Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1861-02-23
Washington City Correspondence.


f following extracts from a letter, recent.
ly received from a highly intelligent
: gentleman, formerly a resident of this
Territory. He writes:
| WASHINGTON, Dec. %, 1860.
!. DEAF -: You no doubt CLEAN
from the papers accounts full Of dire
and awful importance, and not knowing
the true state of things imagine that we
OH this side of the Rocky mountains are
fast vcrging to destruction. At first
glance it may seem inevitable that a
dissolution of this glorious Union must
take place; ifyou have ever entertained
such II thought Danish it at once, and
cntrench yourself behind the conviction
that this fabric of government, erected
through seven years of fire and blood
baptism, is indissoluble and everlasting.
Here in Washington, from a national
standpoint, I can overlook the battle
of factions now waging-calm and i'm
pa~ssionately study the present and fore
: tell a glorious future, in which the basis
of our confedcratcd government will be
the tirmcr for the ordeal through which
it is now passing.
South Carolina, of notification men,
DRY, has passed an ordinance rcvoking
and repeating the act of ratification Of
the present Constitution of the United
States ; this is all that this State has
done in the secession line. She has not
as yet attempted to interfere with the
General Government. Is this scccs-
sion? Suppose thepeoplc of Washing
ton Territory were to assemble in con-
vcntion, and pass a resolution declaring
themselves no longer members of this
great nation, would their so resolving
make it so? / think not, but let Your
people set ut defiance the laws of the
land, then we should sec who they were
and to whom she owed allegiancc-and
so with South Carolina. She may pass
as many acts as she p%lcascs, but let her
resist the execution of the laws, or OBJ
struct the performance of the legal
functions OF Federal officers, and their
citizens will find themselves in rebellion
and treated as rebels. There will be no
trouble, unless the people of South Car
olina resist The collection of the rcvc-
nues by the Federal Government. 1t
will then be the duty of the President
to enforce its collection, even at the
pointofthe bayonct. The Constitution
has made no provision for secession,
and if you look at that sacred instru-
ment you will find that its ratification
was not for a definite period of time,
but for Crtr. This talk of secession,
therefore, is all bosh. South Carolina
cannot discngagc herself from the re-
sponsibilitics assumed by her as a part
of this Government in the way of debt,
treaties, and other general business of
the whole Union. If South Carolina
could be got rid of, there is no doubt
but the General Government would be
the gamer, in a pccuniary point OF view,
for the tiglrcs will prove that there is
not enough collected within her Dor
dcrs to pay the amount expended. The
customs of South Carolina do not pay
the cost Of their collection-that is,
taking II quarter with another. The
Post Offices of South Carolina yield less
than fifty thousand dollars per amman,
while the expenses arc about forty thou
sand dollars per quarter, or n hundred
and sixty thousand dollars per nnu ;
and this ."accurscd Union" therefore
pays $1,000 about, for the privilege
of supplying this gallant q little State
with postal arrangements. Ihavc been
unable to ascertain how much this
Union pays for keeping up her custom
houses, but it is no doubt a large sum-.
The fact is our Southern brethren have
been too we'll dealt by, and over in
dulged, until they are completely be-
side themselves with an idea of sclf:im-
%portance; they have no cause for rebel
lion, neither had they in 1882. Their
Northern brethren have not wronged
them, neither do they wish to. Our
Southern friends forget that there are
other people in this world who have
opinions, and who expect their opinions
to be respected, at the same time enter
tanning a due regard for those of others.
1t will all come right, l trust, under the
administration of cold Abe" Were
Jackson here it would o be rghted,
"by the Eternal!' AS it is there is no
doubt that James Buchanan is as great
a traitor as any in the country. lie has
in fact driven the only respectable mem
Der of his Cabinet from him-I rcfertO
Gen. Cass, who resigned because the
President would not, Mt the solicitation
of himself and Gen. Scott, send n REIN
forccment to the forts at Charleston,
and for the protection of the public
nrOpartv <hnrO Gou Coss xvns <ho |