Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1861-07-11

1 their mutual pledge and their mutual action,
! before, at the time aud afterwards, abuns
/ danily show. Zoe express piighting of faith,
! BY each and all of the original thirteen, in
the articles of confederation, two years later,
that " the Union shall be perpetual" is most
conclusive. Having never been States, eish-
er in substance or in name outside of the
Union, whence this magical omnipotence of
State Rights asserting claim OF power to
lawfully destroy the Union itself? Much is
said about the Sovereignty of the States but
the word even if not in the National Consti-
tuition, nor as is believed in any of the State
Constitutions. What is Sovereignty. in
the political sense of the term? Would it
! be far wrong to define it g a political COM
munity without political superior 2" Test
ed by this no one of our States except Texas
ever was a sovereignty, aad even Texas gave
up the character on coming. into the Union,
| by which act she acknowledged the Consti-
tuition Of the United States and the laws and
treaties of the United States, made in pursu
ance of the Constitution, TO be for her the
supreme law of the land The STATES have
their status in the Union, and they have no
other legal status. If they break from this,
| they can only do so against law and by rev-
olution The Union, and not themselves sep
arated, procured their independence and
their liberty. By conquest or purchase, the
| Union gave each Of them whatever of indie.
pendene and liberty it has, The Union is
| older than any of the States, and in fact it
created them as States. Originally Some de-
pendent colonies made the Union, aud, in
turn, the Union threw off their old deper,-
dence for them and made them States, such
| as they are not one Of them ever had State
| Constitution independent of the Union.
Of course it is not forgotten that all the
new States framed their Constitutions before
/ they entered the Union; nevertheless depen-
dent upon. and preparatory to coming into
the Uni IN.
| o. questionably the States have the pow
| ers anu rights reserved to them in anG Dy the
| National Constitution /; but among those,
surely, are not included all conceivable pow
ers, however mischieyGus or des.ructfVe. but
at most such only are known IN the world at
the time, as Governmental powers, and GER
tainly power to destroy the Government
itself had never known as Governmental
merely administrative power.
! This relative matter of National power and
| Stare Rights as principle, is no other than
| The principle of generality and locality.
! Whatever concerns the whole should be
eonfided to the wnole, 70 the General Gov
ernment while whatever concerns only the
! State should be left exclusively to the State
This is all there is of original principle about
| it. Whether the Natiana Constitution, in
defining boundaries between the two, has az
| piled the principle with exact accuracy, is
not to be questioned. We are also ound by
that defining, without qu-s ion. What is
now ted is the position bat Secession
is consistent with the Constitution, is lawful
and peaceful 1t is not cunteated that there
is any express law for it, and nothing should
ever be implied as law which leads to apjust
or absurd conseq lences.
| THE Nation purchassd with money the
/ countries out of wh ch several # these Sta g.
were formed. Is it just that they shall go off
without leave and without refunding? The
nation paid very large sums-in the aggre
gate, | believe, hundred miliions--to re-
lieve Florida of the Aboriginal triber. Is it
/ just that she shall now go off without consent
or without making any return The nation
| is now in debt for money applied to the ben
eft of those so called seeded S1ates Ia COM
mon with the rest. l. 1t Just either that
creditors shall GO unpaid, the remaining
States pay the whole? Part of the present
nationsl debt was contracted to pay the old
debts of Texas. Is i, iust that she shall leave
AMI pag no part of this herself
| Again, if one State NAV secede, so may
| another, and when al shall have seeded,
none is left to pay the debts. Is this quite
JUST to creditors Did we notify them OF
| this sage view of ours when we borrowed
| their money! lf we bow recognize this doc
| trine by allowing the Seceders to go in peace
! it is difScult to see what we can do if Others
| choose TO 90 or 70 exhoIJ terms upon which
thev will promise to remain.
The Seceder, insist that our C0usttutijn
| admits of Secession. They have assumed TO
make National ConstitStion of their own
| in which of necessity they have either dis
carded or retained the right of Secession, as
tley insist it exists in eurs. If they have
discarded it. thersby admit that on principle
it ought not to bs in ours. II they have pa
famed it by their own construction of ours,
they show that TO be consistent they must
aecede from one another whenever tt ey shall
fnG it the easiest way of settling their debts,
or effecting any other self. h or unjust Inject
The principle itself is one of dl>integratian
and upon which the Government can possibly
endure.
| IF all the States save one, should assert
| the power to drive that one out of the Union
| it is presumed the whole class of sece der
politicians would at eGee deny the power,
and denounce the act as the greatest out
rage ON State rights.
But suppose that precisely the saule act,
instead Of being called driving the one out
should be called the seeding of the other
| from that one, ii would be exactly what the
seceedsrs claim to do, unless, indeed, they
make the pon. that the oue, because it is the
minority, may lightfully do what the other,
because they a:e majority, may not rights
| fully do. These politicians are sabtle and
profound on the right of minorites /; they
are not partial to that power which made the
Constitution, and speaks from the preamble
calling itself the People" It may we'll be
questioned whether there is to-day a majo
lty of the legally qualified voters of any State
except perhaps South Carolina, ia favor Of
disuniop There is much reason 10 believe
that the union men are the majority IN many
| if not every other one of the so called Sc
ceeded States AS the contrary has not been
demonstrated in any one of them. it is ven-
tured to affirm this even Of Virginia and
Tennessee, for the result of an election, beld
in military camps where the bayonets were
| all on one side of the question voted upon,
can scarcely be considered demonstration
of the popular sentiment. At such an elec
ton, all that large class who ere not at once