, 1865-09-03
MISSISSIPPI CONVENTION.
The Ordinance Of Secession De-.
clared Null and Void,
INTERESTING DEBATE ON THE
RIGHT OF, SECESSION.

INTERESTING DEBATE ON TIE
RIGHT OF, SECESSION.
Closing scenes Of the Convcnston-TAe
Memorial In Rehalf OF Jcn. Davis.
(CorEcspondence Of the Cincinnati Gazette.1
JACKSON, Miss, Aug.
!: The report Of the Committee on Constitu-
tiona1 Amendments having been disposed OF,
the report Of the Committee appointed ITO
inquire mto such action as is proper and cfpe-
dient to be taken relative 10 m act commonly
known ~ the ordinance Of secession, - &C.,
was taken up. For the first section, which
rcads ~ follows: -....
.Den o71foined By tie peg11. qfGte state 9f Aasit-
passed by forner Convention OF the State of MIS-
aissippi, m the 9th day Of s1annsy, A. D. 1851, en-
titled An ordinance 10 dissolve nc & Unlqn BE-
sConst1tution of the United siates OF America"
fehe4cby dcclarrd to he mil and void
uwas morcd 10 substitute the following
minority report offered by Mr.. Trotter:
Deu oydoin4a, That Tho ordinance Of recession,
adopted h &c GoRvsatt% I've Of .ae people Of thls
same u hereby ahsogated.
The mover Of this claimed TINT BY the adop-
deny all right Of seces ;ion, but also Of reroln-
tion. It would be virtually casting stfs-
ma on those who composed the -ConrcntIon
of 1861, as well as those who believed as It did.
Mr. 1Fotter defended the motion at great
length. Ills argument, which was the most
subtle OF any produced on that side, was sub
stantially as follows:
t. aae mh hs apasr
consideration, must be settled, In some fora,
by this Convention. The ground taken BY
tie majority rspo7t Is that the Convention
had no authority to do 50. 4 minority Of the
committee, however, believed that. whether
the ordnance Of secession VILE lawful or not
-or, In other words, whether the State of
| Mississippi, aching In her sovereign capacity
| as State, had right 10 dissolve her connec-
resume the powers delegated to her by the
terms OF the comract-that the action con
demned wns nevertheless IN cxertion Of power
| by sovereign State which, regarded merely
| as a revolutionary measure, was sufficient to
command the obedience Of her citizens
7aa The ordnance @ '1 created Governmsat
IN fact, If not In law, and according to
the wcn settled principles Of public law, and
the decisions Of the courts Of every civilized
nation, the citizens Of that Government were
not only c1eusable for obeyins its authority.
but were bound to do 50. They Ind no op.
ton. Possession In this case, as In the case ol
tho rights of property, Is ;7rfna Jdds evidence
Of good title. The community at Large are not
supposed to be capable a deciding grave and
complicated questions Of this sort. WEetched,
indeed, would they te Il the rightful Govern.
powers being, as the powers being certainly
would do for disobedience. Arms have dc,
! cidcd The validity OF the ordnance The STATE
has been compelled to yield her pretensions
md rcccde from the stand she assumed. Tht
ordinance can no longer be maintained, dnd
Tie people Of the State desire to see It finally
repealed and annulied by the action Of thl
body. This can lie done without the use O
} such phraseology as will unnecessarily plac'
J the seal Of censure and condemnation uPol
! orr predecessors. The ordinance ha
crushed BY The physical p3Tsrs aofnsa, 81 ~
j that they viii give themselves no con
cern about the reasoning Of this body, or II
, ! action IN reference thereto. We should, there
fore, so shape our action as not to reflect d!
| respect upon The intelligence and patriotism
Of that body. For, although they may has
9 conceived to he their duty, and the error VT
l. shared by large majority Of the people {
D this State. The adoption Of the majority r
port would have the effect not only to sti!
c lnatfze the intelligence and patriotism Of thi
body and the people who supported its actio1
| 1o7y. aid The cV:.ens srso yielded to it, duthos
|, ty, he crime Of trtason. For that which
i Simply "null and void ~ cannot justify Il
y obedience Of any one And whilst VIC mn
pcquicscc with the action Of the United State
G md yield ready and chcerfal obedience
their authority, yet 1t is certainly not neeess
: r. that NC should condemn our predecessor
!, Nc all desire 10 rctraco onr steps, since It Is
. | eonupn practice Of legislative bodies to +
}. peal an act whose couI1tutionality has bc'
r. questioned. L..
! b. adopting the minority report, the CT
# desired Gun Be accomplished, which will {
~ cure general satisfaction.
u Judge Johnston said the words "nu1l q,
vofd" had meaning and object He ner
j. had admitted the right of secession. If Il
:. committee had said "repea1ed" Instead
d "null and roId,' it would hare been reeo
a28 saQ2 % nfpsn su aE sht a ~ Me saeEf faf t
e cessicnists would agree with u.s. We .
= willing to make this lie Issue; VIC expected
h would be made 50.
gunge We would stigmatize the men vi
passed the ordinance Of secession. But the
c can be no disrcspect in simple disasEtemc
n Of opfnion. II 80, they show the came towal
e us. II We should "repea1 u the ordinance,
h would be say ing TINT We still believe In t
d / right Of secession. fact which would Tery {
o r5onsly prejudice our canse-
4 This report hringa up the Issue between t
!. state rights men, md what was formerly call
j. the Union party
isl It docs NOT deny the right Of reEoiut1c
= That Is not constitutional but a ratus
'e right Any people can revolt II they
they must suffer the consequences !; IL they .
n successful they Eain their independence.
he We are not netting here as d Legislative bot
n We can enact without repeating what l
d been enacted By some other body.
nd Gn. Martin said. If anything has be
II. settled by the war 1t Is this doctrine Of sec
he e5on. opposed 1t in 1851 so srenuously tt
he rms accuscd Of not being friend Of t
to South, though there Is not drop Of Nortle
m blood IN my veins.
want Ills rope Of sand. Il Is, indeed,
right at all No State ought to. hare It ;
.. any one has, I am in favor Of taking 1t awa
.*, Revolution Is right no one can take from J
be because It is a natural one. When gent
4 mcn talk about secession y .:simf
ns mems long and hazardous marches, /
"a numbered anf1erings, starvation, death. II
Is whnt the 4fpeaceabae secession"
h. offered to us, means. Iwant no man deceiy
~ IN the future rs our people were In the pa
dc 19t s Tant s psGPe e nea d tor Texn1 s9R9
o. for that Is what It was. It wns because
ec11ed 1t ns revolution that entered It, a
to because my Eympath1e6 were with the Sou
ng But hereafter LET there be no secession, no n
to olution, unless without It VIC are called up
se. to endure things more than de1lh. II ere
~. 50 into war ngaln, I want those who persuz
ILL., cd me to take such q step TO GO with me a
-. share the hurdslips-not to stay hack a
n. talk about pcaccab1e separation, which is
r imposeibility. No, sir; this IS dangcro1
IT, Men arc deceived ly It; and II ever I had n
~ ~ such idea, It would have been whipped out
icy mc ere this. ! hope We may bury seccssi
beyond the power of resurrection. Mn
,el times, fir, nfter victory, when We were I
h. hitting, did hc1honght come over nc, ''Wh
Is alter an, are we fighting for: What will
I'd the result. How long will the Goyernme
r. We are trying to establish hing together vi
"a Ito rope Of sand, knit By the doctrine Of
VA cessson ~
+ r It is the first duty Of this Convention
~ throttle forever the fa!lacy that there Is a
- y serEcd right to these States. want no mt
~ Of 1t in the future: There 3s not, and canu
~ be, nny such constitutional right
On f.. Judge Ie-ger also spoke in opposition
m the motion, aod sustained the original rep'
-, " :, 4 voss Vas inailly taken which resulted
to the rejection Of the minority report. A b
of / disposed Of. -''''s'
~ Tue previous question was finally called q
~ the section as reported by The majority y
-. / adopted by ST to H.. Several members v
,n ~ voted in the ncsative explained that Il
-. ae Te1e not In favor of secession, nor did Il
nc defend the ordinance, but they were oppos
ea to stigmatizing the action Of their prcdec
cd scrs who passed the ordinance.
he JACKSON, Msss., Aug. n
A memorial, signed ly four thousand lad
lie OF this State, begging the Convention to ia
I'd, some action in behalf Of their fellow-citize
for JtH. DaEis and ex-Goy. Clark, was read, Al
~. | on motion, respectfully referred TO the Pr,
-, ~ dent Of the United States, with request Il
~ copy may be transmitted to each Of The 6