Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1861-07-10


They knew their people possessed as much |
devotion 10 law and ordsr--as mucli'pride
in and reverence for lis history and govern
ment OF their common country--;as any 9TH
er civilized and patriotic people. They
knew they could make no advancement di-
rectly in the teeth of these strong and no
Die sentiments. They accordingly com
menced by an insiduous debaching of the
public mind. They invented an ingenious
sophisln, which, ifconc sdod, is followed by
perfectly logical steps through all the incl
dents Of the complete destruction OF the
Union. The sophism itself is, that any
State Of the Union may, consistently with
the nations constitution, and therefore law
fully and peacefully withdraw from the
Union without the consent of the Union or
Of any other State.
A little disguise, that the supposed right
is to be exercised for just cause, themselves
to be sole judges Of its justice, is too thin
to merit any notice. With rebellion thus
sugar-coated they have been drugging the
minds of their section for more than thirty
years, until, at length, they have brought
many good men to willingness to take up
arms against the Government, the day al
ter some assemblage of men have enacted
the farcical act OF taking their State out of
the Union, who could have been brought
to no such thing the day before. This
sophism derives much, perhaps the whole,
OF It's currency from the assumption that
there is some oinnipotent and sacred saprem-
acy pertaining to each State OF our FEEDER
al Union. Our States have neither more
nor less power than that reserved to them
IN the Unionby the constitution, no che OF
them ever having been Site out Of the
Union. The original ones passed into the
Union even before they cast off their Brit
ish dependence, and the new ones came in
to the Union directly from condition of
dependence, excepting Texas, and even Tex
as, in its temporary independence, was new
er designated as a State. The new ones
only We're designated States on coming in
to the Union, while that name was only
first adopted for the cid ones in and by
the Declaration Of Independence. Therein
the United Colonies were declared free
and independent States, but even then the
object plainly was not to declare their in
dependence Of one another of the Union,
but directly the contrary, as their mutual
pledge and their mutual action, before, at
the time, and atterward, abundantly show.
The express plighting of faith by such and
all of che original thirteen States in the ar
ticles Of confederation, two years LATER that
the Union shall tie perpetual, is most con-
eilsiye.
Having never been States, either in sub
stance or name, outside the Union, whence
this magical omnipotence Of States rights,
asserting claim Of power to lawfully de-
stroy tho Union itself!
Much is said about the sovereignty of
the States, but the word even is not in the
national constitution, nor, is it believed, in
any Of the State constitutions. What is a
sovereignty, in the particular sense Of the
terns Would it be far wrong to declare
it a political community without political
superior! Tested by this, no one of our
States, except Texas, was sovereignty.
and even Texas gave up the character on
coming into the Union, by which act she
acknowledged the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, and laws and treaties of the Uni
ted States made in pursuance Of the consti-
tuition, to be for her supreme law.
The States have their status in the
Union, and they have no other legal status.
If they break from this, they only do so
against law by revolution. The Union,
and not themselves SEPARATELY, procured
their independence and their liberty. By
conquest or purchase the Union gave each
Of them whatever of independence and lib
erty-it has. The Union is older than any
of the States, and in fact it created them
as States. Originally some dependent col
onies made the Union, and in return the
Union threw off their old dependence for
them and made the States such as they are.
Not one of them ever had State constitu-
ton independent Of the Union. Of course
it is not forgotten that all the new States
formed their constitutions before they en-
tered the Union, nevertheless dependant
on and preparatory to coming into the
Union. PROFESSIONALLY the STATES have
the powers and rights reserved to them by
the National Constitution, but among these,
surely. are not included all conceivable pow
ers, however mischieyous or Destructive
But at most, such only as were known in
the world at that time as governmental
powers, and certainly a power to destroy
the Government itself, had never been
known as a governmental, merely admin
strative power. This relative matter Of
National power and States rights, as prn-
ciple, is no other than a priaciple Of gener-
atty and locality. Whatever concerns the
whole, should be confined to the whole
General Government, while whatever con-
Germs the State, should be left exclusively
to the State. This is all there is left of the
original principle about it. Whatever the
National Convention, in defining the boun-
diaries between the two, as applied to the
principle with exact accuracy, is not to he
questioned We are I'll bound by that
definition without question. What is now
combatted is the position that secession il
consistent with the CONSTITUTIONS lawful
and peaceful. 1t is not conten9ed that
Il. 4...>.,>-.. H., r