Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-11-24
Thc Magnitude OF state power.

TIE high and -o.emu .ct 81 State authority -
al thai binds the citizen 10 obey that nstguiGent
Bot for the act OF a Cow eniion which 10 l46I
declared the sovereign voice oi.fennsy the
citizen OF this State wosid % dts oNe 10 respect
to the Federal Constitution. The act- OF all
other States aud their citizens were pOwerle.s 10
impose upon him the slightest Obligation to that
instrument This VAS illustrated IN tie case 81
Rhode Island. a State that WAS ackn0w edged
as outside Of the Union and entirely indeDeud
ent at the Constitution, even after twelve
other States bad assented 10 that instrument. and
were efectually associated under the iuu--
dh son Of the Federal Government. Why
we're the citizens Of Rhode Island entirely ex-
empt from every provision of the Constitution.
while in twelve other States the citizens Owed 70
that instrument implicit obeiencel Simply be
cause, though the Conventions in those Twelve
States bad asseufed 10 the Constitution, the Dow
competent 10 establish that instrument within
Rhode Island had not vet spoken; the sovereign
will of that community had not yet been de
elared by State Convention; the Constitution
had not yet been sanctioned by the only rower
competent 20 give IL validity within that State
the collective voice of that community had not
yet given consent to that instrument; and until
such consent had been given. the individual citi
zen dare not, without treason 70 his State. obey
the Federal Constitution a binding law. Did
the ordinance Of State Convention impose the
land? Undoubtedly it did; and it is equally clear
that in each of the other States that nstru ment
derived it, validity from a similar ordinance.
Ii thus appears that he who inculcaies contempt
for State authority attacks, in reality. the validity
of the Constitution When men seek TO central
ize unbOunded power in the FEDERAL Government,
and teach that the mandates OF a State. because
emanating from State. must be spurned and spit
upon, the citizen may very reasonably answer:
That mandate of my State, uttered seventy
wears ago in the ordinance of State Convention.
i all that makes the Constitution obligatory upon
me II State authority j. thoroughly insig-
niicant, then that ordinance and the Constitution
which it Processes to sanction and ratiy are alike
deserving of my contempt
Let US view the question in another form. By
what right does the Federal Government to-day
appeal to the citizen OF Pennsylvania for obed-
encel Simply because there is now among the
archives Of the government scrapOf paper certi
fving that on certain day convention repre-
senting the people Of Pennsylvania did IN their
name, consent to the Constitution The
document, emanating from State authority.
aud certifying the action Of State Convention,
j. the sole ground OF All the jurisdiction which
the Feierai Government can rightfully exercise
within the State 10 is the sole warrant by which
that Government claim from Pennsy lvaniaus
obedience to the Constitution Remove from
the archieves ut Washington that document. and
the Federal Government has no more jurisdiction
in PENNSYLVANIA than il has in Turkey or Rus
sia.
Some persons seem 10 imagine that the Fed
eral Government, moving in its exalted orbit
must pursue its sublime regardless of any
thing 80 contemplate as mere emanatlon of
State authority THE Constitution alone' it i
contended, "prescrbeS the sphere of the Federal
Government jurisdiction, and that Government
l.. 10 ,,ft Io l..
cognizance Of any document which utters the pa
ny voice of State authority"
Those who thus imagine that the Federal Gov
eminent must determine It's jurisdiction BY look
ING at the Constitution alone. may be startled
when we state that the language OF the Constitu
ton precisely the same IN 1859, when the
Union embraced only eleven States an in 1890,
when thirteen States were subjected to the Fed
eral Governments jurisdiction: and the language
of the Constitution would have been precisely
the same il the Union had only nine States
contingency which was contemplated by the last
article. Ia other words, when the Constitution
had gone into operation, aud the Federal Gov
eminent was completely organized, there
was nothing in the Constitution by which
that Government could ascertain whether
it possessed jurisdiction over nine, or
eleven or thirteen States. By the language
of the preamble the Constitution was ORDAINED
ca: but from the Constitution alone the govern
ment could not ascertain whether the United
States" that were subject to its authority com
prised nine or thirteen States; and il the Union
embraced only nine States, the government could
not learn from the Constitution which were those
ninel How then. did the government determine
the geographical boundaries OF its urisdic lotion I?
By consulting eleven different documents, then
among the archives OF the government, each
a
certifying the action of such Il BODY By the act
emanatDg from the New York Convention the
government WAS apprised OF it. jurisdiction over
New \ OTk by the act emanating from the Nir-
gInia Convention the government learned its
jurisdiction over Nirgna Among those
acts OF various State conventions the Federal
government At the time of it. organization found
no act declaring the consent of the people OF
North Carolina; il found no act declaring the
consent OF the people of Rhode Island There
fore it cid not ami rightfully il could not assume
jurisdiction within either of those States When
document transmitted by a North Carolina
convention had siguihed the assent of the CON-
muuitv. the Federal government asserted author
lty within that State When document eman
ating from Rhode Island convention. had ex-
pressed the consent of that community, then, and
AZ no previous time. the Federal government be
came endowed With jurisdiction in that State
Out TOT tuAl uofuiuelt ttnauaLlHB IRON = STATE
convention Of Rhode Island the Federal govern
ment might have waited till doOmsday before the
mere words OF the Constitution would have givei,
il authority within that State.
These facts enable Us TO realize the real nature
OF the Constitution. That instrument. a. il
came from the hands OF is trainers. Was merely
a definition OF political powers to be exercised
over such States As should assent TO their exeT-
else IL did not. and does not designate the
States over which those powers TO be exerted
it did not. aud does not, define the geographical
boundaries within which the Federal Government
shall exercise Jurisdiction The Constitution
specifies the power which the Federal Govern
meut may exert over the States subject to its
jurisdiction; but TO ascertain what States sub
Iect 10 its jurisdiction. that government does and
necessarily must. take cOgnizauce of documents
which emanate from State AUTHORITY, AMI spe TX
the sovereign voice of State communities
lt-has been shown that the Constitution was
established in each State by an exercise 81 State
p0wer-that, without the exercise of such power
that instrument could not have been established
IN any State. Why, then. should State power
be considered 80 contemplate. when is potent
voice alone has given 10 the Constitution its
whole validity One reason, perhaps, Why
many persons torn inadequate conceptions Of
State authority i. that they TX their attention
exclusively upon the ordinary exertiOnS Of State
jurisdiction losing sight of those extraordinary acts
by which alone State power i illustrated in it,
full magnitude The ordinary exerti0ns ot Stale
power are seen in the acts of the State
Government-an agent OF the people whose