Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1861-07-13

supreme Law. The states have their stat.
utes In the Union they have no other legal
statutes II they break from this they on.
ly do so against law by revolution. The
Union, and not themselves separately, pro.
cured their Independence and their liberty
BY conquest or purchase. The Union gave
each OF them whatever Of independence and
liberty II has. The Union is older than
any OF the States. In fact, it created them |
as states originally. Some dependent col. |
oniee made the Union, and in return the |
Union threw of their old dependence for
them, and made the States such as they
are. Not one Of them ever had state
Constitution Independent Of the Union. OF
course it is not forgotten that oil the new
states formed their constitutions before they
entered the Union, nevertheless depend
ent on and preparatory to coming into the
Union.
Unquestonably, the States have the pow
ers and rights reserved to them by the Ma.
tional Constitution, but among these surely
are not included all conceivable powers,
however mischievous or destructive; but at
most such only s were known in the world
at the time as governmental powers, and
certainly the power to destroy the Govern
ment itself had never been known as govern
mentsl. As merely administrative power,
this relative matter of national power and
States rights as a principle is no other
than principle Of generality and locality.
Whatever concerns the whole should be
cou6ded to the whole General Government
while whatever concerns the State should
be left exclusively to the State This is all
there is of the original principle about it,
Whatever the National Convention, iu de.
fning the boundaries between the two, has
applied to the principle with exact accura-
cy Is not to be questioned. We are all
bound by that definition. What is now
combatted is the position that secession is
consistent with the Constitution, is lawful
and peaceful 1t is not contended that
there is any express law for it, and nothing
should ever be implied as law which leads
20 unjust and absurd consequences The
nation purchased with money the countries
ost Of which several Of these states were
formed. Is it Just that they should 60 off
without leave or without refundiug The
nation paid very large sums (in aggregate,
believe, nearly 500 000, ,000) to relieve
Florida from the Aboriginal tribes. Il it
just that she should now go off without con-
sent or without any return. The nation is
now 10 debt for money applied for the bene |
ct of these so called seeded states in com
mon with the rest. Isit just that creditors
shall 20 unpaid, or the present States pay
the whole A part of the present national
debt was contracted to pay the old debt Of
Texas. Is il Just that she shall leave and
pay no part Of this herself Again, if one
state may secede, so may another, and when
all shall have seeded, and none is left to
pay the debts, is this quite right to credtors?
Did We notify them of this sage view of ours
when we borrowed their money. If we now
recognize this doctrine by allowing the Sc. {
ceders to 60 in peace, it is difficult to see I
what we can do. Others choose TO go or
to extort terms upon which they will prom.
Use to remain. The seceders insist that our {
Constitution admits Of secession. They 8
have assumed to make national consttu. j
tiou of their own in which Of necessity they !
have either discarded or retained the right I
of secession, sa they insist it exists in ours {
II they have discarded it, they thereby ad I
NIT that on principle it onght not to exist |
In ours. II they have retained it by their {
own construction Of ours, that shows that to {
be consistent, they must seced from another, {
when they shall 6nd it the easiest way of
settling their debts, or effectng another
selfish or unjust object. The principle it.
self is one of disiutergration, and on which
no government can possibly endure. If all
the States save one should affect the power
TO drive that one out of the Union, it is pre-
sumed that the whole class of the seeded
politicians would at once deny the power,
aud denounce the act as the greatest out
rage upon state rights But suppose that
precisely the same act instead of being call.
ed driving one out should be called the Sc.
ceding Of the others from that one. 1t
would be exactly what the seceders claim
to dc, unless indeed to make the point that
the one, because it is minority, may right
fully do that which the others, because they
are the majority, may not rightfnlly do
These politicians are profound in the rights
OF minorites. They are not partial to that
power which made the constitution and
speaks from the preamble calling itself awe,
the people" 1t may we'll be questioned
whether their is today majority OF the legal.
ly qualified veters of any State, except per.
hsps South Carolina, in favor of dis.
union.
There is much reason to believe that the
Union men are in the majority in many if
not in all Of the seeded States. The con.
trary has not been demonstrated in any one
OF them 1t is ventured to affirm that those
even In Virginia and Tennessee fear the re-
suit OF an election held 10 military camps
where the bayonets were all on one side Of
the question voted upon can scarcely be
considered as demonstrating popular senri
meut. At such An election all that large
class who are at once for the Union and
against coercion, would be coerced TO vote
against the Union. 1t may be affirmed
without extravaganza that the free iustitu.
lions which we enjoy have developed the
powers and improved the condition of our
whole people beyound any example in the
world, of this we now have strinSiag and
impressive illustration So large an army
IS the government has now on foot, was
never before known, without soldier 10 it |
who has taken his place there except OF his
own free choice. Bot more than this, there
are many single regiments whose members
one and another possess full practical know
ledge OF all the arts and sciences, profes.