Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-06-30
The TS1sTscsna SsysesMaesans sns HS HGSsnssisatlcn.

. i
In this country, the people alone are aoso.
lu.ely sovereign. They have bound and limited
their rulers or public servants By written cons"'
tut;ous. and said to them with an imperative
omnipo,ent Hitherto may You come but
no further" ~ Ne aa
The Union Government which the people Oh
these States have created, Is sovereign Wi'niD
its constitutional sphere, but has no absolute
soyereignty. II cannot transcend the powers
granted by the Constitution; for that is an ae'
Of absolute sosereignty which the people have
,eaerved 10 themselves, and which would have
remained in them without such reservauoL
When, the efore, our rulers usurp this sovereigi
power by transcending the limits OF the oons''-
tution. thew are, to that extent, 10 rebellion
AGAINST the Union, and IL no other remedy re-
mains. the people have the right to resume tn
delegated powers and oust the usurping dele
gates by revolution.
Il IL said that in times Of rebellion and grea'
public peril, 1t may become necessary for to-
Government to exercise powers not granted .!
the Constitution, In order to save 1t. I'M
makes our rulers for the time being the SOL
Judges, whether an exigency has arisen justify
ing the exercise of that absolute sovereignty
which Is lodged in the people alone. 1t the!
may resort to 1t at one time, they may O.
another. Its usurpation is q stride toward des
potism; It is In truth, so far as the usurpator
goes, nothing but pure despotism.
It is not for the servants Of the people, chosen
for the exercise of powers and the performance
of duties prescribed by the Constitution, to de-
termine whether crisis has arisen in public
affairs, when they may transcend those powers
or neglect those duti, ,s. It is for the whole
people of the Union to decide whether, In case
Of q formidable rebellion, or any other greai
public calamity, they will change the Constitu
ton according to the terms prescribed in 1t for
it's own amendment, or whether they will lay II
on the shelf for the time being, and resort to
measures equivalent to revolution, in order to
save the Union and perpetuate our free institu-
tions.
We believe il is 10 the power of the people
Of this Union to put down the present rebel.
lion and save themselves from either anarchy
or despotlsm, without resorting to the process
of revolutionizing the administration of the
Federal Government, otherwise than is author
ICED by the Constitution. An amendment to
hat instrument may or may not become neces-
sary. That will be determined BY future events
The mass of the people, whatever demagogues
may assert to the contrary, are for preserving
the Constitution and the Union, in all their
original excellence and purity, alike from the
insidious sappings Of rrofessed friends and the
violent assaults Of open and declared enemies.
It Is time for the people to speak out in tones
that shall be heard, understood and obeyed.-
Demagogues, at the North and Sodth, have,
mainly for their own private and selfish ends,
involved the country in o ruinous, civil war.
Let the people rebuke these selfish, unprinci-
pied leaders, and require that the Government
of the United States shall be administered, &C.
cording to the Federal Constitution; that the
Government of each State shall be administer
ed according to the Federal and its own STATE
Constitution, and that obedience to constitution
al law, whether State or National, shall, II
all cases and under all circumstances, be en-.
forced.