Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1861-07-12

be suspended, except in cases of rebellion or inv
SION when the public safety does requires it, it W
] decided that We have case of rebellion, and q
public safety does require the qualified suspens
OF the privilege of the writ which was authoriz,
to be made Now it is insisted that Congress- al
not the Executive, is vested with this power; b
the Constitution itself is silent as to which
who IS to usurp the power, and as the provisi(
was plainly made for a dangerous emergency,
cannot be believed that the trainers of the instr
ment intended that in every case the danger shOu
run its course until Congress should be calle
together, the very assembling of which might
prevented, as was intended in this case by the r
bellon. No more extended argument need now
afforded, as an opinion ut some length will probab
be presented by the Attorney General.
whether there is to be any legislation ON tn
subject, aud ifso, what, is submitted entirely to til
better judgment of Congress The forbearance I
| this government has been SO extraordinary and S
long continued, as to lead some foreign nations
shape their actions as if they supposed the earl
dissolution Of the Union was probable.
While this, on discovery, gave the Executv
some concern, he is now happy to say that tn
sovereignty and rights of the United ctates ar
now practically respected by foreign powers. an
general sympathy with the government is man
tested throughout the world.
| The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury
War and Navy Departments will give the informs
ton in detail, necessary and convenient for you
|
stand ready to supply omissions, or to commun
cate new facts considered important for you +
know
1t is now recommended that you give the lega
means for making this contest u short and decisiv
| one; that you place in the control Of the govern
ment for the work at least 400 900 men and $500,
coo, 600. That number OF men is about one tenth o
those OF proper ages within the region where ap
parently all are willing to engage, and the sum il
less than the twenty third part Of the money vau,
owned by the men who seem ready to devote thu
whole.
A debt of six hundred millions is less sum
per head than was the debt of our revolution wher
We came out of the struggle and the money value
In the country bears even greater proportion.
surely, each man has stronger motive now tt
preserve our liberties than each had then to estab
ish them. right result at this time will be worth
more to the world than ten times the men, and ten
times the money.
The evidence reaching us from the country leaves
no doubt that the material for the work is abun.
dant that it needs only the hand of legislation to
give it sanction and the hand OF the Executive to
give it practical shape and efficiency One of the
greatest perpexties Of the government is to avoid
receiving troops faster than it can provide for
them. In word. the people will save the govern
ment if the government will do its part only indif
terently well.
1t might seem at first thought to be of little diff
ference whether the present movement at the South
be called secession or rebellion. he movers.
sever, well understand the difference. They
knew at the beginning they could never raise their
treason to any responsible magnitude by any name
which implies violation Of law, They knew their
people purposed as much devotion to law and order
and as much pride and reverence to the histo and
government of their common country as any other
civilized and patriotic people. They knew they
could make advancement directly in the teeth of
these strong and noble sentiments.
They accordingly commenced by an insiduous
debauching of the public mind. They invented an
ingenious sophism, which. if conceded, was fol
lowed by perfectly logical steps through all the
incidents of the complete destruction of the Union
The sophism itself is, that any State Of the Union
may, consistently with the National Constitution.
and therefore lawfully and peaceably, withdraw
from the Union, without consent of the Union or
of any other state. little disguise that the sup
posed right is to be exercized only for just cause
themselves to be sole judges, is too thin to
merit any notice With rebellion thus sugar
coated, they have been drugging the minds of their
section for more than thirty years, until at length
they have brought many good men to willingness
to take up arms against the government the day
after some assemblage of men have enacted the
farce of taking their State out of the
Union, who could have been brought to no such
thing the day before. This sophism derives much,
perhaps the whole, of its currency from the
that there Is omnipotent and sacred
supremacy PERTAINING to each State of our Federal
Mon. Our States have neither more or less power
Luau tudI TeSeFVeu 10 tuem III Jne Union Dy the
constitution. No one of them has ever been a
State out of the Union. The original ones passed
into the Union, even before they cast off their
British dependence, and the new ones came into
the Union directly from condition of dependence
excepting Texas, and even Texas, in
its temporary independence, was never
designated as State. The new ones were only
designated States on coming into the Union. while
that name was only first adopted for the old ones
in and by the declaration of independence. Therein
the united colonies were declared free and indie
pendent states, but even then the object plainly
was not to declare their independence of one
another of the Union, but directly the icontrary,
,s their mutual pledge and their mutual action
before, at the time, and afterward ahundantly
show. The express piighting of faith by each and
al of the original thirteen States in the articles of
two years LATER that the Union shall
De perpetual, is most conclusive. Having never
oeen States, either in substance or name, outside
IF the Union, whence this magical oEnip7tence of
State rights asserting claim of power to lawfully
destroy the Union itself?
Much said about the sovere gyy of the States but
he word is not in the atona Constitution nor is it be-
icved to lie in any State Constitution. What is SOW
regnty in the particular Of the term? Would it
De wrong to declare it political community without
political superior? Tested by this, Of our States
except Texas was sovereignty and even Ts4as CAV up
he character coming into the Union by which act
he ackoW edged the Constitution of the United States
md laws and treaties Of the United States made in pur
uance of the Constitution, to be her supreme law
other legal status. If they break from this
hey only do against law by revolution agaiacs she
Union. The Union and not themselysg separat ed pro-
ured their independence and their liberty by conquest
perchance gave each OF them whatever of ndepend
Ice and liberty it has. The Union is older than any
If the States. Originally dependent color les
made the Union, and in return the Union threw OF that
I'D dependence for them and made the states such
hey Not of .i.eln had State Consttu.
ion Independent of the Union.
OF course it is not forgotten that all the new States
ormed their constitutions before they entered the Union
nevertheless dependent and preparatory to coming
nto Union Unquestionaby the States have the pow
and rights reserved to them by the national Cons
Hton but among these surely not included all
eivable powers however mischevous and destructive
out at most such only known in the world as
powers and certainly power to destroy
he Government itself had been known as GOV
or as merely administrative power. This
relative matter of national power aud States rights
principle no other than principle of generality
and locality.
Whatever concerns the WHOLE should be confined to
the whole general Government while whatever
the State should be left exclusively to the State This
is all there is of the original principle about it, What
aver the National Convention, in defining the bounda
ries between the two applied to the principle with
sxact accuracy not be questioned are all bound by
that definition without question. What is now combat
led position that secession lis consistent with the
Constitution andis lawful and peaceful 1t Is not con-
tended that there is any express law for it, and nothing
should be implied as law which leads to unjust and
absurd consequences.
The nation purchased with money the countries out
which several of these States formed Is it just
that they should go off without leave, without refund
ing the nations money and pay every in the aggre
gate? Ibesve nearly 600 was paid to relieve
Florida from the aboriginal tribes. i it Just that she
should go of without consent or without any
turn? The country is now in debt for money applied
for the benefit of these socaed seeding States in
mon with the rest either that creditors shall
go unpaid, or the remaining States pay the whole?
part of the present national debt contracted to
pay the old debts of Texas Is it just that she shall
leave and pay part of this herself? Again, if
State may secede, may another, and when all shall
have seeded, is left to pay the debts. Is this
quite just to creditors Did notify them of this
sage view of when borrowed their money? If
recognize this doctri,e by allowing the sece-
iers to sa in peacei it is dfhcnt to what can
do Others choose to to extort terms upon which
they will promise to remain.
The seceders insist that Constitution admits of
cession They have assumed to make national consti
tuition of their own, in which of necessity they have
neither discarded retained the right Of secession
they insist it exists in ours, e they have discarded it.
they thereby admit that principle it ought to
ist in ours. If they had retained it by their
structon of that shows that to be consistent they
must secede from another when they shall find it
the easiest way of settling their debts efectng anoth
er selfish or unjust object.
The principle itself is of disinte. ration, ard
which government can pOsSiblv endure. all the