The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1861-01-19

on it in our war with Great Britain. MI
Jefferson did not hesitate to say that state
must be kept within their constitutions
sphere BY impulsion, il they could not b
held there by attraction. Secession was the
held to be inadmissable ia the.face Of publ
enemy. But If it is untenabie in one case
IL II necessarily so in all others | fully nd
NIT the originality, the sovereignty, apd tn
independence Of the several states within thei
sphere. But | hold the federal governmon
to be equally original. sovereign and indie
pendent within its sphere.
And the government of the state can n,
more absolve the people residing within it
limits from allegiance to the Urion, than tn,
government of the Union can absolve then
from allegiance to the state. The Constitu
ton OF the Uni ed States, and the laws in pur.
suaucc thereof, are tho supreme law Of tn;
land, paramount to all legislation Of the
states, whether made under the constitution
or by even their organic conventions. Tho
Union can be dissolved, not by secession
with or without armed force, but only by the
voluntary consent Of the people of the Uni
| ted States, collected la the manner prescribed
| by the Constitution Of the United States.
tohsrtss I'll the present case, ought not to
be impaSslve. IL ought, If it can, to redress
any real grievances of the offended states,
a.4a theH II ought to supply the President with
/ all The means necessary to maintain the TN
ION In the full exhibition and discreet exer-
| else of its authority. Beyond this. with the
! proper activity on tie part of the Executive.
the responsibility Of saving the Union belongs
| to the people, and they are abundahty com
petent to discharge it..
Propose, therefore, with great Difference,
to address myself TO the country upon the
mnmentnas subject, asking a hearing, not
less from the people within what are called
the secsding, than from those who reside
within tha ihering states.
Union ls an old, fixed, settled habit of the
American people, resulting from convictions
OF It's necessity, and therefore not likely to be
hastily discarded. Tho early states, while
existing lis colonies, were combined. thou yh
imperfeetlv, through u common allegiance
TO the British crown. When that allegiance
ceased, no ono was so presumptous as to sup-
pose political existence compatible with dis
union; and, therefore, on the same day that
they declared themselves independent, they
proclaimed themselves also confederate
states. Experience in war and in peace.
from ITO until 1887, only convinced them
Of the necessity Of converting that loose con-
federacy into more perfect and perpetual
Union.
They acted with GOODNESS very different
from the Incorporate conduct of those who
on one side threaten, and those who on the
other rashly defy disunion. They consid red
the continuance Of the Union as subject
comprehendsng nothing less than the safety
and welfare OF all the parts OF which the
country was composed, and the fate of IN
empire in many respects the most interesting |
IN the world. enter upon the subject OF
continuing the union now, deeply Impressed I
with the same generous and loyal conviction. |
How could it be otherwise, when, instead of |
only thirteen, the country is now composed |
OF thirty three parts; and the empire en- I
braces, instead of only four millions, no less |
than thirty millions Of inhabitants.
The founders Of the Constitution morrow
or regarded the Union as no more national or I
American interest On the contrary, they
confessed with deep SCI sibility that ii seemed /
70 them to have been reserved for the people /
OF this country to decide whether societies or I
men are really capable of establishing good T
government upon reflection aud choice, or
whether they are forever destined to depend
Tor their political constitutions on accident
and force. They feared, therefore, that their
faliure to continue anil pe.fcct the Union
much more, sir, would its overthrow now be a
calamity TO the world
Some form of government is indispensa-
bic here rs elsewhere. Whatever form We
have, every indiy idual citizen and every state
must cede to il some natural rights, to invest
the government with the requisite power
The simple question, therefore, for us now
20 decide, while laying aside all pique, pas
sion and prejudice is: whether it conduces
more to the interest of the people of this
country u remain tor the general purpose OF
reace ana war, commerce inland and foreign.
postal communications at home and abroad
tho care and disposition Of the public dom
an, colonization, tho organization and q -
mission OF new states, and, generally, the en-
argeinent df empire, one nation under our
present constitution, than it would BIO to
iiyide themselves INTO separate confedera-
lies states.
Our country remains now~as it was in l-S-
composed not of detached and distant
territories, but of one whole well connected
ind fertile region lying within the semperate
zone. with climates ind Goiis hardly more
various tlian those Of France or OF italy.-
! MS salght diversity quickens and amplilos
and commerce. Cur rivers
IN valleys, us improved by art, furnish us
system OF highways nncqualled in the
World. The different forms of labor, if sla-
'efy were not perverted TO purposes of po-
lticai ambition. need not constitute an ele-
nent OF strife in the confedcracy.
Notwithstanding recent vehement express
lors and manifestations Of intoleranee In ,
ome quarters, produced BY ,ntc Sc parti. ,
an excitement, we are, in fact, a hotnope. ,
leous peorle, chiefly of one stock, with nc-
essions we'll assimlated. We have, prac,i ,
ally, only one language, one religion, one
ystem OF government, and manners and Gus
olns common to all. Why, then, shall We ,
lot remain henceforh, MS hitherto, one peo-
lie. /;
The first object Of every human society is
aiety or security, for which, il need be, they I
VII. anu they must, sacrifice every other q