Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-02-16
26l.

mateIy be used save for the special purposes f The
trust But it viii be said these forts are me prop
erty Of our General Government, and it has right
to defend its property. Not SO. In the first place
they not the property exclusively Of Us. the ad
herring States, but the joint property Of the ad
herring and seeding States and the right of joint
owner to possession is good that Of other joint
owners We, the adherlng States, have nffw n oEr
exclusive possession, all the rest Of the joint prop
erty and probably hold full share Of it. In tie
second place, if the United States Government has
S.'.a notnng more than property owner in
South carolina. it is on the same footing with other
property owners; il has no more right to keen a
garrison mere than Mr. Ast0r has TO maintain pri-
Vate garrison Of his own in the eity of New York
o uDyees ~ me iega authorities. If the General
Government be no longer legitimate Government
IN South Carolina, then its soldiers thera are ptr,,
ders, and may, justif4bly, be driven ont nv force
Much more Jusnhaby thanwe killed the soldiers of
England IN the beginning of our Revolution. for We
were fighting and killing her soldiers !. !. bols 49,
before We formally declared our Independence
IL may De SAID that the consent of the ooyerred,'
does not mean the consent Of part Of the governed:
it means the general consent of the whole not;cal
body taken together, Of majority of thai vgbo.
State Of full and complete organization; not IKE
the minor political divisions, counties towns and
cities, which are but subordinate parts Of whole
made and brought into existence by that whole. but
she was, from the beginning, an integral political
society; just such body is acknowledged like.
for instance the States of Tuscany and Mondena) to
have right OF expressing content or discomfort
IN this respect and town county, is the differ
enee between q man of full age and minor. When
such discomfort is formally expressed by half
dozen such integral political bodies, cannot get
over respecting It.
These conclusions it may be inconvenient for Us
to admit; but we cannot deny them, refuse. in
this case to accept their practical results without
condemning the doctrines we proclaimed and the
acts We did In our own revolt against England; nor
can we act out the denial of these conclusions,
| without substituting for our present government
government having sanction but that Of mere
| force.
Our General Government is, in its origin and na-
ture, one of pure consent of the consent rot OF
majority of the States but Of every State. Little
Rhode Island refused to join it for year more
after it had been putin full operation In the mean
time the great States Of Virginia and Pennsylvania
did not tender their and money to force her into
the Union. Every State left to Judge for itself
of the advantages and disadvantages itself of the
| Union. Nor the Union considered as tied to-
| gether by rope of sand. Every State brought
into it and tied to it by its own convictions Of the
advantages to itself; and it continuance Of such
convictions that was relied upon to keep the Union
tied together 1t was felt that nothing but op-
pressiYe administration of the Government could
\ change these convictions. because, the Declara-
ton of Independence says, mankind is more dis
posed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to
right themselves by sbolishing the forms TO which
! they accustomed"
We ought not to use force. Can we do so to any
good end?
The revolt takes in alreadya population as large
as that of our thirteen Colones when we claimed
a separate government and much richer. Some
of us call them all rebels and traitors as England
did u.s. The use Of force will double the number
of rebels and traitors. Have the advocates Of force
| no military friends who teach them that, of all
the foes in war the greatest folly is to despise the
enemy?
Our Governor and Legislature tender the men
and means of New York ito enforce the laws with
ia or without the State" As the federal laws are
obstructed only in the seeded States, this means,
it means anything, that the armed men ot New York
are 10 be marched down to Georgia, there Ito en-
!. | force the laws What are they to do when they
get there? They will find the Ordinance of Seces-
sion passed il is the fundamental law OF the Statei
the Legislature can make no laws save IN conform
iy with it; the courts viii conform their decisions
to it; how will the men of New York regulate every
bodys affairs in Georgia. Will they subsdtute the
proclamations of the commander Of the forces for
the laws of Georgia, and drum head eourtsmarta
for the law courts To bring Georgia back into the
F Union, the Ordinance of SrcessiOn must be re-
: pealed. Do the men Of New York propose 70 drive
the people of Georgia at the point Of the bayonet to
their polls, and there make them vote to repeal
their fundamental law? When they have done this,
what will they have done? They will not have brought
the State of Georgia back into the Union; they will
have bloted the State of Georgia ont OF existence
But say the advocates of force, the Ordinance of
I. Secession is a nulty. Disregarding that we pro-
4 nose simply to enforce the laws. Chief among the
' | Federal laws are the revenue laws We will sup
r | pose the New York maltia in possession Of the
Charleston Custom House, with fresh collector
l., \ installed, gathering revenue. question arises
= recurring irterpOsition of Court. Where IS your
n Federal Court? And if Court can be found, a
!, Jury may beIneeded. Is jury Of the District OF
South Carolina to be drafted from the ranks OF the
II invading army
Again. it is said collect the duties on board man
N ofwar In that case clearly the New York militia
/ would do better to stay at home They would DC
II in the way on board ship. In such case, is the
AHa.E fNHnafa rQ1
and are the jures to be drafted from the forecaste
,e A case of smuggling may occur. How are you to
d forfeit the goods and pnnish the crime ina
IN Constitution provides that 1.-The trial OF ali crimes
is shall be by jury, and shall be held in the state
n bere the sald crimes shall have been committed.
70 Even for treason South Carolina, the trial mus
st be in South Carolina All this would not os
to | enforcing the laws, civilized nations enfercs
AZ ! the laws under the guardianship of the Court
of Justice; it would be an acknowledgment o.
n tour utter inability to ent0re the law, ana that
y therefore, you had subshtutedimilitary RUE tn0
subject to the court authorizes Tor there are o.
81 federal civil authorities therel in piece of the av
~ StilI another mode Of applying force proposed
viz: to declare all the ports Of the seeded states
no longer ports Of entry, and then TO blockade tnen
oT Precisely this mode tried by England in ~
ta Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill shutting
II the barbor of Boston. Did it do any good How
he will even our allies the Northwestern State
he relish a blockade of the mouth of the Mississippi
M | as a method of promoting its free navigation.
If force be Of doubtful rlgnL anu AZ lne sAio Ill
mt of very doubtful result wisdom dictates just the o.
posite policy; policy of entire peace Give to 81
or seeded States their independence, freely manfG
and at once; in no juggling shutting, half way ma
re ner, but outright Do not suspend your fostoms
err laws and leave your GustoErhouse laws extend.
nd over them. This would be unjust. 1t would
ed claiming to exact revenue and offering no benefit
of Such policy was urged upon the British Mini
of try at the beginning Of our Revolnnon IL was pr
he posed that Parliament should pass an Act cutting
ras the thirteen Colonies from the British empire, al
to that they should then let alone. But the mnist
is were obstinately resolved ito maintain the COnst
ca ton and enforce the laws The proposal
! secuted at as folly on all hands, even by those
ted England most friendly to our Yet the rea
of er of history, looking back that it would ha
nt been their wisest eourse it offered the only ehan
ent of winning US back.
IA II is idle to debate who has been wrong or WI
ept is now wrong. The open quarrel is now upon
,ro- Congress is unequal to re-uniting US. COnsfe
red must soon break up, leaving only the Exeenute
hat duty obliged to execute the laws, yet unable /" :
' in ecute them pOweress to subdue the dlsoruer'
the Obliged to suppIy>constanty new irritation
ork Let Congress pass Act suspending inaennie
,pa- all thelaws of the United States so far rs thsy
ven applicable to the seeded States and theI
,oy- of course to include any other states SnSn ~
tu vet seceie: resroceding all forts and otner pup
ord property within their boundaries sa9Jeee - =
ton cuniary adjustment providing ma uere su@I ~
lse free trade between their pors am o > ~ ~ ~
Tom and goods so long as they maintain lle same taI
;s on goods from other countries IS we 90 Sle&Ee Q
3on tariff unaItered for the present, and, above all
''' alone the petty revenge Of repeating thu the sugar
ords ties), and providing IiiAs - no,z ;,,s-h.- -
fork changed at the oor1el = -s,aovs5 e,o T5
Is oa- now within their limits, let the seeded Sta
,ther | alone. ~, .
tacle border slave 0N-'eS " - 49,
n Of tile feelings -
Itely, Our mn1S S,rtb On one side shall hsva f
Do pie OF % tne 49, ,bev Ca, ,,ss fo. :; ~; &
gov ben the people cf the South on the other 8
Lave lave know they will have no fighting to do
our To the advocates Of force it is suggested that
Po. may prove to be the most powerful kind of CT
utiOn clol, In ~. n.; :. ~ " - -. - -
the ly relations will be mighty; and we may be for
nate together again by mutual convictions, the
mot ginal force Of the Union If So secession whet
I'll. I1rr