Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1864-08-25
About a Convention ofthe states.


About n Conventions efthe states
Democrats who would disband oul
armies, and permit the Confederate military
dsspotism to dictate terms to o helpless ma
tion, hold out the subterfuge Of q Conven
ton of all the States, to negotiate terms b
reace. as If it we're o practicable thing
- y 4ided in the Constitution that I
g6 INVENTION shall be called, for pro
posinH endments to the Constitution,
whenev6l he Legislatures of two.tbirds Of
the States shall apply for it. This is the
only way that q Constitutional Convention
can be called and when called, its powers
are restricted to the proposing. Of amend
ments to the Constitution. 1t has no pow
er to negotiate between the Government
and insurgents, or between beligerents.
RI, What constitutional amendment will put
down the rebellion =? Ifany Democr at knows
let him declare it. Let il be duly canvassed,
to see If the people Of twe-thirds of the
States desire to submit the amendment, or
if there is any probability that the people
Of three-fourtbs of the States will ratify it.
All these formalties must be gone through
by any. amendment to make it valid and it
seems like puerile trifling to propose this
long process until we find out whether we
desire any amendment For hitherto, and
still, the Democratic cry is ''the Constitu-
ton as IL is" 80. iHf - - --'riI @ eH.
But the thing is talked Of as if the States
would assemble in convention as loose SOW
ereign bodies, and could there fix up new
relations to each other, or divide into con.
federacies, or dissolve all relations Such
are the crude ideas Of partisans who are al
ways setting themselves UP as the chosen
guardians OF the Constitution, which they
never read. There is'no power competent
to dissolve the bonds of Government or of
society. Governments are formed to pre-
tect personal rights, but Governments are
perpetual corporations, and every man is a
stakeholder whether he will or not. A Ma
tionai Constitutional Convention can no
more dissolve the bonds of the National
Government than State Constitutional
Convention can dissolve the bonds ef law,
and resolve the people to original individual
independence, in which each shall be subject
to no law but his own will r.. 81
There are certain fundamental principles
on which all Governments are founded, aad
one Of these is the perpetual supremacy Of
the whole, and the perpetual obligation Of
man to society. But our Constitution re.
stIcts the Constitutional Convention to
amendments, and amendment does not mean
destruction. IF the nation could be dis
solved by Constitutional Convention, or
divided into Confederacies, then one-fourth
of t he States could be assigned among the
sections against their will, in spite of their
State sovereignty, for, by the Constitution,
when three-fourths of the States accept the
amendment it becomes valid and binding on
all. This would be State sovereignty re-
duced to an absurd contradiction. '.'.f.-
Rrf lat, ~ ln1l ~ L - ~p al.
deceptive suggestion. Amendments to the
two-thirds of both Houses of Congress and
ratified by three fourths of the State Legis-
latures or conventions, or two-thirds of the
States must ask Congress to call Conven.
tion, whose amendments shall be ratified by
the Legislatures or Conventions of three
fourths of the States This is the only
legal method of amending the Constitution.
But while this is going on. what becomes
OF the war2 An armistice is talked of as
preliminary to the Convention. Is it to be !
an arrnistice on sea as well as land ? An
opening Of all the Southern rivers and har- |
bors to commerce The enemy will hardly
accept a one-sided armistice, especially from
a party SO weak as to propose one. So the
prerequisite to Conventioni sthat we must
open the Southern ports and rivers to the
of the world; must permit them
to turn their cotton and tobacco into muni- |
tions of war, import supplies free of our
tariff to start their finances on a new basis, |
and 70 purchase and ft out more Alabamas
and Floridas to destroy our merchant men,
and more iron-clad ships Of war to provide
the Confederacy with a navy. All this is
included in an armistice. ri i7aH .ie i
No Democrat in his sense would propose
such scheme if he did not intend it for the
triumph of. the Confederacy. But this is /
not left to deduction, for the same faction !
that calls fora Convention of the States;
calls for it as dispensing with the draft
They not only would give the confederates
SIX months or year or two to put them
selves on new war footing, but they would |
provide for having our army fall to pieces,
and the country left defenseless before the
perpetuaIly conscribed army of the confed-,
crate despOtism. hFf 'sf 1i1s4 1'".i eH 4
Even if Constitutional Convention could |
propose any remedy, how are delegates to /.
be fairly elected in the States which began |
secession by carrying the elections by force?
!. a civil civil war iine time f0r National Con G,
vention to revise the laws of peace. The /
FIRST ''job" il to put down the rebellion and |
restore peace. Then it will be time to can
vass amendments TO the Constitution which |
shall forever prevent the recurrence of civil
war. Furthermore, when a Constitutional /
Convention shall meet, it will not be the |
States that assemble In Convention, any,
more than the States assemble in Congress, /
but it will be so many. delegates from so
many districts of the Nation, with no pow
er to except to propose such amendments
as will carry out the purposes for which the |
National Government was formed l. |