Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-03-04

the time the uses OF such Offices, The MALI
unless repeIled, viii lcontinue to be furnished !
all points Of the Union. nns'sgE ,me5 5l
So faras possible, the people eyery where sha
have that sense Of perfect security which
most favorable to calm thoughts and reflection
q The course here Indicated will be follow
ed unlees current events and experience shal
show q modification or change to be proper
! and In every case and exigency, discretion vii
| be exercised according to circumstances actual
} ly existing, and with q view and hope o
peaceful solution of the national trouble, AM
the restoration Of the fraternal sympathies ant
affections. Ht5r lgDtJo rtn .aI .f.
That. there are persons In one section or an-
other who seek to destroy the Union at al
events, and are glad Of any pretext to DO II,
will neither affirm nor deny, but II there b
such, l need address no word to those. tt
those, however, who really love the Union, may
not speak. Before entering, upon go grave q
matter as the destruction Of our national fabric,
with all It's benefits, its memories and hopes
would Il not be wise to ascertain previously why
we do sol Will you hazard desperate step
while there Is any possibility that any portion OF
the ills you fly from have no real existence?
Will you, while the certain ills you NY to are
greater than all the real ones you ty fromf
| Will you risk the commission OF so fearful q
mistake? All profess to be content In the Un.
ion, II all constitutional rights can be main.
tanned.
Is 1t true, then, that any right,plainly written
In the Constitution, has been denied? l think
not. Happily the human mind is so constituted
that no party can reach to the audacity Of doing
this. Think, If you can, Of single instance in
which plainly written provision OF the Constl-
tuition has ever been denied. II by the mere
force of numbers a majority shall deprive a
minority of any clearly written Constitutional
right, 1t might in moral point of view justify
areyolution, II certainly would If such right
were vital one, but such is not our case. 4
All the vital rights of minorites and Of indi-
viduals are so plainly assured to them by af1rma-
tions and negations guaranteed,and prohibitions
In the Constitution, that controversies never arise
concerning them; but no organic law Can be
framed with provision specifically applicable
TO every question which may occur 10 practical
administration. No foresight can anticipate,
nor any document of reasonable length contain,
express provisions for all possible questions.
Shall fugitves from labor be surrendered by
National or State authority2 The Constitu-
tion does not expressly say. May Congress pro.
hibit slavery in the Territores7 The Const-
tuition does not expressly say. Must Congress
protect slavery in the Territories2 The Con-
stitution does not expressly soy. From ques-
tions of this class spring all our constitutional
controversies, and we divide upon them into
mojorities and minorities. II the minority will
not acquiesce. the majority must, or the Gov
eminent must cease. There is no other sltern.
atiye for continuing the Government but acqui-
essence on the one side or the other. I'D
II minority 10 such oaae will secede, rath.
er than acquiesce, they make precedent which |
In turn will divide and ruin them; for minor
ity of their own will secede from them whenever
a majority refuses to be controlled by such a
minority. For instance, why may not any por.
tion of a new Confederacy,a year or two hence,
arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions Of
the present Union now claim to secede from 1t. |
All who cherish disunion sentiments are now |
being educated to the exact temper OF doing |
this. Ia there such perfect identity of interests
among the States to compose new Union as
to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed |
secession? Plainly the central idea of seces. |
sion is the essence of anarchy.
A majority held in restraint by Constitution.
oil checks and limitations, and always changing |
easily with tho deliberate changes Of popular |
opinions and sentiments, is tho only true sover.
eighty Of a free people. Whoever rejects itgioes
Of necessity fly to anarchy or disruption. Unan.
unity Isl impossible. The rule of minority as
permanent arrangement is wholly inadmissi. |
BILE, So that, rejecting the majority principle, |
anarchy and despotism In some form 10 all that |
Is left. do not forget the position assumed by |
some, that Constitutional questions are to be |
decided by the Supreme Court nor do DENY
that such decisions must be binding In any case |
upon the parties toa suit, as to the object of that
suit, while they are also entitled to very high
respect and consideration in all parallel cases,
BY all other departments of tho Government,
and while II Is obviously possible that such de.
cision may be erroneous in any given case, still |
the evil effect following it being limited to that
particular case, with the chance that IL may be |
overruled and never become a precedent for
other cases, can better be borneH than
could the evils of different practice. AT the
same time, the candid citizen must confess that
If the policy Of the Government upon the vital
question affecting the whole people is to be ir.
revocably fixed by the decision Of the Supreme
Court, the instant they are made in ordinary
litigation between parties In personal actions,
the people will have ceased to be their own
rulers, having, to that extent, practically re-
signed their government into the hands Of that
eminent tribunal.
Nor Is there in this view any assault upon the
Court or the Judges. Il Is a duty from which
they may not shrink, to decide cases properly
brought before them, and lis no fault Of THEIRS
If Others seek to turn their decisions to political
purposes. One section Of our country believes
slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while
the other believes 1t 10 wrong, and ought not to
be extended. .l
~ This is the only substantial dispute; for the
fugitive slave clause of the Constitution and the
Law for the suppression Of the foreign slave trade
are each as well enforced perhaps as any law
can ever be In community where the moral
sense OF the people imperfectly supports the law
ITSELF The great body Of the people abide by
the dry legal obligation in both cases. After
the separation Of the sections than before, the
foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed,
would be ultimately revived without restriction
Ia one section; while fugitive slaves, now only
partially surrendered, would not be surrendered
at all by the other. p go
We cannot remove our respective sections from
each other, nor build an impossible wall be
tween them. A husband and wife may be di-
vorced, aud 60 out Of the presence and beyond |
the reach Of each otheri but the different parts |
Of our country cannot but remain face to face, |
and an intercourse, either amicable or hostile, |
must continue between them. Ia II possible then |
to.make that intercourse more advantageous or |
more satisfactory after separating them before7 |
Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can
make laws2 Can treaties be more faithfully |
enforced between aliens than laws among
friends7 Suppose you 60 to war, you cannot
fight always, and when after much loss on both
sldes, and no gain on either, you cease fighting,
the old identical questions as to terms Of inter
course are again upon you. 4As
The countrys with its institutions, belongs to
those who inhabit IT, Whenever they shall
grow weary Of the existing Government, they
can exercise their Constitutional right Of
amending It, or the revolutionary right to dis