Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1861-01-17


| Calhoun scheme Of government for the
Slave States-the establishment of aSouth-
ern Confederacy, which, in the language
recently pronounced by distinguished
| Southern statesman, "will expand as our
lgruwth and civilization shall demand over
Mexico, over the isles OF the sea, over the
tar-off Southern tropics, until We shall estab-
lish great confederation of republics the
greatest, ireest aud most useful the world
has seen. .. t..i
\ On the occasion of my Inauguration, l
felt it to be my duty to warn my country
men Of. these hostile designs against the
Federal Union. But then they were in
speculation only. Now they are in act. :
Shall they be consummated2 Shall the
National Government be degraded into q
mere league between independent States,
existing only by their suffcrance, subordinate
to them and subject to be destroyed ut the
pleasure of any State Of tbs Confedcracy2 Z
Or shall il continue to maintained, as it has
always been maintained, as q Government
proper-saycreig within its prescribed
Il sphere as the States are sovereign within
their prescribed spheres on the
adoption of the people as were the States,
and creating direct relations between itself
and the individual citizen, which no State
authority has power to impair or disturb,
and which nothing can dis ,ivo lut ievolu-
/ ton. rgR
: Nearly twenty-cight years ago, the people
, of Ohio, speaking through the General As
semby, declared what in their Judgment are
, the constitutional relations between the Fed
9 eral State Governments. quote but one
S of series Of resolves Of the General As
scmbly on this subject: m W
THAT the Federal Union exists In a
e solemn compact entered into by the volun-
5 tary consent Of the people Of the United
t States, and Of each and every State, and
that therefore no State can claim the right
to secede from, or violate that compact, and
d however grievous may be the supposed OF
|. real burthens of State, the only Legitimate
= remedy is in the wise and faithful exercise Of
: the elective franchise and solemn respon-
n sibility of the public agents. aei lsgrI a'
q This is tho judgment Of Ohio to-day.
r There never was people so thoroughly
: bound together as a nation as the people oi
: the United States. The founders of the
: government took possession of the country
b under the authority of the parent State, nc.
: knowleding it's sovereignty as binding all the
r colonies together Us u portion Of the same
realm. When they resolved upon separa-
Il
: power, they entered upon d war to establish
: republican government, embracing the
n confederated colonies, to take " their places
$ among the nations Of the earth, as one
y and an independent people, constituting an.
Y other nation, Of which the Articles of Con
J, federation, establishing it on the basis oi
d perpetual union, 4" was the evidence to the
Q world, and the covenant among themselves.
n The Constitution of the United States was
= tho repetition of this grand national act, and
!, being more emphatically the act of the
: whole people, they declared in the preamble
+ 1--WE, the people, ,ordain, &C., (giving
, the scope Of the nations functions pro,
claiming one of the main objects to be Il
y make more perfect the union already
g established ~ perpetual What nation
t ever presented so perfect record of its ex
n istence AZ a national government, and OF thu
i indissolable union, cemented among the
!. municipal commonwealth in charge Of the
el local. internal affairs of q people, as thu
, Constitution Of the United States2 Every
. new State is brought into the Union by al
!. act Of the National Government, and M
Q man Of foreign birth can become a either
n without swearing allegiance to it. Hacquire
o lures them in infancy and introduces then
. as States at maturity. 1t has authority Il
0 annul such constitutions and laws of any o
t the States as contravene the provisions O
n the Federal Constitution. All State Exc
n cutives, Legislatures and judicial tribunal
Z have accepted it from the day it was pro
y claimed as the supreme law lof the land. -
!, The Constitution gives the right of eminen
: domain even over the soil of the States, tn,
Q seacoast's harbors, for national and constitu
s tional purposes, through which to establish
Q post Offices and routes, custom houses, forts
: navy yards, arsenals, armories, everything
q necessary for the national defense and to thu
a administration Of the Government.
D Can State secede main the power ant
Q right Of self preservation inherent in tn,
$ system which preyades the Governments
: State and National, and acting by its offceri
n directly on the citizen? .s.e,.i
0 Shall the artery that gives life to the grea
! valley Of the West be at the mercy of hostil,
i communities, and subject 10 be severed from
: the Gulf Stream, through which the interi
{ or States reach and embrace their seaboart
Q sisters? 1T there were nothing else in th,
e interposition OF a foreign power upon til,
t braches bear the fruit--the riches of ths
8 continent--it is enough to array the country
b against it, that it would break the symmetry
a nature has given it for the full development,
: OF the vast republic, now reaching from oce.
( On 10 ocean. s lat.la5 ~ -la .,,-
i The right of secessi on is the right to teal
: a limb from the body, and in the supposed
, case Of secession OF States on the lower Mis-
Q sissippi, If the right Of domain over oil its
q sources would not attach to. the seeding
0 States, it would at least seriously conflict
a with the free enjoyment Of opposing rights,
8 and eventually lead to dissensiOns, il not