The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1861-03-15

! Dut mere hgbn COmes up 'nht terilole
specter OF coercion. Oh, you cannot co.
cree a State There is no purpose Of, or
necessity for, compelling State by brute
force 10 submit TO Federal authority ;
but we have a right 10 execute the laws Of
the Confederacy. Wherever the Con-
federacy extends, every man, woman and
child is bound, and every Federal and
State officer has bound himself by solemn
oath, TO support the Constitution Of the
United STATES and The Federal Govern.
ment has the unquestionable right to
exact obedience TO il, and the laws made
10 pursuance thereof. No act Of secession
can for a single momen. ann:hilate this
power, or subvert the right TO exercise it
in defence of the laws and Constitution OF
the United States. But how should it ex.
ecute this power? II we undertake 10
execute a law Of the Federal Government
in one OF the seeding States, that is said
10 be coercion. While the seeding States
+ have, by the acts Of mere extemporized
and volunteer conventions, divested them
, selves OF the obligations they took upon
themselves when they entered the Con.
federacy as co-equal Siates-under this
most iallacious and shallow pretext, they
} seize your forts, your arsenals, your ships
, of war, your mints and treasure, ard ap-
propriate them 10 themselves, and then
cooly wrap themselves round with The
com lortable garment Of Estate sovereignty
and no COERCION" saying that these things
are theirs because found within their State
boundaries. "We have seeded" say
they, "and whatever within our limits be-
longed 10 the old Confederacy is ours :"
and thus they prove the omnipo'ence Of
Stale sovereignty. They have divested
themselves, by their own er parte acts, oI
the supreme law that was upon them
They acknowledge its supremacy they
: swear 10 obey Il; they lifted up their hands
, TO Heaven, and called upon Almighty God
to witness that they would uphold the
Constitution Of the United States and
their first duty and their FIRST allegiance
) was to the supreme law Of the land-the
Constitution and when the constitution
or laws OF a State contravene that su-
preme law, it mows them down as the
scythe Of the mower cuts the grass be-
fore il. They cannot but know it,
Every man, who ever read the ConstiIu-
,icn, knows that such is the law /; and
those who administer it have sworn 10
; obey that law and il they forbear to
obey it, they are false 10 the oath which
they have taken. They who have sworn
10 support the Constitution Of the United
States, have sworn TO submit totbat Con.
! stitution as the supreme law OF the United
States-ss their supreme and holiest OBJ
} ligaiion-and they cannot divest them
} selves of this moral necessity without the
consent OF the entire national Confederacy
Sir, in the eyes OF the civilized world
these proceedings which are now being
transacted at the South, will be looked
upon, not as the acts Of sane men, but as
the acts Of men acting under the influence
Of insanity. All these agiations and
dangers were foreseen when the onslaugh:
was made upon the old and long-recog-
i nized supremacy Of the Missouri COM
promise, acknowledged to be consti.I-
lional by Mr.. Calhoun, Mr.. Crawford, and
all the great men OF the slave States at
that period Of our history. II were so
| disposed, might 90 on and demonstrate
J how perfectly this state OF things was pre-
/ dicled in the discussions which occurred
when that Missouri compromise line was
repealed / could show that such repeaI
was the act of the slave States themselves
: that they were The men who absolutely
5 drove it through, and consummated thai
5 piece Of political madness and folly and
5 wickedness, with the aid, however, Of 6
: few ambitious, and moi few unscrupu'
} lous and recreant men from the free
, States men who have ever been the
} playthings and the tools OF the slave
power; men who cannot be relied upon
where the interests of human liberty are
imperiled. There has always existed such
a class OF men iu the free States ; and
J their existence there is one Of the strongest
} reasons why we cannot and ought not tc
: yield to the South in this controversy
, Bv so doing we demoralze ourselves,
, bring the free States into utter contempt
with the South, and render them powerless
for the support OF The Constitution and the
laws.
J Again: the border States call upon us to
make great sacrifices for the purpose of re-
tanning them in the Union. There has
been something in tho conduct of these
States which has seemed to mo very cxua
ordinary. The Gulf States have nrrayed
themselves against tho Union. sword in hand.
bidding defiance to the laws and Constitu.
ton of tho Federal Government; telling us
that they are now eternally FREQ from the
Union. They have seized our forts, our ar
sonaIs our dock yards, our mints, our money
and our arms; and are, to-day, defyiIg Us
toxetake this booty from them. In this
pernicious work, these border States, which
claim to DO loyal, aid and abot tho Gull
State rovolutionists; and, with them, deny
tho right OF the Federal Government to re-
possess itself of its own property, or to ask
compensation for il. These Gulf States
have gone out of the Union, and placed
themselves IN a condition in which, as thoy
assert, they can make alliances with any for.
oign foe, or to permit such power to march
through their territory to attack US here in
the Capitol at any time. They insist upon
maintaining this power. And what are the
border States doing in view Of this gigantic
treason: To this point | dosire to call tho
attention of tho border State mon and those
who sympathize with thom as do, for do
sympathiLe with them, aud, were II in my
power, would aid thom through this great
contest with the slave power. But what can
we do for thein? Here are the Cotton States
. .,,anao;no ha C,,nTaJaraoy nm tho ant irp