The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-06-09

name OF my country SAX, what frenzy
is this which has possessed the minds
of some of the people Of Tennessee2 To
hear people Of intelligence, born and
reared upon the soil of Tennessee, be
meath which lie the bones of Andrew
Jackson talking about this constitution
being better one than the old one,
when the doctrine Of notification is so
plainly written in the very first line of
the instrument, thathe that run5 may
read
! Ladies and gentlemen, l hope you
viii bear with me a few minutes, if
should appear s little tedious, for l de-
sire, now that have commenced it, to
go little further into this matter, in
order to make myself more fully uns
derstood. / see those present who
have differed with me about these
things, and I must ask of such, to con-
slider what I shall say, not as being
prompted by s spirit of exultation, for
/ am aware Of the fact that it has been
circulated about Iown, yesterday and
to-day, that your unworthy speaker
would offer some remarks upon this IN
teresting occasion, and am willing to
believe that you have come to the top of
this rugged hill this evening, bearing
no unldnd feelings toward me person
ally, and cherishing sentiments of es-
teem and regard for the glorious prin-
ciples Of which We make profession at
this hour. shall certainly say moth
ing, therefore, designedly calculated to
wound the tenderest sensibility. But
let US talk of these things ss old and
reconciled friends would talk over a
past difficulty.
Let US then compare this new Con-
federate constitution with the old one
in few particulars, for the instances in
which they differ are numerous, but
shall not have time to allude TO more
than one or two. And now let US read
the first line of each.
The first line of tbs old Constitution
is as follows: "We the people of the
United States, in order 70 foIm a more
perfect Union, establish Justice, &c"
The Confederate Constitution com
mences thus: ave the people Of the
Confederate States, each STATE acting N
lis sovereign and indepsedent character, u.
order 10 form permanent Federal Govef,l-
| "teftei eSt4ottSt JUSDcei arc.
You see here at once the alteration.
The old Constitution Is the Constitu-
ton of the whole aggregate population;
the new Constitution IS q league be-
tween sovereign and independent
states, and this I suppose is one of the
alterations which it was said only made
it the better. sE8
Now, my friends, suffer me to say to
you, strange as it may seem to some,
this little seemingly innocent altera-
ton does nothing less than overturn
the whole system of the government of
Washington. In proof of this, let me |
briefly refer you to few facts and ar
gumenta
The articles of confederation un-
der which the States were united at |
the close of the revolutionary war,
was league between them, as sover-
eign and independent states. The |
great and radical vice of the system |
wss that the laws of their Congress op-
Grated on States and not on individuals !
and consequently the laws of Congress
amounted to little more than mere |
recommendations TO the States. This |
is 50 expressed by Mr. Hamilton in the |
fifteenth number of the Federalist.
The outside pressure of war held the |
States together, but st its close it be- |
came apparent that the government
would fail to pieces in consequence of |
this evil IN the system ~
This was q vice which had attended |
every experiment of the kind that had |
ever been made before that time, and it !
was to remedy this very evil which con-
stituted the great and leading object |
which the fathers of the Republic had
in view in the formation of the Consti !
tuition of the United States Mr. Webs |
ster in his great speech in reply to
Hayne of South Carolina in 1880, used |
this language: q. ree
"Sir, the very chief end, the main |
design for which the whole constitution
was framed and adopted, was to estab |
lish government that should not be |
obliged to act through State agency, or |
depend on State opinion, and State
discretion. The people had had quite |
enough of that kind of government
under the Confederacy. Under that |
system the legal action, the application |
Of law to individuals belonged exclu- |
sively to the States. Congress could |
only recommend. Their acts were not |
of binding force till the States had |
adooted and sanctioned them. Are !
we in that condition still Are we yet |
at the mercy of State discretion, and |
State construction. Sir, if We are then
vain will be our attempt to maintain |
the Constitution under which we sit"
Thus spoke the immortal Webster in |
1880, in defence of the Constitution |
against the assaults Of treason.
The keystone of the arch was this |
feature in the Constitution which made |
the laws of the general Government, to
operate directly upon individuals and |
not through the agency of States 1t
was this feature which distinguished it |
from all other systems of the. kind, that
had ever preceded it and which con-
stituted its crowning excellence and
beauty. Under this peculiar system
the nation had enjoyed q degree OF
prosperity and had advanced in all the
elements Of power and gretness, to an
extent tnat astonished The world
It's circumstance worthy of par
ticular observation that when John c.
Calhoun went about his work of destroy
ing the Government, the giant efforts
OF this arch traitor were first aimed at
this grand vital feature in the Constitu-
ton. e
The country had heard something Of
his heresy in 1880, as we have seen
from the reply of Webster to Hayne
IN 1882 an attempt was made t. give it
practical effect by the South Carolina
1 ordinance of Notification, and it was
/ during this eventful period that he set
forth explicitly the whole doctrine in
/ his famous Nullifcation Resolutions,
which he introduced N the Senate of
the United States. The FIRST Of which
is IS follows
Rssslosd, That the people Of the sew
eral States. composing these United
States are united as parties 70 q consti
tutional compact TO which the people
/ of each State acceeded as s seperate
sovereign community, each binding it
self by its own particular ratification,
and that the Union of which the said
compact is the bond, Is 3 Union be-
tween the States ratifying the same.
In the remaining resolutions, which
are too long for further quotation 81
this time, the right is asserted Of each
State to Judge for itself,a IS 70 the eonsti.
tutionahfy of thelaws Of the general
Government, and also as 70 the mode
and measure Of redress in case Of its
assumption Of unconstitutional powers
Here again, the giant Webster came
70 the rescue Of the Constitution, As be
had done in 1880 Be condensed his
opinion in four propositions. The first
two Of which are IS follows:
That the Constitution of the United
States L not a league confederscy OF
compact between the people Of the
several States in their sovereign capeci-
ties, but = government proper founded
on the adoption Of the people and ere
ating direct relations between itself
and individual"
shat no State authority has power,
to dissolve these relations, that nothing
can dissolve them but revolution, and
L IL A. l.. j.