The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1861-06-20

patent 10 all. as are the consequen which
, ~oald follow the movements In giving her
great material and monl resources TO the
supper, OF the Southern Confederacy, Ken
> lucky might pro.ong the desola,ing strug-
gle that rebelhous States are making to over-
throw Government which they have only
; known in Its blessings; but the triumph OF
t the Government would nevertheless be Ger
tain in the end. She would abandon q
Government strong and able to protect her.
Tor one that is weak, aud that contains in
! the very elements of its life. the seeds OF
. distraction and early dissolution. She
/, would adopt. as the law of her existence,
the right of secession-a right which has
no foundation in Jurisprudence. or logic, or
IN political history; which Madison. the faith
er OF the Federal Constitution, denounced;
which has been denounced by mos, Of the
States and prominent statesmen now insist
ing upon Its exercise: which. in introducing
principle of indefinite disintegration. cuts
up all Confederate Governments BY the roots
and gives them over prey to the caprices.
and passions, and transient interests OF their
members. as autumual leaves are given to
The winds that blow upon them. In 1914,
the Richmond Enquirer. then, as now. the
organ OF public opinion in the South, pro-
nounced secession 10 be treason, and nothing
else; and such was the doctrine of Southern
statesmen What was true then, is equally
true now. The prevalence of this ,rpi
cious heresy is mainly the fruit of that farce
called State rights" which demarogues
have been 50 long playing under tragic
masks. and which has done more than ali
things else to unsettle the foundation Of the
republic, by estranging the people from the
Federal government. as one to be distrust-
ed and resisted. instead OF being. what it is.
emphatically their own creation, at all times
obedlent 10 their will, aud in its ministrstion
the grandest reflex Of the greatness and be-
neicence OF popular power that has over en-
nobied the history of our race.
Said Mr.. Clay: 81 owe a supreme alIeoi.
ance to the General Government, and to nv
State a subordinate one" And this terse
language disposes of the whole controversy
which has arisen out Of the Secession move.
ment IN regard to the allegiance of the citi-
Zen. As the power oil the State aud Fed
erai governments are in perfect harmony
with each other, SO there can be no conflict
between the allegiance due to them: each,
while acting within the sphere of its con-
sttutionai authority. is entitled to be obeyed;
but when State, throwing off all consti,u-
uonal restraints, seeks TO destroy the Gen.
eral Government. TO say that its citizens are
bound to follow it in this career of crime.
and discard the supreme allegiance they
they owe to the Government assailed. is one
OF the shaIlowest and mos. dangerous falla-
cies that has ever gained credencc among
men.
ksntucky, occupying a central position
In the Union, Is now protected from the
scourge OF foreign war. however much its
ravages may waste the towns and cities up-
iederacy, she would be frontier State, ana
necessarily the victim of those border feuds
and conflicts which have become proverbial
in history alike for their ferceness and fre
quency. The people of the South now
sleep quietly in their beds, while there is
not a home in infatuated and misguided
Virginia that is not filled with the alarms
and oppressed by the terrors of war. In
the fate of this Commonwealth. dragged to
the altar of sacrifice by those who should
have stood between her bosom and every
foe kentucky may read her own. No won
der, therefore, that she has been so COAX
ingly besoughs to unite her fortunes with
those OF the Sl,uth. and to lay down the
bodies of her dhivalric sons as breast.
work. behind which the Southern people
may be sheltered. Even as attached to the
Southern Confederacy she would be weak
for all the purposes of self protection as
/
|, amid the mutations incident to such a help
less and self disintegrating league, Kentucky
would probably soon ind herself adhering
{ to mere fragment of the Confederacy. or
, it may be standing entirely alone, in the
presence oe tiers of free States with pOpu-
) latlons exceeding by many millions her
/: own. Feeble States thus separated from
powerful and warlike neighbors by ideal
, boundaries, or by rivers as easily traversed
, as rivulets, are as insects that feed upon the
1 lions lip-liable at every moment to be
/, crushed. The recorded doom Of multitudss
OF such has left us a warning too solemn
and impressive to be disregarded. 1aa
: kentucky now scarcely feels the contribu.
r tion she makes to support the Government
s of the United States, but as a member OF the
= Southern Confederacy. Of whose policy free
n trade will be a cardinal principle. she will
D be burdened with direct taxation 20 the
s amount of double, or. it may be triple or
e quadruple that which she now pays into
e her own treasury. Superadded to this will
II be required from her her share of those vast
}. ouslays necessary for The crexiion Of a nary
e the erection of forts and custom houses
j. along frontier OF several Thousand miles
3: and for the maintenance of that large stand
o ing army which will be indispensable Al
is once for her safety and for imparsing 70 the
n new Government that strong military char
IN acter, which. it has been openly svowed
Is the peculiar institutions of the South viii
le inexorably demand.
A. Kentucky now enjoys for her peculiar in
4. stitution the protection Of the Fugitive
re Slave Law. loyalty enforced by the Govern
= ment; and it is this las. effective in i,s pow
I'd er Of recap,ure. but infinitely more poten
ia in its moral agency in preventing the ca
ur cape OF slaves. that alone saves that institu
a. lion in the Border States from utter extiac
I'D ton. she cannot carry this Law with he
on into the new Confederacy. She viii virtu
We ally have Canada brought to her doors i
nd the form of free States. whose popuiation
relieved of al moral and constitutional oh
kv legations 10 deliver up fugitive slaves. vi