Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-05-08
GOVERNOR ELLIS MESSAGE.

--0UVEhNOh ELLIS MESSAGE.
TO the Honorable, The General assembly If
North Carolina.
The safety and welfare Of the State, in my
Judgment, demanded that you should be con.
vencd at this unusual period.
At the time Of your adjournment, six of
the States had, in the most solemn manner
known to our institutions, withdrawn them
selves from the Federal Union, and cstab-
lished a Confederate Government, able and
determined to maintain its independence.
Whatever difference Of opinion may have
g.. existed MS to the wisdom of the successive
steps taken nv those States, it was generally
conceded in North Carolina that they could
not rightfully be constrained by force to re
main in the Union.
You were greatly divided in opinion as to
the right of a State to secede from the Union,
and also rs 60 the cxpediency OF exercising
the right az that time, admitting it to exist
bat all admitted that if conciliatory measures
should fail 10 restore the seeding States to
the Union, they should be permitted to with
draw in peace. Probably not one of your
number ever believed that the Federal Gov
eminent would ever be guilty of the wicked
ness Of drawing the sword without having
first rendered the olive branch.
The right now asserted by the constituted
Authorities Of that government, to use a mil
itary force for the purpose OF coercing a
State 10 remain in the Union against its will,
finds no warrant in the Constitution. and
still less in the principles on which all our
Republican institutions are based.
Ours is a Government Of the popular will,
and not of force. In its construction the
consent Of the governed was substituted for
the rule of the Sword-the former being re.
garde1 MS the vital principles r0pehiies.'
and the latter as 1.-THE immediate parent O
Of government which conserve the one, and
rejected that which, sooner or later, never
fails to produce the other.
Upon this principle our State Government
were formed-each a complete and sovereign
republic within itself; and in associatiny
themselves in n Federal Union, they did no
surrender it. for such would have been a sur
render Of their right Of self.government. Tn
theory OF our Government prccludeS tn
idea Of an authority vested in the fedora
head to coerce, by force Of arms, a State &C,
ing in its sovereign capacity.
More explicit evidence Of the intent Of tn
trainers of the Constitution is furnished b
the journals and the proceedings of the Cor
%vention. This evidence cannot be kept to
prominently in view, as It illustrates the char
actcr Of our Confederacy, and furnishes
safeguard for the performance of publ
duty.
Two distinct propositions were made i
the Convention to confer upon the FEEDER;
Government power to core a State.
The first was n proposition to coafcr upo
the National Legislature the power " TO ca
firth the force Qf the Union against an
membcr Of the Union .taiting to perform Il
dUty under the articles Hereofn
The second vas in these words ~ an
lStatc or aag body If men IN any State sha
oppose or prercat tic carrying into ~erecutio
such acts or t%reaties, the Federal Erecuti
Shatt be authorized 10 call forth the poner
the Confederate States, or 50 much there
~ may be necessary 10 force md compel a
obedieacet 10 such acts or an observance Of Suc
trcaties."
All the members who spoke upon thes
propositions spoke against them, and a
including their movers, voted against them.
The sentiments then expressed by the tN
leading minds Of the Convention, represen
ing the opposing classes of the political OPT
ions which divided it, leave no doubt as
the true Interpretation of its action.
Mr.. Madison observed, that the more |
reflected on the use of force, the more |
doubted the practicability, the justice ar
the efficacy of il, when applied TO the Peep
collectively and not individually. An UniC
of the States, containing such ingredient
seemed to provide for It's own distraction.
The use Of force against a State would loo
more like n declaration Of war than an il
Fiction Of punishment, and would probab
be considered by the party attacked as d
solution of all previous compacts by whi'
il might be bound"
General Hamilton, speaking on the sar
subject, said "But how can this force
excrted upon the States collectively? 1t
impossible. II amounts to a war betwe
the parties. Foreign powers also will not
idle spectators. They will interpose. /
confusion will increase and a dissolution
the Union will ensue." Again, illustratir
by an exercise Of such a power by q Co
federated Government, he said: Its {
crecs were signals of war.
The Declaration Of Independence had d
tinctly declared
THAT whenever any form of Governmt
becomes destructive Of these ends, (the sec
rIty Of their rights it is the right Of
people to alter or TO abolish it, and to ms
tute a new government laying its foundati
on such principles and organizing its pow
in such form as to them shall seem IN
likely to effect their safety and happines
And TO have given to the Federal Cove
mcnt power to compel the organized CO
munitics Of States to remain under the G,
against their will, woald have be-
TO give 60 it a power which the Declarati
Of Independence had declared could not
possessed by any Government whatever
Hence We are not surprised to find that
proposal to confer such a power had no
yocate in the Convention.
After a Government had been organic
one of the earliest as it was undoubtec
one Of the most important and delicate