Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1861-07-26

! suDoIulndtc cutlIcIy W tle oplulonS ana
ideas that may prevail at the hour with
reference to political unity? 1t has been
held heretofore, and | thought it was ak
iomatic and received by the world, that
the terms of the Constitution Ct the Unit.
ed States were the measure of power on
the one side, and Of obedience on the
other Let us take care how we establish
a principle that, under any presumed
stress of circumstances, powers not grant
ed may be assumed. Take care and do
not furnish an argument to the world and
history that it shall not respect that au-
thority which no longer respects its own
/ limitations.
These are few of the reasons that
will control my vote against this resolu-
ton. ! hope it W Ill be voted upon, and
if it should receive majority, as feai
it will, it will be an invitation to the
President of the United States, in the alb
sence of all legislation, to do the like act,
whenever, in his opinion, if may be ne.
cessary. What will be the effect of it il
Kentucky, and Missouri, and every
where In his discretion be will fee
himself warranted in subordinatiDg The
civil to the military power, and to i'm.
prison citizens without the WARRANTED law
and to suspend the writ ofhdbeaS corpus
and establish martial law, to make search
es and suppress the press, and to do al
those acts which rest on the will and au
tbority of military commander.
In my Judgment, if we pass this, We
are upon the eve Of putting, so far as We
can, in the hands of the President of the
United States, the power of dictator
With such a beginning as this, what are
we to expect in the future? When we
see men imprisoned within hail of the
| Capitol, without warrant, and Congress,
III session, and the Courts paralzed, and
Congress not rising in protest of indig-
nant terms against it, we may well be
filled with gloomy forebodings for the
future. What may we expect, except
line of conduct in keeping with what
has been done? Is this a contest to pre-
serve the Union =? IF SO, then it should
be waged in a constitutional manner. Is
the doctrine to obtain that provinces are
to be entirely subordinate to the idea Of
political unity?
Shall the rallying cry be, the Consti-
tuition and the Union, or are we prepared
to say that the Constitution is gone, but
the Union survives What sort of
Union would it be Let this principle
be announced, and let us carry on this
contest with this spirit, winking at or
approving the violations of this sacred in
strument, aud the people will soon begin
to inquire, what will become Of our liber-
ties at the end Of the experiment? The
pregnant question for us to decide is.
whether the Constitution is to be repre-
scented in this struggle, or whether we
are called upon to follow tho flag over the
ruins of the Constitution | believe.
without questioning the motives of any,
the whole tendency of the present pro-
ceedings is to establish a Government
without limitations, and radically to
change our frame and character of Co
vernment
was told the other day by distin-
guished American that many Americans
abroad. when asked about the present
condition of things here, said, " We
thought your Federal Government rested
on consent, and how do you propose to
maintain it by force" Often the an
swcr would be, 1t was intended to rest
on consent, but it has. filled. II is not
strong enough and we intend TO make it
strong enough, and to change the char
acter Of the government, and we will
give it all the strength we deem essential
without regard to the provisions of the
Constitution, which was made some eighty
years ago, and has been found not ct for
the present condition Of affairs"
think it is well that the attention Of
the country should be called to the ten
dency of things. ] know there are
thoughtful, conservative men---thousonds
Of men who love the Constitulion-sc
tered through the adhering States, who
would never consent to make this contest
with any purpose TO interfere with the
personal rights Of political communities.
tlc then referred to a suggestion 10 q
Northern paper that change 10 the
character Of the Government was con-
templated, aud also 10 a speech made by
the present Secretary of War, 10 which
he said the Southern States must be sub.
dued, and. at the end Of this contest,
there would be no Virginians, as such,
or Carolinians, but all Americans.
! call on Senators to defend tho con-
stitutionality of these acts, or else admit
that they carry on this contest without
regard to tho Cons tuition. content
myself In saying that it never was con
templated by the trainers Of the Consti-
tuition that this Government should be
maintained by military force or by sub
jugathg different political communities
IL was declared by Madison and by Ham
ilton himself that there was no compe-
tency in the Government thus TO preserve
IT, Suppose the military subjugaiion is
successful--suppose the army marches
through Virginia and the Gulf States to
New Orleans--then the war is prosecuted
unconstitutionally. Even If there was
warrant of law for IL, il would be the
overthrow Of the Constitution. There is
no warrant in the Constitution 10 conduct
the contest in that form.
In further proof Of how they intend TO
conduct this contest, Irefer TO the speech
Of the eloquent Senator from Oregon.
(Mr. Baker, when he declared be was
for direct war, and said that for that pur.
pose nobody was as good os a dictator.
10 anything more necessary to show that