Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-04-23

and amongst these twenty Texas alone had an anterior
existence as sovereign Power. Twenty of the States
therefore, are limited soveregnties The creature
OF the National Government
Can it be claimed for these twenty States that they
hold reserved right their sovereignty and
tire from the Union independent nations2 Clearly
resumption not the word applicable TO them How re-
sumo what they hadabsoute and independent So
veregnty SO there another distinction that cannot be
gotrd oStaes in the Union that may and States
that may not resume These new States if they do any
thing in this way must seize what was never given 10
them must usup prerogatve they had, in order
to bring them to equal dignity with the old States or
elevate them to the rank of Texas That is the absurd
dilemma of secession Many of those States formed
territory purchased by the National Government for
the benefit Of the nation all of them territory either
purchased coded for the advancement of the common
welfare II they lapse from their present condition by
abandoning their privileges in the Union would ma
turay say they psed back into their original condition
That is precisely what the old States claim by their
sion The States would fall back into Territories,
the old into Soveregns And thus have another
distinction between the States logically resulting from the
theory of secession The idea that the States could
lapse into something greater than their original condition
Is soecism that in less grave argument would be called
T" bull" The Territories not gioen aaoay to the
people who nhabt Them but organised for the and
advantage of the Union They had antecedent sove-
regnty whatever They clothed with no power but
that which necessary make them loyal members of
the American Union. The absurd thought that could
be imputed to Congress- when gave them political exist
is that eevatng them to the rank of States it was
giving them power destroy the Union and TO aggran
die themselves at the expense of all the other States 1t
is simply preposerous say that the Constitution contem
plated any such consequence when it authorized Congress
to create States If such consequence could in
contingency, lawfully result from this power, greater
folly could be ascrbed to the people of the United States
than that of authorizing any Territory to be erected into
State. 1t would be cheap way of despolng the Union
of it's most valued possessions.
AT time the Government intmated a wish to pur-
chase Cuba for hundred millions of money What
possible nducement could persuade American states
man to desire such acquisition, if the acknowledged
law u consequence of such purchase could in any event.
authorize the inhabitants of that island after they
organized State of the Union-which would have i'm
mediately foowed-to withdraw from the compact and
assume an absolute sovereign dominion that rich pos
session. appropriate land to their use and deprive
the nation of all the advantage designed by the purchase
Yet such is the claim made by the right of secession and
such not only the possibility but judging from recent
experience in the of Florida and Louisiana, the i'm
mnent probability of the assertion of this right Once let
the people of Cuba into the secret of verdant
pcity on this point aud open to them the perception
of easy and profitable device by which they may obtain
hundred millions of money and still Cuba
to their own disposal and control.
This is reducto ad absurdum, and ought to be con-
elusive to any sound judgment that the right of secession
cannot be pedcated, at least in the of the new
StatesI the States created by act Of Congress
Now, think it is good argument to say that if there be
right Of secession in the States it does not exist
in the old Our system designed to be homogeneous
We detect discrimination between the States 10 their
constitutional description They all designated by the
same nyestture of rights and dutes literally equal in all
attributes and relations The distinction between and
old is simply chronological. The authority to make ad
dtons to the Union is given in few words without quail
fcaon New States may be admitted by Congress into
this Union" That is all the Constitution utters the
subject.
1t could not have escaped the authors Of this clause that
the States would in process Of time grow up to great
influence and Importance in the system They probably
foresaw that these States might eventually to ccns
tue, in numbers and wealth the most powerful portion of
the Union for they had then large territories in their
view which beginning to terminate in the develop
ment of political organization New acquisitions Of terri
tory probably not beg ond the forecast Of many
bers Of the Convention They were also convinced that
disparity Of rights between old and new States would ever
be recognised tolerated.
Now, the States--those to be formed out Of the
public DEMONSTRATING pretence TO right Of secession
deduced from original sovereignty could only obtain by
express grant Such grant has venured to con
tend is found in the Constitution We may fairly argue
that if the trainers Of the Constitution believed the old
States had this right by Implication they would have also
conferred upon the BY grant, that they did not
confer it the latter proof that they did not believe
its existence in the former The comforting Of upon either
would have been to recognise what have shown to be
the old States right to perperae most nsgrsnt injury
upon the country, and in the new right to aggravate
the crime Of breaking up the Union by adding to it the in
ducement TO plumber the public Treasury by the trick
seIzing the public doman-even in suppOsabe case like
that Of Cuba to convert large appropriation for pur-
the to this nsnuaton would be that The honor Of
the States which boast Of their chvary may be safely
trusted that such wrong would be inflicted That might
have been plausible years ago But look at Flo
rids Look at every seeding State that holds any
portion Of the public domain Look at the seizure of the
mintthe early and swift conscaon Of oil Government
property as the first steps in the rebellion We shall
settlement Of all these perhaps at the Greek Kaends
have but point to notice in my reference to
the special grounds upon which the secessonists defend
their doctrine, and with that shall finish this letter and
dismss the subject
The whole argument in favor Of secession is founded on
petiio prneip which hold to be totally insdmissble
M