The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-12-10

laws TO be duly executed in ~, 49, me
,s Is .a"tn. 70 use the militia for the same nnr.
ar.l,sa y .ne set OF l19S the militia NAV be
SsIied mrth whenever the laws Of the Irn,,a% o
Sases sshail be opposed or the exeentirn .harans r
sn. "s eeo III any State by mbinatiops too
poNeIiui TO be suppressed by ths ordinate
~ss,sS oi Judicial proceedings, or by the power
xes,ed In the marshaisn This imnoses nmon
e resident the sole res possibility of dec idin q
eHsr the exiRency has arisen which re-
9ulTes the use of military force: and in nra-
,,, M 10 me magnitude of that responsibility
WIN De his care not to overstep the iirnits ~
ms legal and just aut thority -
The laws referred to in the Act of t7o, ara
inaniiestiy those which are administered nv
ahe Judges and executed by the ministerial Of.
nSeLs ~ oi me courts Tor the punishment Of
crime against the United States for the pro-
lection OF rights claimed under the r erisral
CONSTITUTION ana laws, ana for the enforce
sheht Oh such obligations as come within the
cosnikauce OF the Federal Judiciary. To com
PEI oDedienee TO these laws the courts have
authority TO punish ali who obs truct their reg.
aiar Administrations, and the marshals and
their deputies have the same powers as sharifs
ana theif deputies In the several States in exc
cnting the laws OF the States. These are th 2
ordinary means provided for the execution of
the iaWs, and the whole spirit of opr svsten,
is opposed 10 the employment OF any other
eAcept In cases OF extreme necessity, arising
oul oi great and unusual combinations against
lhem' Their agency must continue 10 be used
untii their iucapacity TO cope with the power
opposed To them shall be plainly demonstra
seu. II Is onty upon clear evidence to that eff.
iett hat military force can be called in 10 the
heio Even then its operations must he nnre
~ defensive IL can suppress only such com
binations as are found directly c-)posipr the
Isws ana OBS ruciing the execution thereof
IL can do no more than what might and ought
10 De done by civil posse, if a civil nnssa
could be raised large enough 10 meet tha Same
opposition. On such occasions esnecialIv Iha
nliii'uy power must be kept ia strict subordi.
fh Npkk
In alo Oh the latter that the fore can act nj All
but what II the feeling in any State against
the United States should become so universal
tnat the ederai officers themselves (including
Judges, uistrict attorneys, and marshals}
would be reached by the same influences and
resign their places nf course the ftcst stem
would De TO appoint others in their stead If
others could be got 10 ser"a. but, in such an
event, Ii Is more tsan probable that great diff
Guilty wcnid be found in filling the Offices :
We car easily conceive how ii might become
altogether impossible. We are therefore.
Obliged TO consider what can be done in case
we nave no courts to issue judicial process.
and no ministerial officers 10 execute il, In
that event troops would certainly be o:.t of
place, and their use wholly illegal. Il they
are sent TO aid the courts and marshals there
must be courts and marshals to be aided
without the exercise OF those functions, which
belong exclusively to the civil service the
laws cannct be executed in any event. no mat
ter What may be the physical strength which
lhe government has ut its CImmand. Under
such circumstances, 10 send a military force
into any Stste with orders to act against the
people would be simply making war upon
them.
The existing laws put and keep the Federal
Government strictly on the defensive You
can use force only 10 repei 81 assault On the
public property, and aid the courts IN the PER
formance ef their duty. If the means given
you TO collect the revenue and execute the
other laws be insufficient for that purpose
Congress ay Il lfir ma lp no, aF-
fectual 70 that ntfd.
II one CT tne States should declare her inde-
psruence, your action cannot depend upon the
rightfulness Of the cause upon which such
OF a State from the Union be the exercise OF 4
right reserved ia the Constitution or a reyo-
iutionary movement it is certain that you
have not in either case the authority to recor-
niZe her independence or TO absolye her from
her Federal obligations. Congress or the other
States in convention assembled must take
such measures as may be necessary and proper.
In such an event | see no course for you but
to go straight onward in the p.th YOU have
hitherto trodden-that is, execu le the laws to
the extent OF the defensive means placed in
your hands, and act generally upon the as
sumption that the present cons tItu tional rela-
tions between the States and the Federal Gov
ernment continne 10 exist until a new order Of
things shall be established. either by law or
force.
Whether Congress mas the constitutional
right to make war against one or more
States. and require the Executive OF the Fed
eral Government to carry it on by means OF
force TO be drawn from the other States, is
question for Congress itself to consider. 1t
must be admitted that no such power is ex-
pressly given nor are there any words in the
Constitution which imply il. Among the
powers enumerated in article /, sec S, is that
TO declare war; grant letters of marQue and
reprisal, and TO make rules concerning cap
lures on land and water" This certainly
means nothing more than the power to COM
mence and carry on hostllities against the for
eign enemies of the nation. Another clause in
the same section gives Congress the power
" TO provide for calling forth the militia" and
te use them within the limits Of the State
But this power is so restricted by the words
which Immediately follow, thatit can be ex-
ercised only tor one of the following pur-
poses: 1. To execute the laws of the Union :;
that is, TO aid the Federal officers in the per-
formance of their regular duties. , To sup
press insurrectIon against the States but this
Is confined by article 4, section 4, to cases
in which the State herself shall apply for as
sistance against her own people. j. To repel
the invasion of n State by enemies who come
from abroad to assail her in her own territory.
All these provisions are made to protect the
States not to authorize an attack by one part
OF the country upon another; to preserve their
peace and not to plunge them into civil war.
Our forefathers do not seem TO have thought
that war was calculated " to form more per-
feet union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defence,
DTOUlOIS tut Scucltl "cildIt, duu StCuIc IhC
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our pos
terity." There was undoubtedly strong and
universal conviction among the men who
framed and ratified the Constitution that mil
iiary force would not only be useless but per-
nicious as q means of holding the States to-
gether
II be true that war cannot be declared, nor
a system of general hoStilities carried on by
the Central Government against State, then
it seems to follow that an attempt to do so
would be tpso Jacto an expulsion of such State
from the Union. Being treated as an alien
and an enemy, she would be compelled to act
accordingly. And il Congress shall break up
the present Union by unconstitutionally put
ting strife and enmity and armed hostility be-
tween different sections OF the country, instead
of the domestic tranquility" which the Con-
stitution was meant to insure, VIII not all the
States be absolved from their Federal obliga-
tions Is any portion of the people bound to
contribute their money or their blood to carry
on contest like thatl
The right of the General Government to pre-
serve itself in its whole constitutional vigor,
by repelIiIg q direct and positive aggression
upon its property or its officers, cannot be de-
MED. But this Is q totally different thing from
an offensive war to punish the people for the
political misdeeds of their State Government,
or TO prevent a threatened violation of the
Constitution. or to enforce an acknowledge
ment that the Government of the United States
is supreme. The States are colleagues of one
another, and if some OF them shall conquer
the rest and hold them as sublugatea provinces,
it would totally destroy the whole theory upon
which they are now connected.
If this view of the subject be as correct as
think il is, then the Union must utterly perish
at the moment when Congress shall arm one
part of the people against anoh her for any pur-
pose beyond that of merely protecting the Gen.
eral Government in the exercise of its proper
constitutional functions.
am, very respectfully, yours, &c,
j. s. BLACK.
To the President of the United States.
TIE BURNING OF THE KENTUCKY LUNATIC
AsYLuM-Ths loss by the burning of the Ken