Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1865-02-01

two Houses of the General Assembly, yet the Con-
: vention continued to legislate during the whole
period of its existence and its right to do so could
not be questioned. Not only did it legislate, but
itself, extending the time of its meeting to a day
far beyond that which it had fixed for itself. At
another time it even talked seriously of dissolving the
existing Legislature ind calling another thus claim
ing the right to dissolve the existing State govern
ment and create new one. Its right to do all this
was never questioned-in TACT could not be qies-
toned. Where did the Convention get the power
to do all of these things-from the Constitution
No; it was an extra constitutional power. 1t was
power inherent in the sovereignty of the peo
pie then and there assembled in Convention. The
Confederate government being based upon the SOY.
eregnty of the States, the States in general Con-
vention assembled have all, and more than all, the
power over that government which the people in
Convention have over the State government, as the
people are limited to extent by the Confeder-
ate Constitution l might sustain my position by
numerous citations from the Fathers but will not
do it, lest should render myself obnoxious to the
charge of having made an elaborate argument to
sustain simple, if not sefevident proposition.
Having thus shown the right of the sovereign
States to control, direct or dissolve their common
agency, the Confederate government and to nego
tate for themselves peace with the government
OF the United States, as / conceive as clearly as
any one can show the right of the great omnipo
tent God Of the Universe to direct control or dis
so We his creation, I now come to the most pain
full part of my task, that of showing from the con.
dltion OF the country, the absolute necessity OF
their exercising their sovereign powers in order to
avert impending and utter ruin.
In doing this, hope may bo permitted to con.
trast the present condition of the country with what
it was but five short years ago. Then we were
united, contented and happy people-all our pros
poets were bright and promising beyond the power
n hmm 1Nksa 7" khan Qnf
OF larger proportion of civil and religious liberty
thsn any other people upon whom the sun of Heav.
en- had ever shone. All the material interests Of
the country were advancing with such rapidity that
Their; movements were almost visible to the human
| eye We were rapidly becoming the first manufac-
turing, commercial and maritime power in the world
! In few years more at most, if we had remained
together, we would have surpassed in power and
spiendor all the nations of ancient or modern times
/ In the midst of all these high, exciting crafty
ing prospects which seemed to be spread out before
US in endless profuson, for the enjoyment of our
selves and our posterity, our hopes were suddenly
blasted by the "grim visaged monster" secession.
A large number of eminent men in the South had
imbbed the plausible but false theory of Mr. Jeffer-
son, and had deduced therefrom, as they believed,
the pernicious doctrine of secession. This party
! had been gradually accumulating strength almost
from the foundation of the government until the
year 1882, when it made an open effort in the
State of South Carolina to resist the laws of the
United States, its ultimate object being disruption
OF the government. The pretext sought on that
occasion to justify their act was the tariff law of
1925, although the State of South Carolina herself
had been from the foundation of the government
nearly up to that period, ardent an advocate of
a high tariff as any State in New England. That
question was mpromsed-South- Carolina obtain
ed all that she ostensibly demanded. revenue
tariff with incidental protection became the settled
policy Of the government, and except for short
period under the tariff of 1912, never departed
from. But this compromise gave no real salts
faction to the leaders of that movement But
a lew days after the passage of the compromise
bill OF Mr.. Clay, the newspaper organ of the
secessonlsts at Washington declared that the
South could nsver be IN ted on the tariff question:
and that the slavery question was the only one
that could unite them" About the same time
Mr.. Calhoun said the same thing in speech at
Abbeville, South Carolina, and this declaratio /,
was echoed Ivy his partizans every where
throughout the South. Immediately after this
commenced that violent agitation of the slavery
question, which had nearly eliminated upon the
admission of California in 1850. By the efforts
of the great statesmen tf the last age, the mat
ter was then compromised. The whole country
seemed to be satisfied with the settlement, but
there was number of restless spirits among the
secess,onists of tho South, who would be salts
fled with nothing less than the dissolution of the
Union. They Immediately commenced agita-
ting the question again with the view of fur
| nishing themselves with pretext for exercising
the sacred right of secession, which they pro-
fessed to have deduced from the system Of Mr..
Jefferson. They began by demanding recog.
milton Of the doctrine OF "non intervention -
by Congress in relation to tho subject of slave.
ry in the territories. This they finally obtained
at the Cincinnati Convention, in 1856.
No sooner had they obtained this, than they
went to the opposite extreme, and demanded,
as an uHtnaatuna, the &" Intervention" of Congress
Tor the protection of slavery in the territories
and upon this ultan,atuna, succeeded in breaking
up the Charleston Convention. Several years
previous to this, however, they had succeeded
| with aid of a few Northern allies in repeating
the Missouri Compromise. This act together
, with subsequentatte mpt to force the Lecompten
Constitution upon the people of Kansas in oppo
sition to the known and expressed wish of three
fourths of them, had built up great party al
t the North in opposition to the extension O
slavery. By breaking up the Charleston Con
vention and dividing the Democratic party, the
thought, to elect Mr.. Lincoln the candidate o
this party, to tile Presidency of the United
? States in 1850; an event over which there wa
9 as much rejoicing in South Carolina as ther,
was IN Massachusetts. In the mean time Their,
had been much unjustifable legislation OH tn,
part of few of the Northern States, which
am as ready to condemn as any other man, bu
there had been no act of the national govern
= ment in the slightest degree infring cling GU
!; rights. The decisions of the Supreme Cour
d | had all been in our favor The slavery nues
= ton had been settled in the territories, bv tn
. acts of Congress establishing governments 70
= the territories Of Colorado, Nevada and Daco
f tab. We also had majority in both House
d of Congress, consisting Of the Southern mem
II bers. the Northern Democrats and the Fillmor
n Wings, and it seemed that our interests wer
b | nerfectlu secure They had all tho ,a.a4aa.;.,