Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1865-12-13

language of the Confederacy, ard not the
language of the Constitution The latter
contains the emphatic words "The Con
stltutlon and the laws of the United States
which shall be made in pursuance thereof.
and all treaties made or which shall be made
under the authority of the United States,
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 notwithstand
ing
Certainly the Government of the United
States is limited government, and so is
every State government limited govern
ment. With US, this idea of limitation
spreads through every form of adniinistra-
ton, general State, and municipal, and rests
on the great Distinguishing principle of the
recognition OF the rights of man. The an
cient republics absorbed the individual in
the State, prescribed his religion, and con-
trOlled his activity. The American system
rests on the assertion of the equal right of
every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness; TO freedom of conscience, to
the culture and exercise of all his faculties.
As a consequence, the State Government is
limited, as to the General Government in
the interest of Union, as to the individual
citizen in the interest Of freedom.
States, with proper limitations of power,
are essential to the existence of the Consti-
tuition Of the United States At the very
commencement, when We assumed place
among the powers of the earth, the Decla-
ration Of Independence was adopted by
States so also were the Articles OF Confed-
Grafton and when the people OF the United
States ordained and established the Con
stitution, it was the assent of the States,
one by one, which gave it vitality. In the
event, too, Of any amendment TO the Con
stitution, the proposition of Congress needs
the confirmation of States. Without States,
one great branch of the legislative govern
ment would be wanting. And if We look
beyond the letter Of the Constitution to the
character of our country, its capacity for
comprehending within It's Jurisdiction vast
continental empire is due to the system OF
States. The best security for the perpetu-
al existence of the States Is the supreme
authority of the Constitution of the Uni
ted States. The perpetuity Of the Consti-
tuition brings with it che perpetuity of the
States; their mutual relation makes Us what
we are, and in our political system their
connection is indissoluble The whole can
not exist without the parts, nor the parts
without the whole So long as the Consti-
tuition of the United States endures, the
States will endure; the destruction of the
one is the distraction of the other; the pres
ervatiou of the one is the preservation OF
the other
have thus explained my views of the
mutual relations of the Constitution and the
States, because they unfold the principles
on which | have sought to solve the me-
mentous questions and overcome the appall-
ing difficulties that met me at the very com
Il . hos
been my steadfast object to escape from the
sway of mOmentary passions, and to derive
a healing policy from the fundamental and
unchanging principles of the Constitution.
| found T. States suffering from the eff
ftcts of civil war. Resistance to the Sen
eral Government appeared to have exhaust
ed Itself. The United States had recovered
possession of their forts and arsenals: and
their armies were in the occupation of every
State which had attempted to secede.
Whether the territory within the limits OF
those States should be held as conquered
territory, under military authority emanat-
ing from the President as the head of the
army, was the first question that presented
itself for decision.
Now, military governments, established
for an indefinite period, wo I'D have afforded
no security for the early depression of dis
content would have divided the people in
to the vanauishers and vanquished and
would have envenomed hatred, rather than
have restored affection. Once established,
no precise limit to the continuance was con
ceivable. They would have occasioned an
incalculable and exhauSting expense. Peace
full emigration TO and from that portion OF
the country is one of the best means that
can be thought OF for the restoration of ar
mony /; and that emigration would have been
prevented !; for what emigrant from abroad,
what industrious citizen at home, would
place himself willingly under military rule
The chief persons who would have followed
in the train of the army would have been
dependents on the General Government, or
men who expected profit from the miseries
of their erring fellow-citizens. The powers
of patronage and rule which would have
been exercised, under the President, over a
vast, and populous and naturally wealthy
region. are greater than, unless under ex-
treme necessity, [ should be willing to en-
trust to any one man they are such as, Tor
myself, L could never, unless on occasions OF
great emergency, consent to exercise. The
wiIful use of such powers, If continued
through period of years, would have en-
dangered the purity of the general admins
tration and the liberties of the States which
remained loyal
Besides, the policy of military rule over
a conquered territory would have implied
that the States whose inhabitants may have
taken part in the rebellion had, by the act
of those inhabitants, ceased to exist. But
the true theory is, that ali pretended acts OF
secession were, from the beginning, null and
void The States cannot commit treason
nor screen the individual citizens who may
have committed treason, any more than
they can make valid treaties or engage IN
lawful commerce with any foreign Power;
To -sacala IIaceu