The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1865-11-25
THE CONSTITUTION.
The True Interpretation. or Ger.
tain Terms rs Applied by the
Founders ofthe Constitution.

NtA~ ANSA Va eAAS AAAhANAH Vi ttAG
Constitution in founding our republican
system of government, and as to the in
depreciation they put upon certain terms
used.by them, it may be well to seek for
information at the fountain head, to learn
just what it was they meant to say and
establish, and just what application they
gave these certain terms. The following
extracts viii quite plainly give this need
full information. They are derived from
the ffamers of the Constitution, and from
histnrieal and authentic records:
STATES.
The word State, says Mr.. Madison,
sometimes means territory occupied by u
political society; sometimes the Gorern-
naeat established by that society; some
times the people composing that society
IN their highest sovereign capacity. Ii is
used in this last sense when it is said that
the State, or States, ratified the Constitu-
ton or acceded to the Constitution. The
people ratified the Constitution as the act
Of the State. Thus each State, acting by
itself, aud for itself, in Convention, be-
came party to the Constitutional CON-
pact 1t should be added, that the term
State replaced the term colony, which was
in use before the Declaration of Indc-
pendence.
The States made the Declaration of In
dependence, each State acting for itself,
aud each Stale becoming e free and indie
pendent" The States formed the arti-
cles of Confederation, each State still re-
tanning its sovereignty as to all that was
not delegated The States formed the
present Constitution I" The Convention
which formed it, was called by a portion
of the States; its members we're all ap-
pointed by the States; received their au-
thoFitY from the separate States voted
by States in forming the Constitution,
transmitted it to Congress to be submitted
to the States for their ratification; it was
ratified by the people of each State in
Convention, each ratifying by itself and
for itself, and bound exclusively by its
own ratification; and by express provis-
ion it was not to go into operation unless
nine out of twelve. States should ratify,
and then binding only between the States
Eatifying. Any four States, great or small.
could have defeated its adoption"
Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth,
in their letter to Governor Huntington,
saw: Z Va wish It. the Ganststasse.sy ..,ey
meet with the appreciation of the several
States, and be means of securing their
rights, and lengthening out their tram
guilty"
The States retained their sovereignty
for the reason that it was net delegated
to the Constitution. In the case of the
Bank of Augusta Us. Earle, l3 Peters
Reports, p. $50, it was decided by the
Supreme Court that the rules of interna-
tional law apply to the States iater Sc, and
the Chief Justice declared that they arc
sovereign States. The Constitution was q
Federal compact, done in Convention, By
the unanimous consent of the States
1present."
Judge Chase, of the Superior Court Of
ithe United States, in Dallas Reports, p
1S9, says: q consider the Declaration 81
Independence as declaration, not thai
the United Colonies jointly, in collective
capacity, we're independent States, bui
that each Of them spas an f4depeRaeai
Ssots.n Il asserts the separate and indi
vidual independence, freedom, and soYer
leignty of each of the thirteen States. Ths
treaty with Great Britain recognizes tbs
Sovereignty of each State By name.
j UNITED STATES.
4 This term replaced the term United
Colonies, y on the Declaration of Indepen
dence. The use Of the term United Col
onies did not annul the separate distinc
tive rights of the States. whether befor,
| tho adoption of the Articles of Confedera
Ition, or after the adoption of the Articles
lof Confederation, or after the adoption o
the Federal Constitution. The wore
e United" used in these four different set
of circumstances, does not imply that thl
Colonies or the States were one people, il
/ the sonse in which Colony or a State i
one, but only that the several Colonies be
fore the Declaration of Independence, an,
l4ha saszasal s Sta4es- -bsfsre- atlcr1tiuu Q
J the Articles of Confederation, and afte
their adoption, and after the adoption O
the Constitution, anited for ccrtasss par
q poses and IN certain respects.
j In the minds of the frameEs and friend
Of the Constitution, the plural idea wa
the ruling idea in the use of the terri
z United States The term was equiva
lent to the States of the Union" 'Phu
General Washington, in his reply to Corn
planter: x The United States desire to b
| the friends Of the Indians g The Unit
! ed States viii be true and faithful to Thea
engagements =
But IN the minds of foreigners, an
those ignorant of the structure Of on
& Government, the singular idea is attaches
to the term They sometimes say, g tn
i United States Is able to take care Of itself
I In the Convention Of Virginia whic1
ratified the Constitution, Patrick Hanr
objected to the words, s: We, the peopl
of the United States" lest it might b
!. supposed that it meant the inhabitants {
) ali the Stats Is one homogeneous mass Q
! aggregate. But Mr.. Madison replied
r: The paTtias to it are TO be the people
but NOT khe people as c0pspostng one gred
society, but the people as composing htiil
8 teen soceresgnfses." Tha accession 9
|. adoption was the separate act of the pee
s pie Of each Stater And the articles q
{ the end are declared to be done in Cor
vention by the unanimous consent of th
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