Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1865-02-02

| | ask the gentleman whether in his opinion
they could have prohibited slavery without
violating any of the essential and fundamon-
tai principles of the Government?
Mr.. PENDLEToN. They could have pro-
hibited it, and it would have been binding
upon those States which ratified it, because
it. was in the power Of each State to give
up to the Federal Government the decision
Of the status Of its people but the other
States cannot claim to make the decision
except by express grant from each State.
Mr.. GooCH. [ would ask the gentleman
a still further question: whether by the
adoption Of the Constitution and the amend
ments to it the States have not conferred
that power upon the constitutional majority,
or upon that power which they have auth
orized to amend the Constitution?
Mr.. PENDLEToN [ think they have not
or else would not have been denying the
power 70, the last half hour. | have been
endeavoring to show that the limitations in
the letter of the Constitution were not the
only limitations upon the power of amend
ment. And | have done it for the purpose
OF leading gentlemen of this House to a con
clusion which am prepared to take, follow
ing the line Of argument that have done,
showing that you cannot, under the power
OF amendment, contravene the letter and
spirit of the Constitution that you cannot
subvert republicansm that you cannot de-
stroy the liberties of the States that you
cannot decide the status of the citizens of the
States. | would lead them to the conclu-
sion that there is no power on the part of
the Federal Government-on the part of
three quarters of the States [ intended to
say-to adopt the amendment that is now
proposed and that if you do it. if you at
tempt to impose that amendment upon the
dissenting States by force, it will be their
righttoreSist you by force, and to call to their
aid all the powers which God and nature
have given them to make Chat force effective.
Now, sir, do not intend to do my col
league from the Toledo district Mr. Ash
ley the least injustice in stating his argu-
ment. He felt the force of the suggestions
which have endeavored to present. They
occurred to a mind accustomed to anticipate
the objections which may be made to the
positions which he assumes. Having laid
down, in the broadcast possible terms, that
the conditions and limitations imposed upon
the power of amendment are only those
which are expressly declared in the Consti-
tuition, he follows it up by declaration that
in my Judgment, Congress may propose
and three-fourths of the States may adopt
any amendment republican, in its character
and consistent aoiM the continued cristence
Of the nntion, save in the two particulars
just named" Why does he impose those
two further limitations? There is no guar
antee in the Constitution that the Federal
Government shall be republican in form. -
There is no prohibition of change Of the
Federal Government to different and anti
republican form. The gentleman own ad-
mission ovcrthrows the foundation upon
which hic MT nd | would Ill N
to know from the gentleman where there is
a prohibition upon the right Of three -fourths
of the States to dissolve the Confederation.
lie says that any amendment must be con
siStent with the continued existence of the
nation" deny it; say that three fourths
of the States can dissolve the Confederation.
| They can annul the Constitution. They can
dissolve the Union but they cannot take
away from the constituent States those pow
crs which were reserved, not only by the
letter, but by the spirit and the intent and
design Of the instrument itself
But this speech of my colleague contains
another remarkable statement, to which |
desire to call his attention Following the
! line Of argument which seems to have been
adopted by the gentleman from Massachu-
sctts, MIR. Gooch in the question which
he puts to me Just now, my colleague says /:
MI. Speaker, presume no man not even my
colleague, viii deny that when the thirteen col
ONES or states assembled by their repreSo n ta- =
| tiNcS in convention to make the present Ma
! tional Constitution, thcy might have abolished
ties Is true that II republican Government may
authorize or permit the cnSlavement of men,
which deny, they could have provided for the
emancipation of all slaves in twenty or fifty
years, ifthry had seen MT and If the people Of
nine suites had voted to rattfy such Constitu-
! ton slavery could not, after the period named,
! hnNeeNiStcd 10y state law and in dcuanceo of the
! thirteen States or in any one of the states adj
| mitted iniothc Union Sinceits adoption"
| Does the gentleman mean to say that the
ratification of nine States would have pro-
| hibited the institution of slavery in the thir-
teen States? Does the gentleman mean to
say that the ratification OF nine States would
have made the Constitution binding upon
the thirteen If that is the gentleman $
view, then ask by what authority such Il
ratification would have had such an effect
| read in the Constitution itself that 'the
ratification of the Conventions Of nine States
shall be sufficient for the establishment Ct
this Constitution between the States so rat
flying the same Does the gentleman still
contend that the provisions Of the Constitu-
ton ratified by nine States would have been
binding upon the thirteen
Mr. ASHLEY. | intended, Mr., Speaker,
10 say lulS 1 illdI lhc ldliuNa'ioil VI itic
Constitution by niue States of the old Con-
federation practically made them nation,
/ Ii is true the clause of the Constitution quo
ted by my colleague declares that none but
/ the States adopting it would be bound by it.
| Yet, practically, if adopted by nine Of the
/ thirteen it made the whole, with all the ter
ritory belonging to them, II nation. I'm
doubtcdly the trainers OF the Constitution
believed that it was adopted by nine States
! the practical effect would be to force the
other four to adopt it. | have no donbt
such was the understanding of the members
OF the convention, and certainly such was
the practical effect of it,
Mr.. PENpI EroN. WE'LL Mr.. Sneaker,
that is n most extraordinary proposition. -
1t might be true that, in the course of time,
and by the power of conquest, or by the
: moral influences which Government com,
posed of nine States would have exerted
the other States would have been persua.
drd to come into the Union, but | deny that
any one State would have been bound by
any ratification except that proceeding from
the State itself, The theory which the gen
tleman has explained to US Just new, and
which, as contained in his speech as printed
in the Gtobe, | honestly thought, in my
simplicity, to be Il misprint-this theory ex
plains what the gentleman means when he
tells us that the Federal Constitution doe,
not clothe any of the States with the attri
butes of sovereignty OF course it does not
Nobody ever pretended that it did
| Mr. STEVENS Suppose that nine States