The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1861-01-11

Treasurer, shall be counterslgned by the Audi
tor General, before they are used, and that dai
| ly accounts shall be kept of the moneys recvv
ed, deposited and dISbursed, in the Auditor Gen.
erals office, as well as in the Treasury Depart
ment.
IH2rd-That condensed monthly statements
verified by the signatures of the Audito. Gen
eFal and State Treasurer, shall be published in
one newspaper ID Philadelphia and one in HaF-
rsourg, showing the balances in the Treasury.
and where deposited, with the particular a.
mount Of each deposit and
FouTfh-That the bond Of the State Treasu-
rer be increased to the sum Of two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars.
The inspectors of The State Penitentary for
the Eastern District Of Pennsylvania, in their
annual reports for the years 1898 and 1859,
called the attention OF tie Legislature 10 the in
security OF such parts of the penuenttary bull
ding as were exposed to their own fires and
those of the neighborhood, and recommended
that roofs of such of the corridors as were COW
cred with shingles, and needed renewal, should
be replaced with slate or metal. On visiting
the institution, my attention was called to the
subject by the inspectors. The necessity for
the change was SO apparent and urgent, that
advised them not TO hesitate in having the old,
dllaDidated and dangerous wooden roofs OF such
portions OF the building as required renewal,
replaced with some substantial FIRE proof mate
rial. THIS has accordingly been done, and |
respectfully recommend that small appropfi-
alton De granted to deiray the expenses incur
red.
The extraordinary and alarming condition of
our national affairs demands your immediate al
tentlon. On the twentieth of December last.
the convention Of South Carolina, organized
under the authority of the Legislature of that
State, by unanimous vote, declared ssthat the
UNION now subsisling between South Carolina
and he other States, under the name of the T.
niteo States of America, is hereby dissolved -
and the action already taken in several other
Southern States indicates, most clearly. their
intention TO follow this example.
On behalf of the advocates of secession, IT is
claimed, that this Union is merely compact
between the several States composing 1T, and
that any one OF the States, hich NAV feel ag-
gTieVed, may, at It's pleasure, declare that it
viii no longer be party TO the compact
This doctrine IS clearly erroneous The Con-
stltution OF the United States is something more
thaa mere compact, or agreement, between
the several States. As applied 10 nations, a
compact Is bot treaty, which may be abro-
gated at the viii OF either party responsible to
the other party Tor IFS bad faith in refusing to
keep It's engagements. but entirely irresponsible
10 any superior tribunal. A government, on
the other hand, whether created bv consent, OF
by conquest, when clothed with legislative,
judicial and executive powers, is necessarily in
IFS nature sovereign and from this sovereignty
flows lis right 10 enforce It's laws and DEGREES by
civil process, and, in an emergency, by its mil
llary and naval power. The government owes
protection 10 the people, and they, IN turn, eve
1t their allegiance. It's laws cannot be VIOLA
ted oy its citizens, without accountability 10
tie tribunals created 10 enforce lis DEGREES and
to punish offenders. Organized resistance 10
1t, is rebellion. 1t successful, it may be purged
OF crime by revolution. If unsuccessful, the
persons engaged in the rebellion, may be exc
cuted as traitors. The government of the Uni
ted States, within the limits assigned 10 it, is as
potentla! in sovereignty, as any other govern
ment IN the civilized world. The Constitution
and laws made IN pursuance thereof, are ex-
presSly declared TO be the supreme law of the
land. Under the Constitution, the general
government has the power to raise and support
armies, 10 create and maintain a navy, and to
provide for calling forth the militia to execute
ITS laws, suppress insurrection and repel inya-
sion. Appropriate statutes have been enacted
by Congress, 10 aid in the execution Of these
important governmental powers.
The creation Of the Federal Government,
with the powers enumerated in the Constitu-
ton, was the act of the people ofthe United
States, and It is perfectly iromaterial that the
people OF the several States 5acted separately
within the territorial limits of each State The
form of their action is OF no consequence, in
view of the tact that they created Federal
Government, TO which they surrendered GER
tam powers OF sovereignty, and declared those
powers, Thus surrendered, to be supaerne, with
out reservlng TO the States, or to the people, the
right OF secession, Modification or other resis-
tanco. 1t IS, therefore, clear that there is no
constitutional right Of secession. Secession is
only another form OF null6ca!ion Either,
when attempted TO be carrird out by force, is
rebellion, and should be treated as such, by
those whose sworn duty it is to MAINTAIN the
supremacy OF the Constitution and laws of the
United States.
1T is certainly true, that in cases of great ex-
tremIty, when the oppression of government
has become SO Intolerable that civil war ls pre-
teraole TO longer submission, there remains the
revolutionary right OF resistance !; but where the
authority of the government is Limited by a
written Constitution, and each department is
held IN check by the other departments, it will
rarely, il ever, happen that the citizen may not
be adequately protected, without resorling TO
the slcred and inahenable right 10 resist aad
destroy government which has been perverted
TO tyranny.
But, while denying the right OF State to
absolve its citizens from the allegiance which
they owe to the Federal Government it is new
eriheless highly proper that we should care