The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-11-20

| ttht y hibh W tAlc Aapt VI vic htlh dAQ
force citizenship down his throat. Cii-
zenship is made up as well Of the consent
Of the individual as Of the Government
Neither party has q right 10 violate it
against the consent of the other, and by
that violation bind the other, unless Il be
upon terms before agreed upon, You
cannot, therefore, hang man as traitor
TO q Government that has boon made
without his consents ss1.soyI at s0fi 3
I do not know what particular aets
Andrew johnson may have done which
would imply he. intended to become a
citizen of this Government. | say that
when his State seeded he had right to
abandon his State; and il he did, in
| good faith, abandon that State, he is an
alien enemy, and not q traitor. How far
his specific act goes of attempting to
| represent Tennessee in the United States
| Senate, is another question. | am not
putting il upon that ground ask this /:
DO you hold Andrew j Crimson, who aban-
dOned the State of Tennessee, and never
came under obligation to the Confederate
Government, TO be traitor? Can he be
a traitor? am discussing the general
proposition. | say that, as regards
every man who held allegiance 20 the
United States originally, while he had a
right to adhere 10 that allegiance, there
was no power on earth could break his
| allegiance against his consent. This
| proposition assert, and when a gentle
man denies it, he need not talk about
| State rights and individual rights. He
erects the Government into a despotism,
whether it goes by the name of monarchy,
aristocracy, or democracy. II you can
lay hold OF citizen and tear him loose
against his will, from his acknowledged
allegiance, you exercise the greatest
power a tyrant is capable of exercising.
| say again that no power can rightly
force man to break his allegiance. The
very violation of allegiance implies a
consent of the will.
The Senator says that there are no cit
liens of the Confederae States But the
Constitution says there are. THE electors
in each State shall be citizens Of the Con-
federate States" The gentleman SAYS
it does not mean that. | should suspect
any theory that drove me to destroy or
change the language of the Constitution
itself. Here it is plainly written; and
because | abide by II, the gentleman calls
me nationalist" God save the mark !
Mr.. Wigfall. hope he will.
Mr.. Hill. | have always understood
that the fundamental principle of State
| rights is, that the power shall be found
in the grant and that il is 10 be defined
by the words used, and that " construc-
tom was the old theory of the national
! lists, We will take the doctrine of State
rights, if we go by the letter. The words
are, "citizen of the Confederate States"
! The gentleman, TO save State rights, steps
| in and begins 70 construe. at did not
mean that; | grant that it says so, but
it does not mean it," Who construes ?
lie not only applies words not used, but
! changes words used, puts in words, reads
new meaning, and talks to me about con
struction and "nationalism" tits not a
question; it is not used in that one single
sense, but here il is again "Ro person
shall be q representative who has not at
tanned the age of twenty five years, and
been a-citizen Of the Confederate States. +"
1t did not mean it, of course. BUTT says
furthermore, "No person shall be a sena-
tor who shall not have attained the age Of
thirty years, and been citizen of The
Confederate States" Now, unless my
friend will admit he is a citizen of th,
Confederate States, he ought to be ousted
from his seat in this body he is incom.
petent to hold it by the Constitution
that is by the Constitution as il reads O
course, if my friend is allowed to decid,
by national" and federal = rules, 3,
construe the Constitution, TO pay no at.
tentiOn TO what il says, but only to wha
he thinks or desires il to mean, he will
be entitled to bis seat, iuarf
Mr.. Semmes. would like to ask tn
Senator one question. This Constitution
says "the people Of the Oonfederat,
States" DO you suppose il means othe
than the citizens of the States? '-.I 81.
Mr.. Hill. | certainly do not. The,
become citizens of the Confederate States
through the States, except they be aliens
grant that no person can be citizen o.
the Confederate States who is not a citi.
zen of some one of the States, but Ii doe,
not follow that citizen OF State is ne
cessarily citizen Of the Confederate
I DAhlfos NNhklEulNh buUlA'
mated theories that define our Constitu-
ton after the manner of the interpreter.
of the will in Dean Swift's "Tale of a
Tub" They wanted to construe IL, not
according to what it said, but according
TO the measure of their own wishes
The text did not suit them, 30 they took
sentences; but sentences would not give
the meaning, 80 they took words; they
could not find the right consecutive
ds, so they took syllables, and, find
ing they would not do, they selected let
tiers, and putting them together they made
a will 10 suit their taste. Gentlemen
upon the same principle may destroy the
Constitution, and make il mean what they
please, in order to accomplish their pur-
poses, But am thus much of State
rights man; deny the Confederate Gov
ernment has any power not granted; and
! say you must look to the language OF
the grant to find the extent OF the power
and that which necessarily results from