Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1861-05-10

upon the National Legislat ure the power
s'to call forth the forces of'the the Union
against any member q5etAe Unao'a failing
to perform its duty es'ader the article there
Of.
The second was in these words "Lf
any State or any body OF men IN 0aay
State shall oppose or prevent Ike carryimg
unto eacecutioao such acts or treaties, the
Federal E5recsttive shall be authorized to
cali forth the poa0er Of the Confederate
States, or so much thereof as may be nee
essaa'y to force and compel an obedience
to sucA acts or an observance Of such ts'ea-
ties.''
All the members who spoke upon these
propositions spoke against them, and, all
including their moves, voted against
them.
TIE sentiments then expressed by the
two leading minds of the Convention, rep
resenting the two opposing classes Of po
litical opinions which divided it, leaving
nothing to doubt as to the true interpreta>
ton of its action.
he reflected on the use of force, the more
he doubted the practabiity, the justice and
the effacasy of it, when applied to people
collectively and not individually. An
Union of the States, containing such in
gradients, seem to provide for its own
destruction. The use Of force against
state would look more like declaration
of war than an atf1iction OF punishment,
and would probably be considered by the
party attacked as dissolution Of all pre-
vlous compacts by which it might be
bound
General Hamilton speaking on the same
subject said Bnt how can this force be
exerted upon the States collectively? 1t
is impossible. It amounts to war
between the parties Foreign powers also
will not be idle spectators. They will
interpose The confusion will increase
and q disc lntion Of the Union will ensue.'
Asain, illustrating, by an historical ex
ample, tie consequences of an exercise of
such power by Confederate Govern
ment, he said Its DEGREES were signals
of war"
The Declaration Of Independence had
distinctly declared:
''IiIat whenever any form of govern
ment becomes destruction Of these ends.
(the security Of their rights it IS the right
to alter or abolish it, and to institute a
new government laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing IFS powers
in snch form as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happiness" "
And to have given the Federal Govern
ment power to compel The organized COM
munities Of States to remain under the
Government against their will, ,would have
been to give to it power which the De
claration Of Independence had declared
could not be possessed by any Govern
ment whatever. Hence we are not sur
prised to find that the proposal to confer
such power had no advocate in the Con-
yention.
After Government has been organized
one OF the earlies, as II was undoubtedly
one Of the most important and delicate
OullSS OCNOiFlho OA SOhSi Ooo. "eso w
furnish the President with the powers
necessary TO enable him to "to take care
that tie laws be faithfully executed" and
to pass such 1awsas might be necessary
to s'provide for calling forth the militia to
execute the laws cf the Union, suppress
inrurreetion and repel invasion"
Accordingly we find that as early as
1893 a law was passed for .he purpose
It having been found defective, it was
superseded by the act of 2stn of February,
1895, which, without addition or amend
ment, has remained the law on the sub
iect down to the present time, enacted by
a Congress, which to large extent, was
composed of the individuals who had as
sissed in framing the Constitution, it is
the best interpreter of the general Ian
guage used IN that Instrument, and from
the days Of IFS passage down to the 4th OF
March, of the present year, no President
has ever construed it as giving. him pow
er to use military force except as a posse
coaaitatus, or otherwise in aid sgof civil
process. Ours being government of
law and not a. military despotism, no
other construction could be placed upon