Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-02-21

looMMUNIcATrpI
/. Government Or Anarchy.
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Y y n
4 law always implies, and may involve, the
! q, Nployment Of force as an ultimate resort
| I'm, Ter no form of government may individ
! nails 1vereignty resist and override the laws
| The ms, Vertion Of individual sovereignty, a.
! paramo,. mt to law, constitutes the very es,
sence Of uarchy, for the latter is but 4 toll
] Grated disr, 'gard OF law and order. Undei
| eyerv, form q Z government the sovereignty
| of the individ, oal must be alienated-relin
/ nuisbed in beb, If of law The coexistenc,
! Of povernmental and individual sovereignty
| is an impossibilit y; therefore, the assump
} tion of individual Noyerelgnty under any
| form Of government can not for one mo
ment be tolerated as right, or as compati.
BILE with the maintena uce OF government
1t 10 presumed that no in ellIge1t person will
attempt the IefutaLion OF tue foregoing
propositions. From them the conclusion il
irresistible, that We can ca list only undel
one of two conditions--gov, rnmentor an
aTehy. On the one hand, government
through the supremacy of la vs., Is man
tanned. On the other, it succul nos 10 lndi
yidual sovereignty and anarchy exists unit
some form of government may al DIN DC es
tablished. s[1t.tJ ~ rr TX r.
The Government of the "United states o
America" was instituted by the peoPt
thereof. 1t is one of delegated overs
wherein the people alienated their ihdiN 1dua
sovereignty, and, moreover, incorpol ateC
into the organic law provisions that N ak'
1t supreme over States also. The preatn Ole
to the Constitution declares as follow g
we, the people Of the United States, in ordt v
to form more perfect union, establish Just
ice, insure domestic tran quillity, provide for
the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution of the United
States of America" Under the Confedera-
ton, the States Vere sovereign, but it will be
seen hereafter, that BY the terms of that
established" they relinquished that sover-
eighty. Article 9Th of the Constitution,
second clause "Ihis Constitution, and the
laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the
authority of the United States, shall be the
supreme lds0 Of the land and The judges in
every Stcte shall be bound thereby, any thing
in the Constitution or lalos Of any State to The
contrary not1oithstdnding.n Article !, Sec.
10: "No State shall enter into any treaty,
alliance, or confederation, &c" "No State
shall, without the consent of the Congress,
lay any impost or duties on imports or ex-
ports, except what may be absolutely neces
Sdgy for executing its inspection laws, &c.n
"No State shall, without the consent Of Con.
gress, lay any duty of tunnage, keep troops,
or ships -of-war in time of peace, enter into
any agreement or compact with another
State or with foreign power, &c.n Sec. 8:
"The Congress shall have power to lay and
collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,
&c" ITO make all laws which shall be
necessary and proper for carrying into exc
cution the foregoing powers and all other
! powers vested by this Constitution in the
| Government of the United States or in any
department or offices thereof" 5i -
These were the deliberate and voluntary
! acts of the PEOPLE of the several States,
through their duly. elected representatives
in Convention assembled. 1t will be OBJ
served that the Constitution and the laws
made in pursuance thereof are sovereign
| supreme; and are operative upon States, as
well as upon the individual people thereof
| Further, upon q careful examination of the
Constitution, it will be found that the form
| of government which the people of the
| United States ordained and established
can neither be changed, superseded nor alb
rogated, except in accordance with the pro-
visions of its fifth article, or-through TeUo-
luton. Peaceable Secession is inadequate for
either of these ends If peaceful Secession
means peaceable notification of the laws, tits
a monstrous absurdity. Through federation, it
may suspend their operation for time, but
can neither overthrow them nor destroy the
source from whence they emanate. Resist
ance to law is nugatory unless it duplicates
force. Armed resistance is either rebellion
or revolution-the latter, if successful; the
former, if otherwise.
Much has been said in vindication of State
sovereignty. The sovereignty of State is
but the aggregated sovereignty of its people.
If q single individual has no right to ignore
the laws, neither have individuals, collect
lively, that right; for, to admit the exercise
of such q right would prove subversive of
this or any other form Of government. To
assert, then, that State sovereignty lies be-
hind and above the Constitution is inherent,
inalienablei is to lay the ak at the root of
every form of government. II we assent to
this doctrine we can not avoid its logical
corollary: that, therefore, each individual or
citizen of State has an inherent, inalien-
able right to resist and override the laws at
his option. Yet it is the assertion of this
very doctrine that lies at the foundation of
the Secession movement. 1t Is not the re-
sumption of State sovereignty, for but t,Oo of
the seven seeded States possessed any SOW
ereignty anterior to the adoption of the Con-
stitution. 1t is, therefore, an absurd fallacy
for any State, created under the Constitu-
ton, to declare its resumption of original
sovereignty. But, even admitting the as
sumption, it has been shown that State SOW
ereignty is but the aggregation of individual
sovereignty; that the latter, by its own vol.
Qptary act, was made subordinate to govern
mental sovereignty; and, that under that
sovereignty, there is but one lawful mode
by which its Constitution can be changed OF
abrogated. -
To admit the doctrine of State or individ-
ual sovereignty, is to admit that this or any
other form of government is incapable OF
maintenance - is, practically, nullity.
Whether this assumed right is to be admitted
or denied, constitutes the vital question now
presented to the people Of the Omitted States
of America" for their decision and, unless
they summariy and emphatically dispose oi
this monstrous pretension, it will be utter
folly to amend the Constitution or recon
struct the Union.
If intolerable grievances necessarily grow
out Of the faithful administration of our Gov.
ernment; if it has proven subversiVe of the
ends for which it was ordained and estab
lished," tits the right and the duty Of the peo
pie to change or abrogate it /; and to this end
revolution would be justifable as a last re-
sort. But before the right and justice O
such procedure can be sustained, the obi
cation rests with those who may seek tha
mode of redress, TO satisfactorily show to til.
world that all peaceful, lawful means have
been exhausted in vain.
Can those who are now endeavoring Il
overthrow and destroy this Government, by
initiating revolution, through the specioui
pretext of Secession, thus defend and justify
their conduct II will not be pretended tina
! they can. In what instance has the Govern
meRt operated oppTesSiUeiy upon those wht
are now seeking TO involve the people of thi
nation in civil WARP When, and in wha
q manner, has il subverted, or come short o
the ends for which il was ordained and es
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