M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-12-13

/ CAaNSo1 oi'N| hH'AhO AASh "SNN VIZ
peaceful and Constitutional means to
obtain redress, would be justified in
revolutionary resistance to the govern
ment OF the Union.
have purposely confined my re-
marks to revolutionary resistance, be-
cause it has been claimed within the
last few years, that any STATE, when
ever it shall be her sovereign will and
pleasure, may secede from the Union
in accordance with the Constitution,
and without any violation OF the con.
lstitdtional rights OF the other members
of the coniederacy; that as eaci be
came parties othe Union blythe vote
Of its own people assembled in cop-
vention, SO any one OF them may
retire from the Union in similar
manner, by the vote ofsuch q conver-
ton. In order to justify secession as
a constitutional remedy, it must be Oh
the principle that the Federal Govern
ment is a mere voluntary association
of States, to be dissolved at pleasure
by one OF the contracting parties. II
this be 50, the contederacy is rope
of sand, ard to be penetrated and dis
solved by the first adverse wave OF
public opinion in any OF the States.--
In this manner our thirty,three
States may resolve themselves into
as many petty jarring and hostile re,
publics, each one retiring from the
Union without responsibility, whenev-
er any sudden excitement might i'm.
pei them to such course; by this
process a Union might be entirely
broken into fragments in few weeks,
which cost our tOretatherS many years
of toll, priyation and blood to estab-
lish. Such principle is wholly in
consistent with the history, as it was
framed wi tn the greatest deliberation
and care, it was submitted to conyen.
tions Of the people OF the several
States for ratification; its provisions
were discussed at length in these DO.
dies composed OF the first men OF the
country. Its opponents contended
that it conferred power upon the fed
eral government, dangerous to the
rights OF the States, whilst its advo.
Gates maintained that under u fair
construction OF the instrument, there
was no foundation for such apprehen
sions. In that mighty struggle be-
tween the first iItellects Of this or any
other country, it never occurred to
any individual, either among its oppo.
nents or advocates, to assert or even
| to intimate that their efforts were all
vain labor, because the moment that
any State felt herself aggrieyed, she
might secede from the Union. What
a crushing argument would this have
proved against those who dreaded that
the rights OF the States would be en-
dangered by the Constitution! The
truth is, that it was not until many
years after the origin OF the Federal
Government, that such proposition
was first advanced. 1t was then met
and rented by the conclusive argu-
ments of General jackson, who, in
his message of the 10th Of January,
1898, transmitting the nulIifying or
dipance5 of South Carolina to Con
gress, employs the following language.
The right OF the people OF single
State to absolye themselves at will,
without the consent OF the other
States, from their most solemn obN
cations, hazards the liberty aud ha
piness of millions composing til
Union, and cannot be acknowledged
Such authority is believed to be utter
lily repugnant, both to the principles
upon which the General Government
is constituted, and to the objects which
it was expressly formed to obtain
1t is not pretended that any clause in
the Constitution gives countenarce tc
such theory, it is altogether founded
upon inference, not from any Ian
guage contained in the instrument it.
SELF, but from the esoyereign character
of the several States by which it was
ratifed;- but it is beyond the power oi
a State, like an individual, to yield q
portion of its sovereign rights to se'
cure the remainder"
In the language Of Mr.. Madison,
who has oeen called the father of the
Constitution, it was formed BY tht
S tates, that is by the people oi, each
O! the States, acting in their highest
sovereign capacity, and formed by the
same authority which formed the
State Constitutions: nor is the govern
ment of the United States, created by
the Constitution, less government
in the strictest sense OF the term, with
in the sphere Of its powers, than the
governments created by the Constitp-
ton of the States are within their sew
eral spheres. 1t is like them organ
lied into Legislative, Executive and
Judiciary departments. 1t operates
like them directly on persons and
: things, and like thsm, it has at com