The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1865-12-06

II
there can be little doubt as to the YER
dict; but it cannot be supposed that tht
American people will commit such an ac
as to take any mans life for simply fol
lowing the zample of their own idolized
hero, and exercising right they are al
taught 10 claim-a "most sacred right,
as Mr.. Lincoln declared it to be. Ant
as Mr.. johnson reiterates that treason i
the greatest of crimes, we ara led to ex
anime how it is regarded by the CoDsti
tuition of tho United States. Here, 81
far from being thus accounted, it is Sc
lected from all other offences, not to bt
stigmatized, but to be dealt with gently
and hedged round with projections from
extreme punishment Thus, Art. |, Sec
g.: "No bill of attainder shall be passed. ;
Art III, Sec. 8. "NO person shall be con
victed of treason unless on the testimony
of two witnesses 10 the same overt act, OIL
on confession IL open court" 10 Art
III, Sec 4, it is classed with bribery and
the sixth Amendment to the Constitution
requires that the accused shall have the
right to a speedy and public trial by an
impartial jury Of the State and district
wlertin the crime shall have been com
mitted." Art. III, Sec, 8, ordains that
"no attainder of treason shall work cor.
ruption of blood or forfeiture, except dur
ing the life of the person attained' And
if this trial is TO be conducted calmly as
an affair of State, the difficult task mus
be encountered Of .disproving the right
of a sovereign State to withdraw from it:
union with the others, if any counsel
dare use tho argument. 1t is not gcner
ally believed in.this c untry that such O
right exists, but Rawle, competent le,
gal authority, Northerner and devoted
Unionist, asserts in his work on the Con
stitution, that the right is inherent in the
The federal system That the States were
originally, each Of them, a free, sovereign
and Independent power, is very certain
as they were separately acknowledged by
this country in these terms That their
union under tho title Of the United State:
did not destroy the sovereignty existing
separately in each is also certain, as il is
declared in the first Constitution Each
State retains its sovereignty, freedom and
independence" That each State is soy
ereign under the present Constitution is
also certain, as it has been so decided on
several occasions by the Supreme Court
a decision from which there is no appeal
Now, if sovereign State cannot with
draw from its union with other States
there must be some power which prevents
it--a power over it, and superior to it;
own will. il 50, its condition is that Of
infcriority or subjeCtion 10 that higher
power, and therefore cannot be sovereign
No such pover is known to the Constitu
ton, for the States are all co-equal; and
what is popularity termed the Govern
ment," is simply the common admins
tration, or federal agent, to whom certain
limited powers we're delegated by the
States The recipient of delegated
power cannot be superior in authority
to those Of whom it is the delegate
This would be TO put the. agent above
the principal, or the servant above the
master; and where sovereign State
delegates" limited powers to an agent
for certain ends, it is dilficult to see thai
it cannot withdraw them when those ends
are not attained, This right 10 withdraw
"to resume" them, was asserted by Vir
ginia when th,t State became party tC
the Constitution, and il was asserted il
the solemn form Of an act Of assembly
a law of the State. Virginia, therefore
in seeding from. the Union, simply ex
Crciscd the right which she reserved BY
law when she entered it. 1t may be sale
that this law has no force beyond its lin
its; but they who accepted her adhesion
to the Union with reserved right, solemn
ly proclaimed to the world, cannot nov
complain that it is exercised ; aud; in
deed, it is difficult to see how any StatC
could have entered into the federal com
pact without the power of Withdrawing
if its terms were broken. This was the
only possible means Of redress or escape
from wrong, if committed by the MAORI
ty. One of the points of the Constitu
tion will illustrate this.
The small States insisted that each
whatever its size, should have equa
weight in the Senate, aud that this should
never be altered to the prejudice Of any
State without lis own consent. 1t result.
that the little strip Of soil, Delaware, ha'
its two members in the Senate equally
with New York, State exceeding in al
respects several of the Kingdoms Of Eu
rope. And if the whole of the othel
thirty.fvo States should desire it, they
cannot rightfully alter this without the
consent of Delaware. But suppose they
do so with or without right, what redress
has Delaware She could not out-vott
or fight the others, and must either sub
NIT to d breach of the compact without
redress, or retire from it, This may ex
plain the remarkable statement Of Rawl,
-"This right (that of secessionl must bt
considered an ingredient in the originu
composition of the general Government
which, although not expressed, was mu
-tually understood" That such an un
tderstanding existed with the trainers OIL
the Constitution, is proved by the fac
that in the early debates of Congress uu
der the Constitution the threat Of sece
ding was made more than once, and tn,
right to do SO was not questioned. Ii
the Constitution there is no principle tha
permits the coercion Of State Wher
suggested it was deliberately excluded