Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-11-24

concealed Those peculiar circumstances We
shall proceed b resite
While the measures looking to the establish
ment Of our present Constitution we're in pro
gre-s the thirieen States were united under the
Article. Of Confederation These Articles were.
for the time being. the Federal Constitution"
they were frequently thus designated by the State
Legislatures, as well a. by the Congress OF the
Confederation The last article of the " Federal
Consultation" provided that "the Articles Of this
Confederation shall BE invioIsbly observed by
every State, aud the Union shall be perpetual;
nor shall any alteration az any time hereafter be
made IN any Of them. unless such alteration be
a greed TO in Congress OF the United States, and
be afterwards confirmed bv the Legislatures OF
every State In view OF this provision, II may
be supposed BY many that when the Government
of the Confederation was found inefficient and uu
satisfactory our present form of government was
substituted by resort 10 the amending process
provided in the Articles Of Confederation. Such
a suppositiOn j altogether without foundation in
fact Our present constitution established
By measures which the Articles OF Confederation
did not provide for recognize
The convention that framed tie Constitution,
Ia wing been originally convened tor the purpose
OF revising the Articles of Confederation" and
OF Recommending amendments thereto, concluded
that resort TO the amending process (Which re-
Qured the concurrence Of thirteen States) would
not insure the accomplishment of the desired Oh
ject. the establishment of new and more efficient
government Therefore, when hey had emb0d-
led in our present Constitution the form OF gov
eminent which they thought suitable for adoption
by the States. they finished By proposing. in
the last article OF that Constitution, that 1.-The
ratifeatians Of the Conventions Of nine States
shall be sufficient for the establishment OF this
Constitution between the States 80 ratifying the
same" This was, in effect. proposition that
a portion Of the States should dissolve this ''per-
petual'' Union-should abolish. as 20 themselves
the Articles Of Confederation. which 10 be
uviolably observed BY every State. and should
establish for their own government, a new Con
siitution, irrespective of the method prescribed
for amending the articles Of Confederation, and
irrespective of The consent of of the other States
This was the remarkable proposition reccommen
ded by Convention which boosted Geo. Wash
iugton as It's President, and which embraced
among its members the most eminent statesman
of that day.
As may be supposed. suck proposal, emanat.
ing from such body, not submitted without
due de'iberatiOn. The proprety Of tie measure
was fully discussed We learn by the report of
the conventions proceedings, that Mr.. Dickson
suggested the question, whether refusing States
could be Observation-Disclosures Congress could con
Cur in contravening the system under which they
the question thus presen ed Mr.. Luther Martin
said We are already confedersted, and no power
on earth can dissolve it (the Confederation but
the consent OF all the contracting parties.
l. the old Confederation dissolved because some
of the States wish a new Confederation Ibid,
vol | p. 457 Mr. Alexander Hamilton Thought
i, wrong to allow zine States to institute
new government the ruins OF the existing
one" bid, vol. /, p. $50 Other members
whO on the final vote proved TO be the triumph
ant party, took opposite grounds. Mr.. Gorham
(ol Massachusetts, said: "If the last article of
the Confederation Is to be pursued, unanimous
concurrence will be necessary. Will any one say
that all the States are TO offer themselves to be
ruined by the Rhode Island oppostiOny Some
other States might also tread in her steps" 10,
vol. ), p 354 Mr. Madison also opposed to
an attempt to establish the new Constitution
through the amending process provided in the
old. at is impossible. said he, THAT the Arti-
cles of Confederation can be amended" "lf the
Old fabric of the Confederation must be the
groundwork of the new, must fat" Ibid,
volume | pages 40l 1866 Another mem
Der VINO expressed his views still more
strongly, was J udge Wilson, of Pennsylvania
prominent and influential member of the Con-
stitution Convention, and subsequently leacing
advocate and exponent OF the Constitution in the
Convention of our own State Before II bad
been determined what number of States should
be named as sufficient to carry the Constitution
into effect, Mr. Wilson said: ut is possible that
not ALL nay, that not even a majority, will i'm
medatey come into the measure; utsuch as do
ratfy it will be bound by it, and others as they
may from time to time accsde 10 it Again he
observed that A majority, nav. even minority, of
the States may confederate, and the rest may do
as they please" Ibid /, pp. $50. 403
When, after considerable discussion, the vote
was taken, the Hamilton party, who Thought it
wrong to allow" portion of the States "to insti
tute IA new government on the ruins of the exist
ing one" were overruled. motion of Dir.
Carroll 10 require the ratification of thirteen
States. in accordance with the provision of the
Articles of Confederation, emphatically mega
tived The vote being taken by States all the
States voted mo" except Maryland. Ibid. vol.
,, p 500 Various propositions we're made as To
the number of States whose ratification should
carry the Constitution into effect, some members
proposing smaller number than nine. Finally
the convention adopted the last article as il now
stands. although, a. have seen that article
was strongly opposed by Hamilton and other
eminent men. who maintained that "nO earthly
power could dissolve the Confederation but the
consent of all the contracting parties" The re
suit Was that the Union Of thirteen States. which
the Article of Confederation had declared per
petuel. was dissolved by portion Of the States
insufficient in number To- amend those Articles
and there was established new Union, which ac
cording to the contemplation of the Constitution,
might have embraced only uine States and which
actually did embrace, for considerable time only
eleven
There Is another circumstance which may
be worthy of mention. As the several State
conventions from time to time assented to the
new Constitution. the acts of these conventions
were duly signifed by formal certificate to the
Congress of the Confederation; and when the
specified number of States had asSented TO the
new folm Of government, that Congress co
operated with the asserting States in the meas
ures necessary TO dissolve the government OF the
Confederation, and establish the new government
under the present Constitution In other words
the government Of the Confederation gave assent
and co operation 20 measures looking TO its own
dissolution
Thus We have exhibited clear and incontro-
vertible iscts These facts can be readily *
plained by those who admit the sovereignty Of
the States rs for the advocates OF cous0lida
ton and the disparagers Of State power. they
tacitly acknow edge, by the course of argument
that these circumstances give fatal evidence
against their theories: else why the facts uni
formly and studiously suppressed
National Banks and Loyalty.