, 1865-09-04

The Ordinance of Secession De-
clared Null and Void,
INTERESTING DEBATE on THE
RIGHT. OF SECESSION,
C1os1ng Scenes Of the Convcntfou-The
Memorial In Behalf Of Jed. Davis.

Correspondence Of the Cincinnati Cazette,1
JACKSON, Miss, Aug. =.
The report Of the Committee on Constitu-
| uonnl Amendments having been disposed of.
the report Of the Committee appointed "to
| inquire into such action as Is proper and c1pe-
dent to be taken relative to an act commonly
known as the ordinance Of secession - &c,
was taken mp. For the first section, which
1 reads Us folloWs:
BsN ordained " ~ 53tot4s pfGhe S6zfe Of IGk,is
s!gM Y Conpesfion assssa0ed, That N ordlusnco
Pas,ed BY iot%eF M Convention Of he State q Nls
Titled IAN ordinance to diseolve he Union be.
tween The S1a'e Of Mississippi and Other States
.Conatitution Of the United States Q. Ameriea :"
isheteby declared 10 be null md yo!d.
| It WIS moved to substitute the following
minority report offered by h{r. Trottcr:
| Deh ordained, That ihc ordinance Of accession,
stslc lie oh Jay Of Jannay w. 15 e. and al 'as hs
Eane IL hereby ahrogatcd.
The mover Of this claimed that by the adop..
ton Of tho majority report ne would not onfy
deny al right Of secession, Int also Of reyo!n-
tion. i would be virtually casting stig-
ma on those who composed the Convention
Mr.. Trotter defended the motion at great
length. His Argument, which was The mot
subtle ofany produced on that side, was sub.
stantially rs follows:
The question, which concerns the proper
disposition to be made Of the ordinance under
consideration, must bo settled, In some fora,
~ this Convention. The ground taken by :
the majority. report Is that tho Convention
which. ordained tie ordinance Of seceasIon
had no authority to do 50. Il minority Of the
committee, however, believed that, whether
the ordinance Of secession was lawful or not
Mississippi, acting Ia her sovereign capacity
as State, bad n right TO dissolve her connoc-
tion with the other States Of the Union and
resume the powers delegated to her by the
terms 81. the comGaet--that tho action con.
demned iwas nevertheless an exertion Of poWer
ey~a sovereign State which, regarded merely
ns revolutionary measure, was sufficient to
command tho obedience Of her citizens
md to excuse and; Justify them.
The ordinance created q Government
tn fact, II not in Inv, and according to
the we'll settled principles Of public law, and
nation, the citizens Of that Government were
not only exeusable for obeying its authority.
hut were bound to do 50. Thcy;had no oI,,
ton. Possession IN this case, as 1n the case Of
the rights Of property, Is primo tilcfs evidence
supposed to be capablc of deciding graTe and md
complicated questions Of this sort! Wretched. |
indeed, would they be If the rishtfnI Govern.
meDt should punish for obedience to the |
powers being, as tie powers being certainly |
would do Tor dlsobeo1ence. ..Arm8 hare de-
cided the validity Of the ordinance. The State |
has been compelled to yield her pretensions,
and recede rom the stand she assumed. The |
ordinance can no longer be maintained, and
the people Of the State desire to see 1t finally |!
repealed and annulled by the action of this
body. This can be done without the use Of
such phraseology rs will unnecessarily place
the seal Of ccIisure and condemnation 4pou
our predecessors. Tha ordinance has
been crushed By the physical powers Of the
United States, and I am Of the opinion
that. they will giFe. themselves no con-
ce1n about the reasoning Of this body, or lis
action In reference thereto. We should, there
fore, go shape our action rs not to reflect dis
respect upon the intelligence and patriotism
Of That body. For, although they may have
erred, they did It in the discharge Of what they
conceiyed'to be their duty, and the error was
shared BY large majority Of the people Of
this 6tate: The adoption Of the majority re-
port would hare ha effect not only to stig-
The intelligence and patriotism Of. that
body and the people who supported its action.
bit It would hare the eject % tnipnte to that
body, and the etfsens rcho yielded I'd il quttori-
u, dc crime 4f treason. For Tint which Is
simply "nnll and Tbid y cannot justify the |
obedience Of nny one. And whilst nc may:
,cquiescc with the action Of the United States,
md yield ready and cheerful obedience to
heir authority, Jet It Is certainly not necessa-