Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-04-02

ConreE;;on, however much opposed shout
have been to the employment Of the wor
people" when in utter times should come t
announce the manner in which the Constitu
ton was adopted, think the record woull
cnns,rain mo 70 say, it was adopted bv th
people, and by the adoption made binding ol
the people Of the several States
submit, therefore, to The Convention tha
his, Ike tie previous one, is a case Of hyper
criticism, too obvious to escape the observable,
Of This intelligent Committee
Mr. FISHER - I will detaia the Commit
tes bu' few minutes. / want to read one
shor; extract from Mr! Madison
"Il wns formed, lot by the governments Of tht
! component States, as the Federal Government
for which it was substituted was formed. Nol
Was il formed by majority Of the people O.
ihc United States Us single community, il
the manner Of a consolidated government
'ltwas formed By the States, that is, by the
people in each Of the States, acting in THEN
highest sovereign capacity"
IN al tic twenty .ht pages Of !ic revised
Code, what does my friend find ? that the Fr
deral Government, netting Tor ard on behalf Of
their constituents, who are the people, ratified
the Constitution o! the United States, and dc.
clared that It shall be binding upon the people
ni the State. NU% without undertaking 10 go
into definition of what q State isl read
what Mr. Madison said about this, yesterday
does the Convention Of Virginia say there
That wo hereby associate with the people OF
he other States? for that is what is declared
in this resolution. Nothing is there of that
sort. The authority which the gentleman from
E.,pn 'pr nC IN ,npf,to hD prnnocitinn |
have made, it seems to me, so far from sus-
tanning him. is direct authority in my favor;
for it shows that the people OF Virginia, in
their highest sovereign capacity, as Mr.. Madi.
son says, separate and distinct from each and
every people Of the other States in this Confed.
cracy, adopted not associated with, and rali
fed the Federal Constitution. But if they
had said, Of had neant to declare, thar they
thereby associated with the people of the
other States by the ratification end adoption
Of tic Federa! Constitution, then, conceive
that Dy friend would have found an argument
whic!i | would have han difficulty in meeting.
Mr RRrCE-I have but one word to say.
see the impatience of the Committee and am
not disposed TO tax it. |. like the gentleman
from Northampton, Mr. FIsuEE) AIN exceeding
Is jealous upon all subjects Cf States rights,
As Il member CT the committee, say that this
resolution met with my hearty concurrcIce.-
The people Of each State is the sovereign Of
each State, and in this resolution, that part Of
it particularly which is directed to this subject,
there is double truth conveyc1-tirst, that
the States arc sovereign, and that the people Of
each State are sovereign aud the SOY vereignty Of
each State resides in the people Of each Stale;
and, therefore, the people Of each State agree
10 associate with the people ofihe other States
upon footing Of exact equality. When the
resolution was originally introduced. it con-
tanned the words peoples Of the other States"
which wunld have met tho gentlrmans ohjec-
jsction completely. If am allowed TO state
what occurred in the committee, the gentleman
from Princess Anne (Mr. WISE said that the
word peoples" was q kossuth word, and he
would, therefore, have nothing to do with it.
The CnAlRMAN-The Chair would remind
the gentleman that it is not in order to refer
to "ha: has passed in the Committee
Mr. BHrcE-I beg pardon; my urfalniliarity
with the rules Of Legislative bodies must be
rny apology. would apologize to the Com
rn'tee, the Convention. and my friend from
Princess Anne chr. WIsE).
Mr.. Wisely friend need not apologize so
i.r as AIN concerned say now it is Kos
srtl word so that he may refer to it.
NJ ENrcs-There il another reason for
usios the word people. The rights Of the State,
and the equality Of The people thereof within
,h= territories, i protected by this resolution
it was perfectly proper that the word people
should be used, in order to hold up and sus.
tain the inference which was drawn from il.
The language is precise. |; is unobjectionable.
and there can he no exception to it; and
would not nter II by saying States because
the word States" Is of imperfect meaning.
We do rot al understand it alike.
IL: WISE Reference is again made to this
word ! bad battle about it elsewhere; AMI
the gentleman from Fauquer, (Mr. Sco1T,)
fircc: me into battle with him here again
lungs or no lungs. Now, sir, say that in the
very article of ratification which he read and
commented upon-uSing the word "peoplc" in
the sense that it islthere used-iti is Synonymous
wth State Ask q child to bound the State Of
Virginia, and he will begin with Maryland on the
North, the Atlantic ocean on the East, North ca.
roliaa on the South, and the Ohio river on TIE
West. What does it bound lhercy The State in
any political sense? No-mcrc territory Ask
the child for the population Of the State, and in
round numbers he will tell you that the State
has SONG 100000 inhabitants. Do that land
and that !, zoo, 900 people, men, women, child
rcn, white, back, old, young, constitute the
State in the political sense. Why, sir, all the
population OF the territory ard all the terrific
ry united with the population do not constitute
the State in the political sense. The Legislature
ami The Governor and the Judiciary Of the State
have done particular act and you say that q
State, because she has acted By all her function
aries, has done particular act. But is that
c3rrect, in political sense? No, sir. Mere
municipalities have performed the act. The
State tas done it only indirectly, By creating
municipality which has done it. Sovereignty
don't reside there, sir. Your Governor, your
Legislature and your Judges combined,
are not the repositories Of your soTercigu-
Il. Who are the repositories Of your
Sovereignty The people What people
All tho men, women, children, eThite and
black, in this Stacy No! The gentleman
from Fuuqui"r cites you to Mr.. Madison-nnd
whenever F>dcralist ventures to exhume old
letters Of Mr.. Madison, he makes as great a mis-
take Of his meaning as he does CT the Coustitu.
ton Of the United States, when he attempts to
lailuie It's ScoQSlructl0l-a0O " itu great zeal OIL
se!fsa faction, he tells us that NJ Madison used
the word people-that the people ratified the
Constitution. The people OF Virginia. What
people2 v hat does he mean by people? lie
asks The gentleman from Northampton, (A1r.
FlsuEE) what he meant by State. Why, sir,
in political sense, State is synonymous with
people, and people are synony nous with State
How? You do not mean the people e., nadsss;
YOU DO not mean lunatics Us well Us the sane;
yOu do hot mean infants us we'll as adults.
You mean the politically organized people
You do hot mean what was once doUe in Cali.
:orn;a, Ehen citizens and aliens, Chinese and
Chiians, Jew, Greek and Gentle, all of all
sorts, we're allowed, first through the act of .
military commander, TO usurp civil authority,
AMI establish territorial government; aad then
10 proclaim from The camp call for Convcn.
tion-a Convention composed ofali the odds and
ENDS Of the earth. That was not people in
anv political sense That was the wrong done
in that rery case 1t WAS an unorganized mass
Of human beings. 4 mere mass OF human
oeinss don't make people in 4 political
.or.n What il IL that makes peorla 2