Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1861-03-08

have claimed thst tho courts could not de
clare upon the constitutionallty of persona
liberty bills. They all agree in the North
that It Is the right and the duty Of the States
to obey the duly rendered judgments Of the
courts. understand that they have always
been willing to submit their laws to the ad
judication of the courts.
/ But history furnishes memorable instance
in which one Of the States of the Union. upon
the application Of the people ofanother State
refused to test the validity or constitutional.
ty Of their own laws in their own courts. j
allude. sir, to the case Of South Carolina
when Mr.. Hoar was sent there as commits.
sioner on the part Of Massachusetts,, to test
the Constitutionality Of law Of South Caro-.
lima she refused to submit to the arbitra.
ment Of the courts, and drove Mr.. Hoar from
her limits. repeat, then, what have said
that the Constitution and the laws passed in
pursuance thereof must be recognized as par.
amount and supreme to State laws before We
can arrive at any full settlement of our pres.
cnt difficulties and this the committee, in a
great measure, seem to have lost sight Of
The committee deplore the evils which arc
upon us. The President of the Uuted States
in recent message deplored the secession Of
States as great evil. His argument was an
able one against the right Of secession, but he
proposed no remedy for rit-he acknowledged
no remedy for it. And like the President
say it with great respect--the committee,
while deploring unauthorized acts, assert no
power in the Government to reprcss such acts
but only request the States to desist. All l
have to say is, that any plan Of compromise
or settlement which does not recognize the
paramount power Of the Constitution and
laws, will not reach the evils SO much com.
planned Of Without fundamental rccogni.
ton Of the superior authority Of the Federal
Constitution, the Union becomes mere
myth, and the Government sham. .....
regard the slavery question as secondary
in Importance to the pretended right ofpcace-
able secession claimed by States now in open
rebellion against the government, and active
| ly Mt work melting other States to like treas
enable practice. 1t is no time to stanch the
blood from flowing wound caused by the
slavery agitation, while this assassin of seces-
sion, and rebellion stands with drawn dagger
and upliftcd arm to nflict yet more fatal
blow at the very Government ITSELF MIKE
concession now, in order to preserve this
Government! -Four years hence, when We
come to inaugurate another President, new
concessions may DC demanded Thus, a blak
mail or ransom may be regularly levied by
one section on another at each recurring
Presidential election, If not oftcner, as the
price Of tho Union. 1t is all folly, then, to
think Of compromise and concessions at this
time. Nothing less than the life of this Union
is demanded; and every instinct Of self pres.
crvation requires that the terms should be
rejected, and the Government. sustained
Isay that tho question, Of all other q,,cs.
tons, which has now to be settled, Is the
right Of secession. appeal to gentlemen
who favor Southern Confederacy whether
any Government erected upon such founda-
ton could endure. 1t requires no prophets
ken to foretcll the speedy downfall Of con.
fedcracy formed upon the specific recognition
Of the right of secession. It would pass
away with the breath Of any State, however
small, that might for any cause, however
trivial, declare that it severed its connection.
Such eonfedcracy would be hourly and
daily in imminent danger Of being broken
into a thousand fragments In such con.
fedcracy, selfishness will be the oycrruling
motive Of all the States. If Louisiana or
Florida, or any other State, finds it to be to
her interest to remain, then she will do so !;
and il not, she will sccede. Any factious
community, under the admitted right of sc.
cession, might withhold from all the other
States the enjoyment Of the advantages Of
Union. because she was unwilling to accept
them herself It seems to me that, super.
added to all the pelicans, crocodiles, snakes
and other descriptions Of reptiles adopted as
the insignia of such dissolving-view confcd.
eracy, there should be a portrayal Of the dog
in the manger Of the old fable.
know that it is objected by our friends
on the other side Of the House that, in the
position we assume we do not recognize the
sovereignty Of the States. Now, sir, desire
State Of the Union that ever did, in the whole
period Of her past history, possess one single
particle Of distinct sovereignty or distinct
nationality. There is no scpcrate sovereignty.
All the sovereignty that any State Of this
Union. excepting itmay be the State Of Texas,
ever had, it derived from and through the
Union. We know very well that even
after the annexation Of the State of Texas,
her sovereignty had to be vindicated in q
long and bloody war between the United
States and Mexico. 6
Let us, for moment, appeal to history
w NAT were tnc In1Ttccn SLAtcS OrlE1nalIyg
Nothing more than colonial dependencies of
Great Britain. Every one must admit that
But the expressions Of the mother country
became intolerable, and the people of these
thirteen colonies formed Union. Unitcdly
they resisted the aggrcssions Of the mother
country; unitedly they declared their indie
pendcnce. shat Of right they were free and
independent; and united, they waged
long and fiercc war against Great Britain.
which was finally closed by recognition Of
that Independence which has ever since been
the pride and boast of the American people
Mr.. Ilindman. Will tho gentleman per-
nit me to call his attention to fact which
he seems to have forgot? The treaty between
Great Britain and the colonies merely rccog-
nized the indepenence Of each one OF the
thirteen colonies by name. It did not rccog-
nize our independence as anation or alcaguc
Mr.. Vandcver. These United States did
not separately negotiate with the mother
country. Unitcdly they declared their inde-
pendence, and unitcdly they negotiated the
terms Of the treaty. The same authority
that commissioned George Washington to
lead the armies Of the United Colonies, au-
II orizcd the commissioners to treat with the
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