The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1861-02-14
Our National Right Of Esmime0i Do
m ssiss.

| No instances o. southern secession are SO
audacious those of States oecupying ter
ritories purchased by The United States
/ from foreign powers. S'u,h Carolina aud
Georgia were Of The original thirteen col
onies which proclaimed their independence
of Great Britain. There is some colorado
pretext, therefore, for their assertion of ma
live sovereignty, and oil their right to man
tain it outside of The Union. But louisiana.
Florida and Mississippi are only States be-
cause they were made SO by the General
Government. All the land within their
borders was purchased by The Union. with
the common funds OF the peops. from foreign
powers. For long time they were held a
mere territories belonging to the Union.--
They We're settled msinly by the consent
OF the Union. and when they had acquired
population enough TO torn a State they were
admitted into the Union only on certain
irrcvocable conditions.
Take The history OF the admission Of
Louisiana as an example OF the rest. The
Enabling Ac, OF Congress. grant ny to the
people OF this Territory the right TO hold
Convention to organ zs them into State,
had this conditional clause: that
Said Convention shall proclaim by ord-
nance, irrevocable without the consent OF
the United Safes. that the people inhsbit-
ing the said Territory do agree aud declare
that The river Mississippi aad the nrv,gsble
rivers and waters leading ioto the same, or
into the Gulf of Mexico. shall be common
his shways and forever Tree, IS well TO the
inhabitants of the said State as TO the other
ci,izens OF the United States"
| This clause was formally accepted in Is
OF. and the ordinance by which alone Lou
isiana was ad ted as State solmnly agreed
and proclaimed that it should never be re-
voked without the consent OF the United
States. Yet IN the face Of these sacred obli-
cations the late seeding Convention snac-
ted. That the ordinance passed BY this
State on the 22i OF November. 1907. where
by the Constitution of the Uaited States
aud the amendments OF said Constitution
were adopted. and all the laws and ordinan-
ces by which L ,uisiana becatn; member
OF the Federal Union. be and the same are
hereby repealed and abrogated."
This raises new and Interesting question.
A vast domain Is added TO our I aion either
by purchase. or conquest. or by both. All
the rights before held by the sovereign
powers that conveyed the domain. by natl
onal deed or treaty, in the lands thus ac-
quired are vested in our national SOW
ereignty. Afterwards the citizens Of por-
tions OF that domain, having formed State
constitutions subject to the Constitution OF
the United States aud to certain prescribed
conditions. are admitted into the general
Union. They then propose, as Sta.es. to
s-cede from the Government Of the Union.
/ Under those circumstances the ques Ion ar
ises as to wheat must. thereafter their con
dltIon.
| By the secession they can only destroy
their connection as States With the Geueral
| Government; for that foolish act of political
destruction does not o. itself create an idns-
pendent power: 1t merely remands them to
the cond ton IN which they existed before
they were admitted as states. They revert
to their former condition of Territories
or, at most, 10 unacknowledgsd States. az
uabibus ii matters not that their late or
sanzations were one sanctioned by the Natl
| onal Government, for that sanction was OF
States loyal TO the Government. and not OF
States that profess TO contemn its protection
| and to treat its power with contempt. he
dsloyaty destroys the sanction, and every
obligation. tacit or express. which existed
durtnr the time OF faithful allegiance.
Ii Florida aud Louisiana are not now States
of this Union, they are only territories OF the
national government aud ould be governed
AZ such; the President should appoint gov
erners for them. and Territorial lie sisla,ures
should take the place OF their revolutionary
assemblayes Our venerable President would
lind more than sufficient precedent for
such a course, in the policy which he pur-
sued towards the free people OF Kansas
W hen they would not be cursed by the con-
,,ituuon created by fraud. they were not per-
united To be blessed by one made by them
Selves but were. for years since they formed
their constitution. kept under territorial
government.
We may not wish to coercs the inhabitants
| OF either oi those regions into continuing as
States of ths Uaion; their State organIzA-
lions were formed for their own benefit. aud
| it might be allowed for the sake Of argu-
meur, that they can relinqush these benefits
if they please. Bl. the domain upon which
these State organizations were established
was purchased for our beuefi-; tor the saftey
and security Of our national interests, and
especially Tor the protection OF The great
commercial aud Agricultural intrests OF the
Nortl aud West. Upon the Florida hevs
stand he beacons that guide and the fort
resses that defend the rich commerce that
moves between the golden ports Of the Pa
ciic ani the thronged hArbors of New York
and New England. Raising from their oozy
beds at the delta Of the Mississippi are the
national guardians o. the surplus wealth OF
the grsa, Mississippi valley. For thousands
of miles the grand river and its ailments
ga:her contributions which are destined TO
mtugle In the cirruistions oil the world. Il
was To subserve these pre- eminenliy national
interests that the N.,ional G,v.ramsnt paid
Spaio Eve mllliou dollars for Florida, and
gave hundreds Of brave men and fifty mil
iIou dollars more TO drive out the Seminoles;
ard thst it paid to France 6it-en miilioos
dollars tor the Louisiana Territory. and ex-
pended immense sums for the fortifica-
, lions of its Coasts.
j Can the few white men and negroes.
, nearly equally divided in numbers. now
scattered over Florida. be 30 fooiishly in
fstu.t. d As 70 suppose that tbs Territory
, they inh.bit Was purchased for their pleas
, ure! No. II was 10 complete the boundary
of The nation. sod give pEoteesios TO the ia