The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-08-23

Of mercy; He intended that the n :ked shoul
be clothed, that the hungry should be fec
!, that the widow and the orphan should b
sheltered, that the weak should be protect
4 ed, that the oppressed should go free Thes
purposes of Providence have eliminated i
a system Of free schools embracing the poo
in nearly every enlightened nation in th
Improvement Of prisons and prison discipline
! in the liberation of slaves in, the enfran
chisement Of serfs /; in the construction 4
asylums for the insane; in. the education q
the deaf and dumb, and blind, and of idiots
and in the erection aud support Of hospital
and retreats for the afflicted with every spe
cies Of loathsome disease. The people of tn
United States have kept pace with the scthe
Christian nations in every benevolent wori
except remembering our bondmen as if W
W ere in bonds with them, and doin;
unto them as we would that they should d,
unto us, had our relative conditions been re
versed. When reproached by other nation.
for acting the laggard, we have arrayed many
excuses. but have had one substantial rea
son, as a nation, for declining to termina t
this system within our limits.
1t has been maintained by all our iurists
that within the limits Of any State of the
Union the national Congress has no consti
tutional authority to interfere in the regula.
ton ofthe institutions that relate exclusively
to the internal policy of its people that the
national Government may do whatever is
necessary for our external defense, internal
peace, and for the promotion of the general
welfare but that the people of each State
must be permitted to be exclusive Judge of
the propriety Of its own local laws, applica-
BILE to its own people alone; that on all these
subjects this Government should not inter
sfere, should not impose its opinions, nor
suffer itselfto be used as an instrument in
the hand ofths people Of any other State or
States for imposing their opinions and views
on the people Of any other State Nobody
has entertained that opinion more honestly
than have, nor has anybody been more
anxious to carry it out in practice having,
during my short public career, ever main
tained this doctrine, both in public and pri-
vate, as well as BY my votes in the Senate.
But, in my Judgment, this disability has
been removed, and this brings me to consid-
er the further suggestion .ofthe Senator from
Pennsylvania, and urged by otherSenators.
They maintained that all the States that
have been in this Union are still in the I'm
ion that, theoretically, the Union has not
been dissolved, that a. State once existing as
q member Of this Union cannot, by any act
of its own people, be annihilated and cease
to be member Of the Union that once a
State always State, or as others have pre-
sented it, "the king never dies the prince
is always in existence."'f Well, sir, have
anticipated in part the answer to this theory.
The argument is superficial. 1t is the COM
mon-law doctrine, applicable to rights of
persons and property in State. that has
not died and cannot die. Titles ACQUIRED
under one prince are not destroyed by the
existence of an interregnum the title does
not terminate on account Of the death of the
grantor, but must be construed to be grant
from his successor, and this perpetuity Of
title is not to be terminated even during the
period when there is no prince. So far as
the holder of the franchise or the grantee
under the prince is concerned, the prince
cannot die that is, the grant continues, the
franchise is still good, the titlevalid, though
the king be dead. ear gs.fss tr-a
To those who argue thata State cannot
cease to exist, Inquire where is Poland p
Is it still State? Where is Sparta and
the other States Of Greece Where is Car
thagef Where is Rome-that Rome over
which the consuls presided and the Caesars
ruled ? Where is Egypt-that Egypt which
was the nursery Of learning and the arts be-
fore the foundations Of the pyramids were
laid ? Where is Judea, once State so
brilliant and powerful under tho reign Of
King David Where is Scotland, once the
rival of England. whose death has become
immortal in the fame Of her warrior clans
led by her Bruces ? But why purs ue this
subjectf Anabsurdity needs no refutation.
To state il is to expose it. It is futile to
argue that tho tyrants who destroyed Poland
as the wolf and the jackall dismember their
prey taken in common chase, had no right
to do so the conclusive fact still exists
Poland was destroyed. She has ceased to
exist as State She no longer has place
among the nations! If Sparta and Judea
and Scotland and Poland ceased to exist as
States, so may South Carolina and Georgia
and Florida and any other State. If Scot.
land died by the hand Of England, South
Carolina may commit suicide The possi-i
bihty Of terminating the life Of State is
the question Of controversy, and not the
manner Of the death. aS la '''s stT : s9
Afov5 TO BE CONTINUED. "
-
The Associated Press correspondent at
Fortress Monroe states some curious par.
ticulars Of the recent affair at Malvern Hills