The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1860-12-08

Constitution Of the {. States is as much
part OF the Constitution o. each Slate, and as
binding upon its people. ~ though trxtually
inserted therein! The government isl great
and powerful one, says tic President, and
was nut intended BY its iranicrs TO tc the
! baScesS fabric nf "A vision.
The people of the States are not however.
without redress against tyt ,Lny and opprrs-
sion hy the Federal G"yernmcnt. The right
Of resistance, cannot be denied. 1t exists
| Independently nfalf Constitutions. and is en-
! b"drd - our Declaration Of independence. -
But this Is revolution against c-tabl>h.d
government and not voluntary secession
from it v virtue of inherent Constitutional
right. SecrSsi u. is revolution. Ii may. or
may net be, UNSUITABLE, bvt still it is rtvnlu.
ton. The President Is hound by oath before
titd nnt?tht cIunlIy :. To take care that the
| laws be faithfully executed" la the case ,.f
South Carolina. however. he President says.
the performance Of his du'y is rcnhecd i'm
practicable by the resignation Of all the Fed.
eral officers within the limits Of that State.
The machinery of government Thus dcmol
iShrtl il would be difficult. # not ,m,r,ssihc
to replace. The dHty i,hpostt.' iilon the
Prcsi lent by tie ycts'of surctess Of February
2Sh 1873 and 81 March 1907. in reference
to 'thrllic'.! c-nn,t be performed tie rrc:;i-
dent says, in State occupying the position
that South Carolina now does, and conSc.
qncntly the provisions OF those acts are mad.
eqn"tc to he present emergency. Congress
| alone has power, he says. to decide wlethc,
these laws are capable Of proper amendment.
In reference to the collect ion of customs the
same obstacles 10 not exist The revenue is still
| collected at Charleston. and in case Of TIE ,e.
| signation Of the Collector. n successor may be
appointed. The prppcrty of the. o. States in
| ). Caroline having been purchased -. ~ the
consent Of the Safe Legislature for govern.
mcnt purposes Congress has authority Ito
exercise exclusive legislation over it, ard in
case of an attempt to cxpcl the U. States
from 1t. which the President, however sgatd<
is Improbable, the rf3cers III command If
the Fort has received orders to act defensive.
| ly. The consequences Of such an attempt
is made. would rest upon the heads OF the
assalan's. The President is invested with
no discretion, apart fn,n the execution of the
laws to determine or change the relations be.
tween the federal government and South
! Carolina, and has no power TO ack no " ledge
the Independence Of that State. Any attempt
| to do so would he a max cd act Of usnrpation
|
mlttd to Congress, with the remark, that
the emergency may Soop arise when the
monentons question Of compelling a Slate,
by force of arms. to remain in the Union will
require determination.
For the remainder OF our synopsis we are
indebted TO the Baltimore american Of We'd.
ncsday.
The President discusses the right of Con.
cress 10 use force against u seeding State.
and comes to the conclusion /" that The POKER
to make war against Slate is Mt variance
with the whole spirit and intent Of the
Constitution If, however, such q power
could be conStitutinnally exercised the rresi
dent thinks it could not bc wisely used under
the present circumstances. lie contends that
our Union rests upon public opinion and can
never he cemented by the blood of its citizens
shed in civil war. If it cannot live IN the
affections Of the people it must one day
perish. Congress possesses many means of
| preserving II by cnncil lat ion but the sword
was not placed in their hands to preserve it by
| force.
Passing from the discussion of these points.
the President appeals to the country to pause
and ie bcratr before they determine to de troy
the Union. Not every wrong. even though
II he very giitvouS wrong. can justify the
resort TO such a kaIfnl alternative There
are means of adjustment and Cancellation,
which should fits; bc tried, and the means
which he proposes in the present crisis is a
Constitutional Convention for the purpose of
obtaining All =" explanatory amendment of the
Constitution on :. Me subject Of slavery y
lie proposes that this explanatory amend.
men! shall be confined to the final settlement
Of the true construction of the Constitution
on three special points,
An express recognition IF the right Of property in
slaves in the states where it exists may hereafter
exist.
The duty of protecting this right in all common
Territories Throughout their territorial existence. and
until they shall le admitted States into the Union,
with or without slavery as their constitutions, may pre-
| scribe.
g. lik" recognition Of the right Of the master to
have his slave vii" has escaped from State another.
restored and delivered up" to him. and Of the validity
ofthc fugitive slave law enacted for this purpose together
with declaration that all State laws inpairing or defeat
ing this right violations Of the Constitution and ar.
consequently null and void.
The President thinks that such a. appeal
to the arbtrament established by the Con-
sttntion itself would be received with favor
by all the States of the Conf deracy. In any
event it ought to be tried in a spirit Of concil.
ation before any Of those States shall separ.
ate themselves from tho Union.
The remainder of the Message is devoted
to the discussion of the usual subjects of
d.mese1c md foreign relations. Our foreign
relations. with the exception of those with
Mexico, are generally IN satisfactory con-
dniou.
In relation to the tariff the President says
it is now quite evident that the financial
necessities Of the Government will require a
modification Of the tariff during the present
session. for the purpose Of increasing the
revenue. lie therefore reiterates the recon-
mendat!on contained in his last two annual
messages. in favor of imposing specific
instead Of I'D udlorem duties on all imported
articles to which these can be properly
applied. From long observation and exper i.
encc he is convinced that specific duties nro
necessary, both to protect the revenue and to
secure to our manufacturing Interests that
amount of incidental encouragement which
unavoidably results from the revenue tariff.
The Gov. of Virginia has issued his procla-
nation declaring the election of nine Bell and
six Brock nridge electors in that State. The
highest Bell slector chosen received 74.3O4
votes and the lowest 1887 votes. The
highest Breckenridge elector chosen received
74,lS0 and the lowest 74O29 votes.
-ln that stronghold OF Democracy IL,
Va..-the Tenth Legion. the Presidential
vote stood fO- Brrck inr,lpe 1SC. Douplas