Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1861-04-13
The London Review on the Crisis.

The London Review on the Crisis.
The judgment which the most intel
ligcnt Europeans are passing upon the
American Constitution III view of the
modern theory of Secession, is pun
gently expressed in the following cX-
tract from that ablcst of British jour
nails The Saturday Reriew, of London:
"Evcn though Mr.. Crittendcn's Com
promise should be adopted by Congress,
and by threc-tourths of the State Leg
islatures, and even though the seeding
States should be brought under the re-
modelled Constitution, there will re-
main, as it seems to us, one fatal flaw
in the reconstructed Union which will
ctfcctually prevent its recovering the
honorable place among the political
systems of the world which it has oc-
cupicd hitherto. What is to be under
stood as to the right of secession itself?
We have not seen, among the crowd of
projects which Congress has discussed,
any proposal for declaring the Fedora
ton perpetual and indissolublc; nor is
there any prospect that the South would
consent to the affirmation of this great
point; and yet, unless this principle is
settled, what will be the worth of tic
United States Government in future !?
The natural inference from ail that has
taken placc-from the secession, and
from its termination under compromise
will be that South Carolina and her
contedcrates were perfectly justified in
the course they adopted. 1t will appa-
rcntly be an accepted doctrine that
cvcntualitics may always present them
selves in which the withdrawal of Il
State from the Union will be lcgiti-
mate. 1t will be in the discretion of
each individual State to judge whether
it is so aggricvcd by the policy OF the
General Government that tie time for
applying the ultimate lawful remedy
has arrived. If this be SO, the system
OF the United States, which has hth-
crto been considered one of the best,
must submit to be regarded as one OF
the worst of hnman constructions.
There will he but one known Constitu-
ton to which it will bear any rcscmb-
lancc-thc Constitution Of the Polish
Diet. From Maine to Florida each
State will have its Hbcrum rcto; p; and, as
in the case of Poland, a disscnticnt will
always have to be bought off by COM
promise pcrnicious to the interests OF
the majority. 1t must not be supposed
that, because in any arrangement now
likely to be affected, prctcxts for quar-
rel on the subject OF Slavery will prob
ably be removed or thrown far into flu
turity, there arc other disputed qucs-
tions which may grow into vast impor-
tance when the power of withdrawal
is once lcgalizcd. Pennsylvania will
always be an iron-forging State; the
Ncw-England States. with their denscr
population, will always be trying to
weave and spin; and for both the iron
and the cloth Il market in the South
and Northwest will always he an oh
jcct of first necessity, while the South
and Northwest will always prcicrpur
chasing in those European markets in
which their corn and cotton are sold.
Twice before the present crisis arrived,
the stability OF the Federation was en-
dangcrcd by interests embarked in for
cign commerce. In 1912. the Now
England States threatened to scccdc
rather than allow their trade with Great
Britain to he interrupted, and twenty
years afterwards, South Carolina multi
fed an obnoxious tariff. In both eases
the mutinecrs against central authority
were overwhelmed with disgrace, but
it is easy to see in how different light
such attempts vii! shew themselves
when once secession has become rccog-
nizcd mode of redrcssing grievances
instead Of an outbreak OF insolent
disloyalty."
Is there any man with an ounce Of
brains in his skull who can resist the
force Of these propositions? They
seem to us tho perfection Of common
sense. II this Republic is not to be-
come the laughing-stock of the world,
tic Government and tho People must
insist at all hazards on the maintenance
Of the Union, the preservation of the
Constitution, and the Enforcement Of
the Laws.-Iribune.
BINDING.-An act was introduced in
the English Parliament, in 1870, "that
all women, Ofwhatcver age, rank, pro-
fession, or degree, whether virgins,
mazda or xvi1O,vs that oL.l1 frOu, ou1