Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-07-06


within tie regions where apparently all are |
willing to engage, and the sum is less than |
third part OF the money value owned by tne |
men who seem ready to devote the whole. |
debt of 5000 100000 now, is less sum per
head than was the debt of our revolution,
when we came out Of that struggle, and the
money value in the country now bears even
greater proportion to what it was then, than
does the population. Surely, each man has as
strong motive now to preserve our liberties,
as each had then to establish them.
A right result at this time will be worth
more to the world than the men and money 1t
will cost. The evidence reaching us from the
country leaves no doubt that the material Tor
the work is abundant and that 1t needs only
the hand OF legislation to give 1t legal SANCTION,
the head of the executive to give it practical
shape and efficiency. One of the greatest per
plexities of the government is to AVOID recelV'
ing troops faster than it can provide for them
In a word the people will save their govern
ment if the government itself will do Its part
only indiiierenuy we'll 1t might seem at f1rst
thought to be of little difference, whether the
present movement at the south be called seces-
sion or rebellion. The movers, however, Will
understand the difference. AT the beginning,
they knew they could never raise their trea-
son to any respectable magnitude by any name
which implies the violation of law. They
knew their people possessed rs much OF moral
sense, as much of devotion to law and order,
and as much pride in its reverence Tor the MS
tory aud government OF their common coun-
try, as any other civilized and patriotic peo-
pie.
They knew they could make no advance
ment directly in the teeth OF these strong ana
noble sentiments. Accordingly, they com
menced by an insidious debauehery OF the
public mind they invented an ingenious so
sal II an1pp1pl followed DV
perfectly logical steps, through all the Incl
dents, to the complete destruction OF the
Union. The soplism itself is, that any state
of the Union may, consistently with the ma.
tiona constitution, and therefore lawfully ana
peacefully, withdraw from the Union, without
the consent of the Union or any other state.
The little disguise-that the supposed right is
to he exercised only for just cause, themselves
to be the sole Judge of its JUSTICES too thin
to merit notice With rebellion, thus sugar
coated they have been drugging the public
mind of their section, for more than thirty
years, until at length they have brought
many good men to Willingness 10
take up arms against the government. ms
sophism derives much, perhaps the whole OF
its currency from the assumption that there
is some omnipotent and sacred supremacy
pertaining to a sta,e, to each state Oh our
Federal Union. Our states have neither more
nor less power llldl llldS lGoSlNNN l" ''iSiii ~
the Union bv the Constitution, no one OF
them ever having been a state out OF the
Union. The original ones passed into the
Union even before they cast of the British
colonial dependence, and the new ones came
into the Union directly from condition OF
dependence except Texas, and even Texas
in its temporary independence was never des-
iguated state The new ones only took
the designation of states on coming into the
union while that name was first adopted Tor
the old ones in and by the Declaration OF
Independence therein. The United Colonies
were declared to be free and Independent
states, but even then the object plainly was
not TO declare their independence of one an
other, of the Union, but directly the contrary
as their mutual pledge, and their mutual ac-
ton before, at the time. and afterwards,
abundanty show the express phghtlng OF
faith by each and all OF the original thirteen.
In the articles OF confederation two years la.
ter that the Union shall be perpetual, is
most conclusive, having never been states
either in substance or in name, outside OF
the Union. Whence this magical omni pO-
tence of state rights, asserting claim OF
power to lawfully destroy the union itself
Much is said about the sovereignty OF the
states, but the word even is not in the national
constitution, nor as is believed, in any OF the
state constitutions. What is sovereignty, in
tflr pOlltlcai sense Oh tue leIill NOulu IL oS
far wrong to define il a political community
without superior? Tested by this, no one
of our states except Texas, ever was SOW
reignty, and even Texas gave up the character
on coming into the Union. BY this act they
acknowledged the constitution OF the United
States made in pursuance thereof If they
break from this, they can only DO so against
law, and by revolution The Union, and not
themselves separately, procured their indie
pendence and liberty, by conquest or purchase
The Union gave each of them whatever OF
independence and liberty it had. The Union
is older than any of the states, and IN tact
it created them as states
OF course it is not forgotten that all the new
states framed their constitutions before they
entered the Union, nevertheless dependent
upon and preparatory 10 coming into the
Union Unquestionaby the states have the
power and rights served to them in and by the
national constitution, but among them surely
are moi included all conceivable powers, how
ever mischievous or destructive, but, at most,
such only as were known in the world at the
time as governmental powers; aud certainly
power to destroy the government itself had
never been known as a governmental power.
Whatever concerns the whole should be CON
fined to the whole general government, while
whatever concerns only the state should be
left exclusively to the state. This is all there
is of original principle about it. Whether the
national constitution, i'll defining the bounda-
ries between the two, has applied the princi
pie with exact accuracy, is not to be question:
ed. We are all bound by that. What is now
combatted is the position that secession under
the constitution is lawful and peaceful 1t IS
not commended that there is any express
law for it, and nothing should ever
be implied as law which leads to IN
just or absurd consequences The nation
purchased with money the countries out OF
which several of these states were formed. Is |
it just that they shall go off without leave and |
without retundng? The nation paid very |
large sums in the aggregate, believe nearly |
a hundred millions, to relieve Florida of the |
aboriginal tribes Is it just that she shall now
go off without consent, or without making any |
return The nation is now in debt tor money |
applied to the benefit of these so called seced- |
ing states, in common with the rest Is it just, |
that either the creditors shall go unpaid, or the
remaining states pay the whole? part of
the present national debt was contracted to |
pay the old debts of Texas. Is it just that she
shall leave and pay no part of this herself
Again, il one state may secede, so may |
another and when all shall have seeded, |
none are left to pay the debt. Is this quite |
just to the creditors? Did we notify them of |
this cage view of ours, when we borrowed |
their moneys If we now recognize this doc.
trine, by allowing the seceders to so in peace,
it is difficult to see what we can do if others
choose to 90, or to eXtort terms upon which
they will promise to remain The seceders
insist that our constitution admits of secession.
They have assumed to make national con.
stitution Of their own, in which OF necessity, |
they have either discarded or retained the
right of secession las they insist it exists in ours
IL. Al.