll known historical fact that the Con tn
ton itself could never have been adopted by the
Convention, Iu one form or another under the acts
of 1873 or 1880, both being substantially the same
the Fugitive Slave Law has been the Law Of tho
land since the DAYS Of Washington to the present
Hare 4 n ed N
which Ii will be the duty Of the next President rs
il has been my own, to act with vigor IN executing
this supreme law against the conflicting stments
or state Legislatures. Should he Ian iu the par
formance of his duty he viii then have manifest-
cd a d,sreusrd of the Constitution and laws to
tile great Injury Oh the people OF nearly half of
the States of the Union. But arc we to presume in
advance that be will thus violate his duty? This
would be at war with every principle Of ustice-of
Christian charity. Lct us wait Tor the overt act.
The Fugitive Slave Law has boon carried into
execution in every contested case since the com
IN en- cement OF the present administration, th9Hsh
often ii il to be regretted, with great 10th and
convenience and with considerable expense to the
Government. Let us trust that the State Legisla-
lures will repeal their unconstitutional and OBJ
noxions enactments unless this shall be done with
out unnecessary delay it is impossible for any hu
man power to save the Union. The Southern
Staics, standing on the basis OF the Constitution,
have right to demand this act III just ce from the
States OF the North. Should it b. refused them
the Constitution, to which ali the states-ars par
ties will have been willtully violated by per-
ton Of them, in provision essential to the domcs
tic security and happiness Of the remainder In
tha ept the urcd States after having FIRST sed
ali peaceful and Constitutional means TO obtain
redress, would be justified in revolutionary resist
Ancc to the government OF the Union.
have purp s-ly c,L6ned my remarks TO revolu-
tionary resistance, boz ausc ~ Las BEEN claimed
within the last few yesrs, that any state whenever
il snail be her sovereign will and pleasure nay se-
cede from the Union in accordance with the Con-
stitutlon, ard without any violation Of the cunsi.
tuIfonat rights u the other members II The con-
fedsracy, that each became parties to the Union
by the vote Of it's own people assembled in conven-
ton 90 any one Of them may retire from the Mon
In similar manner, by . vote ut such convention.
In order to justify secession ~ u constitutional
remedy it must be on the principle that the Fcde-
raj Government lie mere voluntary association OF
States To be dissolved Ut pleasure by one Of the
contracting iriies. If this he so the fsdcracy
il rope OK sand and to be penetrated and dissolved
by the first adverse wave OF public opinion any
Of the states. la this manner our thirty three
States may resolve themselves into ~ many petit
Earring aud hostile republics, each retiring from
the Union without responsibility, whenever any
sudden excitement might tmpe them 10 such a
courses: by this process lnion might DO entire liz
brok en- into ira gnsnts in lev weeks, which cost
our lorefsthers many years Of toll, prisation and
b ooi to establish. such principls.is wholly in.
consistent with the history u tho country, ~ IL
was franed with the greatest celebration and
care it Was submitted to convention OF the peops
Of the several States fnr ratification its provisions
were discussed ut length in THESE bodies mpo ed
Of the first Of the country. Its opponents con-
tended that ii conferred power upon ths Federal
Government; dangerous to the rights Of the States
whilst its advocates maintained that under y fair
construction OF the instrument, there was no foun-
dation for such spprehcnsions. In that mighty
struggle between lie first intelectsef this or any
Other country, Ii never occurred TO any individual
her among its oppoaents or advocates 10 Asser.
even to intimate that their Efforts were all vain
labor, because the moment that any state felt her
self sggrieved, she IN ght secede from the Union
What a crushing arr uncnt would this have l,r owed
against those v ho dreaded that the rights OF tn.
States would be endangered by the Constitution
The truthns, that IL not until many years after
the origin of the Federal Government, that such a
proposition was fret advanced. 1t was then met
and reiuted by the conclusive Arguments Of Gen
,ral jackson, who, in his message Of the 10th OF
January, 1888, transmitting the multiplying ordi.
nance Of South Carolina to Congress, en- ploys the
following language
'.1ha right Of the people Of single State to alb
solve themselves ut will. without the consent Of
the other Statrs, from their mn.t solemn sblisa.
tiunt, hazards the liberty and happiness OF mil
lions composing this Union, and cannot be nc.
know ged. Such authority ia believed to be ut.
tcfly repugnant, both to the pr nciples uIon which
the General Government is constituted, and to the
objects which it was expressly formed t. attain i,
is not pretended that any clause in the Consitu
ton gives conntenance 10 such theory; it is alto
gether founded upon difference, not from any Ian
guage contained in the instrument itself but from
the sovereign character Of tho several States by
which II was ratified; but II il beyond the po or Of
state, like IN individual, 10 yield portion of liz
sovereign rights TO secure the remainder In the
languageo OF MIR. Madison, who has been called the
father Of the Constitution, IL was termed by The
States, that Is by the people In each Of the States
acting in their highest sovereign capacity, and
formed consequently by the same authority viii oh
formed the State constitutions nor IL the lioverp-
mcnt OF the United States, creat by the Constitu-
ton, less 3overpment Ia the strctest sense of the
term, within the sphere of its powers, than the "
ernments crested by the constitutions Of tho states
are within their SEVERAL 81 heres Ii il, like them
organized into Legislative, Executive and Jud..
ciary departments. ltoperates like them direct !
IN persons and things. md likc them il has COM
mAnd OF "a physical force for executing the 30 err
committed 10 1t ; was intended 10 b. perpetual and
not - DO annaiicd ~ the pleasure OF any one u
ha ntrnrf Ia "a. iAnr 4. A.euf