Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1861-03-08

! parties in personal action, the people will
have ceased to be their own rulers, hav-
: ing to that extent practically resigned
their government into the hands Of that
tribunal. Nor is there in this view any
assault unon the Court or the Judges.
/ 1t is Q duty from which they may not
! shrink, to decide eases properly brought
before them. It is no fault of theirs if
others seek to turn their decisions to po-
/ litical purposes. One section Of our
country believes slavery is right and
ought to be extended, while the other
believes it is wrong and ought not to be
extended. This is the only substantial
dispute; for the Fugitive Slave clause Of
the Constitution, and the law for the
suppression of the foreign slave trade,
are each as we'll enforced, perhaps as any
| law can ever be in community where
the moral sense of the people imp perfectly
supports the law itself. Would the great
body Of the people abide by the dry le-
gal obligation, in both cases, after the
separation Of the sections, more gener-
ally than before? The foreign slave
trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would
be ultimately revived without restriction
in one section; while fugitive slaves, now
only partially surrendered, would not
be surrendered at all by the other.
Physically speaking: we cannot sepa-
rate; cannot remove our respective sec
tons from each other, nor build an i'm
passible wall between them. The hus-
band and wife may be divorced and go
out Of the presence and beyond the
reach Of each other, but the different
parts Of our country cannot do this; they
cannot but remain face to face, and an
intercourse either anicable CT hostile
must continue between them. Is it pos
sible, then, to make that intercourse
more advantageous, or more satisfactory
after separating them than before? Can
aliens make treaties easier than friends
can make laws? Can treaties be more
faithfully enforced between aliens than
laws among friends?
Suppose you go to war, you cannot
fight always, and when, after much loss
on both sides, and no gain on either, you
cease fighting, the old Identical ques-
tions as to terms Of intercourse are again
upon you: This country with its insti-
tuions belong to the people who inhabit
it. Whenever they shall grow weary of
existing Government, they can exercise
their constitutional rights Of amending
it, or their revolutionary right to dis
member Or overthrow it.
cannot be ignorant Of the fact that
many worthy and patriotic citizens are
desirous OF. having the National Consti-
tuition amended While I make no re-
concentrations of amendments, [ fully
recognize the rightful authority Of the
people over the whole subject, to be ex-
ercised in either Of the modes presented
in the instrument itself, and | should,
under existing circumstances, favor
rather than oppose a fair opportunity
being offered the people to act upon it.
I will venture to add that to me the
Conventional mode seems preferable, in
asmuch as it allows tie amendment to
originate with the people themselves,
instead only Of permitting them to take
or reject a proposition originated by
others, not especially chosen for the
purpose, and which might not be pre-
cisely such as they wonld wish to either
accept or refuse [ understand a pro-
posed amendment to the Constitution,
which amendment, however, | have not
seen, has passed Congress, to the effect
that the Federal Government shall
never interfere with the domestic insti-
tuticns of the States, intending that Of
persons, held to service. 10 avoid q
nisconstruction of what [ haze said, L
depart from my purpose to speak, of
particular amendments, SO far as to say
that holding such provision as that
now implied as constitutional law, l
have no obje, tion to its being made ex-
press and irrevocable.
The Chief Magistrate derives all his
authority from the people. They have
conferred none upon him to fix terms
for the separation of the States. The
people themselves can do this if they
choose, but the Executive, as such, has
nothing to do with it. His duty is to
administer the present Government as
it came to his hands, and to transmit it
unimpaired by him to his successor
Why should there not be a patient con-
idence in the ultimate justice Of the
people? Is there any better or equal
hope in the world? In our present diff
ferences, is either party without faith in
the people or the right? If the Al
mighty Ruler OF Nations, with His !
eternal truth and justice, will be on our
side Of the North or yours of the South,
that truth and that justice vii! surely
prevail by this great tribunal-the
American people. BY the trainers Of TIE
under which we live, this
same people have wisely given their
public servants but little power for mis-
chief, and have, with equal wisdom, pro-
vided for the return Of that little to their
own hands at very short intervals.
While they retain their virtue and
vigilance, no Administration, in any ex-
treme wickedness or folly, can very Sc
riously injure the Government in the
short space of four years. My country
men, one and all, think calmly and we'll
upon this whole subject. No hing val
liable can be lost by taking time. IF
there be an object to hurry any of you
in hot haste to a step which you would
never take deliberately, that object will
be frustrated by it. Such Of you as are
now dissatisfied still have the old Con-
stitution unimpaired, and, en- the sensi-
tive point, the laws OF your own franz
ing under it; while the new Administra-
ton will have no immdiate power: if
it would, to change either: If it were
that you who are dissatisfied
hold the right side in the dispute, still
there is no single good reason for pre-
cipitatc action. Intelligence, patriot
ism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on
Him who has never yet forsaken this
favored land, are still competent to ad-
just in the best way all our present diff
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