The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1865-12-13

trary notwithstanding.
Certainly the Government or the
United States is limited government;
SO is every State government limited
government. With US, this idea Of
limitation spreads through every form
OF administration, general, State, and |
municipal, and rests on the great DIS
tinguishing principle of the recognition
OF the rights Of man. The ancient re-
pub.ics absorbed the individual in the
StrLp, prescribed his religion and con-
trolled his activity. The American
system rests on the assertion of the
equal light of every uan to lite, liberty
aud the pursuit Of happiness; to free
dom OF conscience, TO the culture and
exercise of his facalties As q conse-
quence, the State. Government is limit
cd, as to the General Government in
the interest of Union, a. to the individ-
ual cit zen in the interest of freedom.
States with proper limitations of
power, are essential to the existence oil
the Constitution Of the United States.
At the very commencement, when we
assumed place among the powers of
the earth, the D, rlaration of ludepeud-
enco was adopted by States; so also
we're the Articles of Confederation; !.
"the people of the United States" or
dsined and established the Constitution
1t was the assent of the States, one by
one, whlch gave it vitality. II the
event, too, of any amendment to the
Constitution, the proposition Of CNa-
gress needs the confirmation of States.
Without States, one great branch Of
the Legislative government would be
wanting. And, if we look b you'd the
letter of the Constitution to the charac-
ter Of our country, its capacity for conf
pretending within its jurisdiction arast
continental empire is due to the system
of States. The best security for the
perpetual existcrce Of the States, is the
supreme authority" of the CJnstitu-
,ion of the Unned States. The perpat-
uity of the Constitution brings with it
the perpetuity OF the States; their mu-
tual relation maks us what we are, and
in our political system their connection
indissoluble. The whole cannot exist
/! without the pats, ror the parts without
the whole. So long as the Constitution
OF the United States endures, the States
will endure; the destruction OF the one
is the destruction Of the other, the pre-
servatioh Of The one is the preservation
of the other. '''. 1..
! have thus explained my Views OF
the mutual relations of the Constitution
and the States, because they unfold the
principles OH which have sought TO
solve the momentous questions and
overcome the appalling difficulties that
met me az every commencement OF my
administration. II has been my stead
fast obj ct to escape from the sway OF
momentary passions, and derive heal
ing policy from the fundamental and
unchanglng principles of the Consti.u-
ton. n.y..
THE PRESIDENTS poL1oY OF. RECON
sTRUCTIoN. .
| found the States suffering from the
effects of civil war. Resistance to the
General Government appeared to have
exhausted itself. The United States
bad recovered possession OF their fort.
and arsenal'; and their armies were in
the occupation Of every State which
had attempted to sec de. Whether
the territory within the limits of those
States should be held as conquered ter
ritory, under military authority eman,
ating from the President as the head
of the army, was the first question that
presented itself for decision. ......t,
, Now, military governments, estab
lished for an indefinite peiiod, woult
have offered no security Tor the earl,
suppression of discontent; wonld hav,
divided the people into vanqnishers anC
the vanquished; and would have enven
Z omed hate, rather than have restored
t affection. Once established, no precis
lmit TO their continuance is conceiva
!, bic. They would have occasioned a
J, incalculable and exhausting expense :
e Peaceful emigration to and from thu
n country is one OF the best means thi
: can be thought of for the restoration {
Il harmony; and that emigration woul
e have been prevented; S,r what emigr:
G iioE from abroad, what industrious cit
e Zen at home, would willingly place hin
e self under military rul,? The chic
persons who would have followed
L the train of the army would have bee
dependents on the General Cover
IF ment, or men who expected profit frol
Fl the nliseries of their erring fellow cit
l. zens. The powers of patronage an
n rule which would have been exercise,
r under the President, over a vast, an
N populous, and naturally wealthy regio
e are greater than, unless under extreu
" necessity, would be willing to entru
At 10 Que man; they are such as tor myse
ir I could never, urless on occasions
~ great emergency, consent to exefcis
n The wilful use OF such powers, it Co
y linued through period OF years, wou
l. have endangered the purity OF the ge
= eral administration and the liberties
l. the States which remained loyal. '.
is Besides, the policy of military ru
Sc over a conquered territory would ha,
le implied that the States whose iphal
d tants may have taken part in the rebe
c. ION had, by thu act of those inhabitan'
t. ceased TO exist. But the true theo
le is. that all pretended acts of secessic
1T we're, from the beginning, null al
III void. The States cannot commit tire
,e son. nor screen the individual citize
d. who may have committed treason, al
u more than they can make valid treati
i. or engage in lawful commerce with al
he foreign Power. The States attemptil
,s- to secede placed themselves in con(
at tion where their vitality was impaire
but not exlingmshed--their fuuctio
I'd suspended but not destroyed. A. III