Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1861-05-10

invited to ratify the Constitution, lest this
omission should be construed into an aban.
, donmcnt of their cherished principle, and
e they refused to be satisfied until amend
[ ments were added to the Constitution
pIac"" beyond any preteuce Of doubt the
reservation. 10y the States. Of all their SOW
, ercisn rights and powers-not expressly
delegated to the United States by the Con.
stiiu:ion.
) Strange indeed must it appear to the
impartial observer, but it is none the less
true, that all these clauses proved unavai-
ing to prevent the rise and growth in the
Northern States Of a political school which
has pcrsistenty c'"imed that the Govern
ment thus formed was not compact
bcf"een States, but was in effect National
Government, set up oLove and oper the
States. An organization, created by the
States to secure the blessings of liberty and
Independence against foreign aggression
has been gradually perverted into ma
CLINE for their control in their domestic
atfairs-the creature has been exalted above
its creatures the prsnc;pals have been
made subordinate to the agent appointed by
themselves.
The people Of the Southern Sta es,
whose almost exclusive occupation WAS ag-
r.cul,ure, early perceived tendency in
! the Northern States TO render the common
government suhservient to their own rur-
poses, 10y imposing burthens on commerce
AS protection to their manufacturing and
shipping interests. Long and angry con-
troversy grew out Of these attempts, often
sucrcS>frl to benefit ono section of the
country at the expense Of the other And
the danger of disruption arising from this
cause was enhanced 10y the fact that the
Northern population was increasing by
Immigration and other causes in greater
ratio than the population of the South
by degrees. as the Northern States gained
prrponderanre in the National Congress.
self interest taught their people to yield
ready assent to any plausible advocacy o.
their righ, as majority to govern the
minority without control; they learned to-
listen with impaiience to the suggestion OF
any constitutional impediment to the en-
erc'se Of their will; and so utterly have
the principles of tile Constitution been
, corrupted in the Northern mind, that in
! the inaugural address delivered by Presi-
lent Lincoln in Marcl, last, he asserts rs
an axiom, which he plainly deems to lie
undeni"b:e, that the theory of the Consti-
tuition requires that in all cases the ma
J rIty shall govern and in another memo
rahe instance, the same Chief Magistrate
die not hesitate to liken the relations be-
tween State and the United States to
those which exist between county and the
Stale in which j, is situated and by which
| it wac crea,cd. This is the Ianeniable and
Fundamental error on which rests the
policy that has eliminated in his dec
lara,ion Of war against these Confederate
States.
In addition to ihe long continued and
! deep seated resentment felt by the Southern
States at the persistent abuse Of the powers
they had delegated TO the Congress, for the
purpose of enrrhing the manufacturing
and shipping classes Of the North at the
expense Of the South. there has existed for
nearly half a century another subject OF
discorj, involving interest of such transcen-
dent magnitude, as at all times to create
the apprehension in the minds of many
devoted lovers Of the Union, that its per-
manence was impossible.
When the several S,ates delegated certain
powers to the United States Congress. a
large portion of the laboring population
consisted Of African slaves imported into
the colonies by the, mother country. In
twelve out Of the thirteen States, negro
slavery existed, and the right of prcnertv
in slaves was protected hy law. This
property was recognized in the Constiu-
ton and provision was made against its loss
by the escape of the slave. The increase
IN the number Of slaves by further impor-
tation from Africa was also secured by a
clause f"rbiddi"g Congress to prohibit the
slave tradeanteriof to a certain date; and
in no clause can there be found any dele
CATION OF power 10 the Congress auttoriz-
ing 't'n ANY manner to legislale. to the
prejudice, detriment or encouragement Of
the owners Of that species Of property, or
} excluding It from tho ptotec,iQn of the
government!@ssts:@"
The climate and soil Of the Northern
States soon proved unpropitious to the con.
tinuance' of slave labor. whilst the eopysrss
was the case at the South. Under the uu.