Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1861-01-03
were TO defend their rights against usurpation.
Mr.. JOHNSON said:

MIR. JOHNSON said:
We see that in that instance President
Washington thought there was power in
this Government TO execute its laws. We
see, too, tha, George Washington consid
cred the militia the army of the Constitu
ton. We see, too, that George Washing
ton refers to this Union as being insepera-
bic. This is the way that the laws were
executed by the Father of his Country,
the man who sat as President of the Con
vention that made the Constitution
Here was resistance interposed. opposi-
tion to the execution of the laws; and
George Washington, then President of TIE
United States, went in person at the bead
Of the militia; and it showed his sagacity,
his correct comprehension Of men, and the
effect that an immediate movement of that
kind would have upon them. He ordered
fifteen thousand of his countrymen 10 the
scene of action, and went there in person,
and STAYED there till he was satisfied that
the insubordination was quelled. That is
the manner in which George Washington
put down rebellion. That is the manner
IN which he executed the laws.
Mr.. JOHNSON referred to Gen. Jackson
in notification times, and remarked:
Then we see where General Washing.
ton stood. Now how does the present
case stand? The time has come when men
should speak out. Duties are mine; con-
sequences are Gods. Intend to discharge
my duty, and intend 10 avow my under
standing Of the Constitution and the laws
of the country. Have We no authority or
power 10 execute the laws in the State of
South Carolina as well as in Vermont
and Pennsylvania? I think we have
Now. sir, wha. Is The Government to do
in South Carolina? If South Carolina
undertake 10 drive the Federal Courts out
of that State, yet the Federal Govern
ment has the Right to provide the means
for retaining possession of that properly.
If she makes an advance either To dispos-
sess the Government of that which it has
purchased, or TO resist the execution of the
revenue laws, or of our judicial system, of
the carrying of the mails, or the exercise
of any other power conferred on the FEEDER
al Government, she puts herself in the
wrong, and it will be the duty of the Gov
ernment to see that the laws are faithfully
executed.
SOUTH cARoLINA's DEED OF cEssIoN.
Mr.. JOHNSON read the deed of cession
by South Carolina to the General Govern
menl of tie land on which the forts of
Charleston are erected. Mr.Johnson said {:
Here is the clear deed of cession. The
Federal Government has complied with all
the conditions, and has, in its own right,
The land on which forts are cons,ructed.-
The conditions of the cessicn have been
complied with; and the Government has
had possession from that period to the
present time. There are its forts; there
are its arsenal there are its dock.
yards; there is the property of the Gov
ernment; and now, under the Constilu
ton, and under the laws in per>uance
thereof, has South Carolina the au;hhrly
and the right to expel the Federal Gov
ernment from its own property that has
been given to her by her own act, and of
which it is now in possession? BY resist
ing execution of the laws; by attempting
to dispossess the Federal Government,
does she not put herself in the wrong?-
Does she not violate the laws Of Tie
United States? Does she not violate the
Constitution? Does she not put herself,
within The meaning and puview of the
Constitution, in the attitude of levyiDg
war against the United States? The Con-
s,itution defines and declares what is trea-
son. Let US talk about things by their
right names. / know that some hotspur
or madcap may declare that these are times
fer government of law that We are in a
revolution. l know that Patrick Henery
once said, "lf this be treason, make the
most of it," If anything can be treason
in the scope and purview of the Consttu-
tion, is it not levying war upon the United
States treason. Is not an attempt TO take
its property treason? Is not an attempt
to expel its soldiers treason? Is not an
attempt to resist the collection of the rev.
enue, or to expel your mails, or 10 drive
your courts from her borders, treason!-
Are not these powers clearly conferred in
the Constitution on the Federal Govern
ment to be exercised? What is it, then,
ask in the name of the Constitution, in
the meaning of the term As there defined ?
1t is treason, and nothing but treason
and if one State, upon its voliton, can 90
out of this Confederacy without regard
10 the effect it is to have upon the remain
ing parties to the compact, what is your
Government worth what will il come to !?
and what will it end? 1t is no Govern
ment at all upon such construction.
WHAT DARE WE PERMIT STATE TO Dot
Suppose this doctrine to be true, Mr..
President that State can withdraw from
this Confederacy, and suppose South Car
olina has seeded, and is now out of the
Confederacy: in what an attitude does she
place herself? There might be circumstan-
ces under which the States ratifying the
compact might tolerate the secession of q
State, she taking the consequences of the
act. But there might be other circum.
stances under which the States could not
allow one to secede. Why do l say so
Some suppose-aud it is a well-founded
supposition-that by the secession of q
State, all the remaining States might b
involved in disastrous consequences. They
might be involved in war; and by the Sc
cossion of one Stale. the existence of the