Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-06-16

, name in this Confederation. Is their exclu-
sion a guarantee to them of a republican
. government 7
Has any gentleman asserted in this de-
. bate that these powers are incompatble
with republican government? Not one -
Not one weuld venture so far. Then sub
, mt that the condition in which Congress
/ may act has not arisen If Congress may
, insist upon the three fundamental conditions
! prescribed in this bill, in the case Of the
, States resumng their relations to the Union,
then submit that, by parity Of reasoning
1t ought to insist upon their incorporation
into the constitution of the States remain
ing stcadiast to the Union. II they are es-
sential to rebublicanism in the one class of
, States, they are equally so in all
Gentlemen do not assert, but they do ae-
!, sumo, and this is the basis ef their whole
argument, that because the Federal Govern
!, mcnt must gurarty a republican form of
/ government, 1t may thereafter prescribe
: what particular form of republican govern.
ment State must adopt. This i obviously
wrong. Mr.. Madison in the Ecderalia re-
flutes it
, "As long, therefore, as the existing republican
forms are continued by the states they are guar
the states may choose TO substitute other rcpub-
lean forms, they have a right to do so, and to
claim the Federal guarantee for the latter. Tie
only restriction imposed on them is that they
shall not exchange republican for anti-reuubli-
can constitutions; restriction which it is pre-
sumcd will hardly be considered as a griev-
ance."
The conclusion. then, to which / am
forced is that under the language of this
clause of the Constitution Congress has
no uhorlty to prescribe the con nlitions as
serted in this bill, whatever may be the Ie.
lation Of the seeded States to the Federal
Government, and whatever may be the ct:-
feet OF their secession upon the Constitu-
ton and State government then existing -
have chosen thus far to argue this qucs-
ton on the lower Grade Of the mere con-
struction Of the letter and the obvious spir-
1t OF the Constitution. / have done so be-
cause the gentleman from Maryland assert
ed over and over again that he found his
authority to pass the bin in the clause of
the Constitution which | have cited; and he
dcduced from that source all the powers
which are claimed to belong to the Federal
Government for the purpose Of this war
The question rses, however, far higher !;
!, and propose to follow the gentlemen in his
;, discussion of it into other regions
Ihe gentleman maintains two PROPOSE
, tions, which lie at the very basis OF his
views on this subject. lie has explained
, them to the House, and enforced them on
other occasions. He maintains that, by
reason of their secession, the seeded States
and their citizens have not ceased to bc
: citizens and States Of the United States
though incapable Of exercising political
. privileges under the Constitution, but that
!, Congress is charged with high political
power by the Constitution to guaranty re-
publican government in the States, and that
t this is the proper time and the proper mode
of exercising it" This act of revolution
on the part of the revolted States has
5 evoked the most extraordinary theories up
on the relation of the States to the Federal
n Government. This theory Of the gentle.
l. man Is one of them.
/; The ratification of the Constitution by
IS Virginia established the relation betweei
: herself and the Federal Government 1t ere
:. atcd the link between her and all the States
it announced her assumption of the duties
n her title to the rights of the confederatin!
! States it proclaimed her interest in, he
y power over, her obedience to the common
: agent Of all the States. If Virginia had
a a never ordained that ratification She would
i have been an Independent State the Con-
e stitution would have been as perfect, and
. the union between the ratifying States
would have been as complete as they now
5 are. Virginia repeals that ordinance Of rat
ilicatlon, annuls that bond of union, break
that link Of confederation. She repeals but
/ Il single law, repeals it by the action of u
sovereign convention leaves her constitu
: ton, her laws, her political and social polity
untouched. And the gentleman from Ma
: ryland tells us that the effect of this repeal
is not to destroy the vigor Of the law, but is
/ to subvert the State government, and to
render the citizens incapable of exercising
} political privileges !" that the Union re-
t mains, but that one party to it has thereby
+ lost its corporate existence, and the other
4 has advanced to the control and govern
| ment Oft.
t Sir, this cannot be. Gentlemen must not
= palter m a double sense. These acts of Sc
= cession are either valid or they are invalid.
: If they are valid, they separated the State
t from the Union. If they arc invalid they
0 are void, they have no effect; the State Off
S GERS who act upon them are rebels to the
c Federal Government; the states arc not de-
S stroyed their constitutions are not abroga.
G ted; their officers are committing Illegal acts
. for which they are liable to punishment
the States have never left the Union, but
duties or other officers shall assume their
/ places, will again perform the duties impo-
: sed and enjoy the privileges conferred by
the Federal compact and this not by virtue
; Of 4 new ratification OF the Constitution,
5 nor Il new admission by the Federal Gov
: ernment, but by virtue Of the original rati-
! fcatlon, and the constant, uninterrupted
maintenance Of position in the Federal Tn
ion since that date.
Acts of secession are not invalid to des-
troy the Union, and valid 10 destroy the
/, State governments and the political privie-
, gcs Of their citizens. We have heard much
t Of the twoiold relation which citizens OF the
; seeded States may hold to the Federal gov
: ernment-that they may be at once bellige-
S rents and rebelliOus citizens | believe there
are some judicial decisions to that effect.
5 Sir, it is impossible The Federal Govern
/ mcnt may possibly have the right to elect in
! which relation it will deal with them; it can
3 not deal with them at one and the same time
; in inconsistent relations, Beiligerents being
captured are entitled to be treated as prs-
+ oners of war; rebellious citizens are liable to
, be hanged The private property of bellig-
5 erents, according to the rules of modern
/ war, shall not be taken without compensa-
ton; the property Of rebellious citizens is
, liable to coniiscation. Belligerents are not
r amenable to the local criminal law, nor to
, the jurisdiction of courts which administer
it; rebellious citizens are, and the officers
are bound to enforce the law, and to exact
the penalty of its intraction. The seeded
, States are either in the Union or out of it,
IF in the Union, their constitutions are un-
touched, their State governments are main
taned their citizens are entitled to all po'
!, litical rights, except so far as they may be
deprived of them by the criminal law which
they have infracted. This seems incompre-