Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-09-01
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ALLEGIANCE TO A STATE.

The doctrine of State Rights, as taught
by the Southern people, has been product
i've of incalculable mischief for it required
the citizen to be bound by the action of his
State, no matter how the Union was affect
ed thereby When the traitorous elements
In the South were shaping for the fearful
war that was launched against the National
Government, men who professed to be Ioval
and devoted to the Union went with the re-
bellion on the plea that they were bound by
the action of their States, while in the north
from the imbecile who disgraced the Exc
cutlve chair of the nation to the most insig.
nificant Democratic stump speaker-we were
accustomed to hear the reasonable declara-
ton, You cannot coerce a State. Fortu-
nately for us, the new President entertained
a different view as to the supreme power of
the land. He turned to the Constitution at
Sec 2, Art. 6, and read ''This Constitu-
ton, and the laws of the United States
which shall be made in pursuance thereof.
and ander n tRe aa5iatR6fS R%a 81 ST The Shed ates
shall be the supreme law of the land and
the Judges in every State shall be bound
thereby, anything in the Constitution or
laws of any State to the contrary notwith-
standing" Having taken an oath to ''pre-
serve, protect and defend" the Constitution
he entered upon duty which should have
been performed months before by his prede-
cessor Deliberately was the issue made
between loyalty and treason, and the result
of war the American people have declared
the Union to be supreme Why has not
the verdict been universally accepted2
The same class of men who endeavored to
trammel the Government during the war,
by their States Rights sophistries, continue
their efforts to bring further calamities upon
the nation by declaring the sovereignty Of
the States. The Southern people are being
instructed to demand immediate re-inyest-
ure of their former privileges on the ground
of State sovereignty. From some quarters
we hear that the masses of the Southern
people are not guilty of treason, because
their States passed ordinances Of secession,
and transferred their allegiance to another
power. The authority of the National Gov
ernment being expelled from the insurrec-
tionary States, the people had no course,
even if they wished to be loyal, but to yield
obedience to the de tdcto government, and
it is urged that it would be unjust to punish
men for aiding the Southern cause when the
power of the Union was not present to pro-
tect them from the tyranny of the REBEL
ion.
There is much truth in this as an idea, but
very little as a fact. If the large mass of
the Southern people aided the rebellion not
from choice but under compulsion, it GER
tainly is not unreasonable to expect them to
manifest a willing and joyful devotion to the
Union, now that the wicked usurpation had
been destroyed We admit that men who
yielded to the rebellion under compulsion,
cannot be esteemed guilty Of treason, but
those who identified themselves with it on
the plea that they were bound to follow
their States, are as guilty as those who led
the States in their reasonable course. Al
exander II. Stephens is often referred to as
one who ought not to be called traitor. 1t
is true, he made noble defence of the
Union, and exerted his mastery genius to
prevent the passage Of the secession ordi-
nance of Georgia, but it is equally true that
without compulsion, but willingly and volun-
tarily, he gave the lie to his noble, manly
declarations by afixing his name to the act
of treason, and lending all his efforts to the
terrible rebellion. His was the common
plea, that of State Sovereignty and we can
not regard him as being innocent of treason,
without recognizing the power and right of
a State to bind the citizens contrary to the
Constitution and laws of the United States
The doctrine of State Sovereignty having
Deen one OF inc InOsb powerful lHcelUlVeS 10
the people to join the rebellion, it is prepos-
terous to recognize it as an ample defense of
those who were moved by it.
The time has come when things must be
called by their right names, and when trea-
son, especially, must be made odious. There
can be no such thing as States Rights which
impair and conflict with the power and au-
thority Of the United States. The action
of State cannot absolve the citizen from
his allegiance to the Union. The Union is
supreme, and the States subordinate. These
are the lessons of the war, and must not be
disregarded, for they have been sealed in the
blood of half a million OF patriots. The
late rebels must accept them in proper
spirit before they can be allowed to partici-
pate in the affairs of the Government
They must remember that simply subscrib-
ing to theloath of allegiance does not restore
them to power. They must shape their
conduct in such way that there viii be no
room to doubt their conversion to loyalty.
Everywhere, South as well as North, the SUI
premacy of the Union must be recognized,
and those who are not disposed TO do so in
deed as in word must expect to be pursued
by the vengeance Of the law Pittsburgh
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