Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-05-28

and are we thereby lot into our proprieta- |
~ right TO dispose Of the vacant soil, set
up n new government &C.? We have al
ready seen that the citizens Of State are /.
also citizens Of the United States. In this
last capacity they carry on the United
States Government, and in the former
they carry on their State Government
two totally distinct functions What is
the present state OF things in theterritory,
and among the peoole, called South Caro-
lima? So far as we know, the people there
are carving forward all their domestic
concerns, through their lawfully constitu-
ted State organization, es they ever did.
Their State laws are in force, and rights
are acquired and enforced under them
All the domestic relations exist unimpair-
ed. Daughters are given in marriage, and
children born Of them, as ever. Can any
man say, in view Of these facts, that the State
of South Carolina, as q civil legal entity,
has ceased to exist2 If so, what becomes
of her laws, the rights they authorize, and
the children of these marriages. Let
somebody answer. For these acts of fla
grant rebellion can the Congress of the
United States abolish, abate, and sponge
out the existing State Of South Carolina,
so that where there are laws and rights
and relations there shall be utter blank,
chaos, and confusion? If SO, by what
power, or in the exercise Of what right
The United States are the sovereign par
amount of the territory and people OF
South Carolina, and as such must be obey
ed in her limits, and by all her people. We
have the right to enter upon her soil and
reduce her citizens to obedience, to punish
them for their treason, and see to 1t that
our authority is forever respected. Be
yond these we may not 60. We cannot
force her citizens to take part in carrying
forward our national government, nor can
we deprive them of the rights and immu-
mites conferred by their State laws, any
further than that may be an incident or
part Of the punishment we may rightfully
inflict for crimes against US.
If in the confusion Of these trOublous
times, any merely State right has fallen
into desuetude or allegiance, the right be-
longs to the surviving citizens Of the State
| Il cannot revert to the United States. And
to such citizens will it belong TO say how
or when they will resume or exercise it,
! So, too, as o healthy and loyal sentiment
shall again spring up, her people may
again resume their old relations and re-
/ turn to their old pieces in the national
government. Thus, then, the State may
/ and shall survive the fearful anarchy 80 i'm
piously invoked by its own misguided
| sons: and through this preservation alone
1 shall the nation itself resume her old pro
portions and glory.
Is not this an infinite deal better and
safer, and more in accordance with the ge-
MUS and spirit of our Constitution, than
the startling and dubious scheme, under n
more than doubtful power, Of regarding
the rebel states as extinct, and their people
a Iawless mob, without rights, and who are
again, by q long and odious pupilage under
national tuition, to graduate towards new
State organizations, under discouraging
and preiudicing embarrassments,5 which,
when finally attained, will in nOwise be
more favorable to the peace and prosperity
of the nation than would have been those
50 uselessly discarded? In the name of all
craftsmanship what is to be gained by itl
( In the pursuit Of this subject, l beg here
to offer a remark upon another topic con-
neeted with it. II is habit peculiar tC
this and another floor to deride and decry
and deny State rights. We are sometimes
oiyen to understand there are no such
things, and if there are, they are but hurt
full elements Of mischief, and that it wal
{ in their delusive name that was matched
through. ISL N .
Sir upon nothing does the safety anC
success of our system more depend thar
on the strict observance and maintenance
inviolable, Of all the rights Of the States
So long as they move healthfully within
2 IL o,kaFo tho ruhnla Sf a ~
complex scheme must successfully accom-
plish its purposes. But he who woulC
strengthen the general government at th'
expense of the States, fatally disarrange'
the whole.
The General Government, in its seop'
and instrumentalities, was always strong
enough. 1t was not through the inheren
weakness of the national machinery tha
the present huge evils came upon US, bu
wholly through the wickedness of thos'
who worked it at the time. The stronges
Governments on earth have been otter
overcome by rebellion. Mere strength
never furnished immunity against rebel
lion. 1t is the nature of power to draw
power TO it till it absOrbs all power. Thii
characteristic is found in mans love Of do
minion. The national Government, from
weak and feeble enginery, has grown t
become formidable sovereign, swaying ,
great continent, and shaking the earth viii
the tread of its armies. With immense
patronage, its innumerable places, its daz
cling heights, its great power, with which
it tempts and rewards the ambition of thu
talented and great, it has subsidized anC
drawn to itself and its service, has bounC
in its train of followers all the aspiring
restless, ambitious, and scheming of th
whole land. Who now seeks the humber
service of a State, save as u training grounC
and portal to the imperial and dazzling
service Of the sovereign? In the mean
: time, the States, from being constellation
of proud nations, second only to the on
greater, have, in her naughty presence
shrunk and shriveled and skunk away Il
be mere provinces and departments Of tn
: empire, until now it is boldly proposed Il
declare that seven or eight of them havl
J disappeared from the map, and the place
they occupied are but thousands of miles o
anarehie wastes, to be by us erected int
, imperial provinces, and placed under tn
dominion of the great proconsuls whom tn
: President shall send forth in armed POM
I to sway over them. In the name Of m!
: people 1 protest against this, to me the mos
astonishing and dangerous scheme ever ad
: vocated on this floor.
Sir, know where my highest allegianc
is due, and no act of mine shall ever stan,
r inconsistent with that obligation. But
| love my State with a strength that will fin,
= expression only in life time Of humbl
? devotion Her forests sheltered my infan
D cy, when my mother, after weary pill
; grimage of six hundred miles, laid me un
? der their shade. There my father made hi
= rude cabin home and there is his grave.
: have seen that State grow from feeble
+ scattered, and rude hamlets Of huts an
? clearings, shut in by interminable forests
f to powerful nation, rich in all the gran
: and ennobling arts of refined Christian
I civilization. have seen her leading he
= troops Of beautiful children along her broa
! and numerous ways of education, virtue