Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1861-03-07

ticular case, with the chance that it may be
over-rulcd aud never become precedent
for other cases, can better be borne than
could the evils of different practice. At
the same time, the candid citizen must con-
fess that, if the policy of the Government
upon vital questions affecting the whole peo-
pie is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions
of the Supreme Courts, the instant they are
made in ordinary litigation between parties
in personal actions, the people will have
ceased to be their own rulers, having to that
extent practically resigned their Government
into the hands of that eminent tribunal
Nor is there, in this view, any assault upon
the court and judges. tits duty from which
they may not shrink to decide cases Of prop,
erty brought before them, and it is no fault
of theirs if others seek to turn their deeis'
ions to political purposes One section Of
our country believes slavery is right and
ought to be extended, while the other be-
lieves it is wrong and ought not to be ex-
tended. This is the only substantial dis
pute. As to the fugitive slave clause of
the Constitution aud the law for the sup
preston of the foreign slave trade, Gas near
as any law can ever be in community
where the moral sense of the people imper-
fectly supports the law itself,) the great
body of the people abide by the dry legal
obligation in both cases, and few break O.
yer each. I think these cannot be perfect
ly cured, and it would be worse in both ca
ses, after the separation of the sections, than
before The foreign slave trade is now i'm
perfectly suppressed, and would be Ultimately
revived without restriction in one section,
while fugitive slaves, now ouly partially sur.
rendered, would not be surrendered at all by
the other.
Physically speaking, We cannot separate !;
we cannot remove our respective sections
from each other, nor build an impossible
wall between them. A husband and wife
may BE- divorced, and 60 out Of the presence
and beyond the reach of each other, but
tie different parts of our country cannot do
this. They cannot but remain face to face,
and intercourse, either amicable or hostile,
must continue between them. Is it posi-
BILE, then, to make that intercourse more ad-
vantageous or more satisfactory after sepa-
ration than before? Can aliens make trea.
ties easier than friends can make laws p
Can treaties be more faithfully enforced be-
tween aliens, than laws can among friends! !!
Suppose you 60 to war, you cannot hghtal.
ways, and when, after much loss on both
sides, and no gain on either, you cease fight
ing, the identical old question, as to terms
of intercourse are again upon you. This
country, with its institutions, belongs to the
people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall
grow weary of the existing Government,
they can exercise the Constitutional right to
amend it, or the revolutionary right to dis
member or overthrow it. cannot be ig.
uorant of the fact that many worthy and
patriotic citizens are desirous of having the
national Constitution amended. While |
make no recommendation of amendment, l
fully recognize the rightful authority of the
people over the whole subject, to be exer-
cised in either of the modes presented in
the instrument itself, and should under
existing circumstances, favor rather than
oppose fair opportunity being afforded the
people to act upon it, will venture to add
that to me the convention mode seems pref
erable, in that it allows anne ndments to orig
mate with the people themselves, instead
of only permitting them to take or repel
propositions originated by others not espe-
cially chosen for the purpose, aud which
might not be precisely such as they would
wish to either accept or refuse l under
stand proposed amendment to the Consti-
tuition, which amendment, however, have
not seen, has passed Congress, to the effect
that the Federal Government shall never
interfere with the domestic institutions of
the States, including that of persons held
to service.
To avoid misconstructon of what have
said, I depart from my purpose not to
speak of particular amendments, so far as
to say that, holding such a provision to now
be the implied construction of the law, l
have no objection to its being made express
and irrevocable. The Chief Magistrate de-
rives all his authority from the people, and
they have conferred none upon him to fix
terms of separation of the States. The peo-
pie themselves can do this also if they
choose, but the Executive, as such, has
nothing to do with it; his duty is to admin.
lister the present Government as it came to
his hands, apd to transmit it unimpaired
by him to his successor. Why should there
not be patient confidence in the ultimate
Justice of the people? Is there any better
or equal hope in the world In our present
differences, is either party without faith of
being in the right? May the Almighty
ruler of nations, with his eternal truth, be
on your side of the North, or on yours of
the South. That truth and that justice
will surely prevail by the judgment of this
great tribunal, the American people. By
the form of government under which we
live, this same people have wisely given
their public servants but little power for
mischief, and have with equal wisdom pro-
vded for the return of that little to their
own hands at very short intervals. While
the people retain their virtue and vigilance,
no administration, by any extreme of wick
eduess or folly, can very seriously injure
| the Gaunrnment In the short snace Of fnur