Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1860-12-06

whether
or TO refuse, and they often declined to comply
wsth such acquisitions 1t thus became neces
sary, for the purposs of removing this barrier,
and Sin order to form more perfect Union, -
TO estaolish h q Cove. nment which could act d-
rectly upon the people, and execute its own
laws without the intermediate agency OF the
States. This has been accomplished by the
Constitution of the United States.
In short, the Government created by the
Constitution, aud deriving its authority from
the sovereign people OF each OF the several
States, has precisely the saue right TO exercise
its power over the people cf all these Stat, $ in
the enumerated cases, that each Cne Of them
posss sses over subjects not delegated to the
United States but reserved to the States. res
pectively, or to the people
To the extent of the delegated powers the
Constitution of the United States is as much
part OF the constitution Of each Safe, and is
as binding upon its people, as though it had
teen textualy inserted therein
This Government, therefore, is a great and
powerful Government, invested with all the at
tributes OF sovereignty over tue special sub
! jects TO which its authority extends It's fra
lners never intended to ilnulant In its bosom
The seeds of its own d, struction, nor were they
at It's creation guilty OF the absurdity Of provid-
ing for is own dissolution. 1t vas not intended
| By its framgis 10 be the baseless fabric of q
| GnCDa0LSr.
would vanish i4to Thin air, but u substantial
and mighty fabric, capable Of resisting the slow
| decay Of time aud OF detying the storms of ages
| Indeed, well may he jealous patriots of that
| day have INDUCED eals that government of
such high powers might violate the reserved
rights OF the States, and wisely did they adopt
the rule Of strict construction q! these pow
els to prevent the danger But they dii not
! fear, nor bad they any reason To imagine that
tltn tT1t i
as to enable any State, by her oan act, and
without the consent Of her sister States, to dis
charge her people from all or any Of their Fed
eral obligations
1t may be asked, then, are the people Of the
States without redress against the tyrany and
oppression of the Federal Government BY no
means. The right of resistance on the part Of
the governed against the oppression Of their
governments Cannct be denied. 1t exists indie
pendently of all constitutions, and has been
exercised at all periods Of the worlds history.
Under it old governments have been destroyed
and new ones have taken their place 1t is
embodied in strong and express language in
our own Declaration of Independence. But
the distinction must ever be observed that this
is revolution against an established Govern
ment, and not q voluntary secession from il
by virtue Of an inherent constitutional right
In short, let US look the danger fairly ia the
revolution. 1t may or it may not be justifia
bic revolution, but still it is revolution.
What, in the mean cine, is the responsibility
and true position of the Executive? He
is bound by solemn oath before God anC
the country 'to take care thatthe law
be faithfully executed, and from this obliga
ton he cannot be absolved by any human
power. Bat what if the performance of thi
duty, in whole or in part, has been rendered
fifol hue
have exercised no cont Oh Such, at the pres
enc moment, is the case through ,ut the State
OF South Carolina, SO far as the laws of the
United Stats to secure the administration o
justice by means of the Federal Judiciary arc
concerned. All the Federal officers within it
limits, through whose agency alone these laws
can be carried into execution, have already re
signed. We no longer have district Judge,
district attorney, or a marshal, in South Caro-
lima. In fact, the whole machinery of the Fed
eral Government, necrs ssary for the distribution
OF remedial justice among the people, has beer
demolished and it would b. ditficalt If no
impossible, to replace it.
The only acts of Congress on the statute
book, bearing upon this subject, are those O
the 26th February, 1895, and 3 March, 1907
These authorize the President, after he shal
have ascertained that the marshal with his posS
c0mltGtns is unable 10 execute civil OF crmina
process in any particular case, to call forth tht
militia and employ the army and navy to aiC
him in performing this service, having first by
Proclamation commanded the insurgents ''tC
disperse and retire peaceably to their respective
abodes, within limited time " This duty
cannot by possibility be performed in State
where no judicial authority exists to issue pro
cess, and where there is no marshal to execut
it, and where, even if there were such an off
cer the entire population would constitute ont
. | at IN
The bare enumeration of these provision:
prove how inadequate they are without furthe
legislation to overcome a united opposition il
a single State, not 10 speak of other States whC
may place themselves in a similar attitude
Congress alone has power to decide whethe
, the present laws can or cannot be amended 81
} as to carry out more etfectually the objects o
} the Constitution.
The same insuperabIe obstacles do not lie il
the way of executing the laws for the collection
of the customs. The revenue still continue
to be collected, as heretofore, at the custom
house in Charleston; and should the collecto
| unfortunately resign, a successor may be ap
pointed to perform this duty.
Then in regard to the property of the Unitet
5 States in South Carolina. This has been pur,
; chased for a fair equivalent ''by the consent o
the legislature of the State "for the erection
of forts, magazines, arsenals," &C., and owe
iation'' has been expressly granted by the Con
stitution to Congress. 1t is not believed tha
any attempt will be made to expel the Unitec
; States from this property by force; but if il
this l should prove to be mistaken the office
in command of the forts has received orders t,
act strictly on the defensive. In such a contin
gency, the responsibility for consequence
would rightfully rest upon the heads of the as
sailants.
} Apart from the execution of the laws, so ia
as this may be practicable, the Executive ha
f no authority to decide what shall be the rela
tions between the Federal Government ant
South Carolina. He has been invested with NJ
r such discretion He possesses no power tt
change the relations heretofore existing betweel
them, much less to acknowledge the independ
ence of that State. This would be to invest
mere Executive officer with the power of re
t cognising the dissolution Of the Confederac.
among our thirty-three sovereign States l
bears no resemblance to the recognition of
4 i