The mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1863-1943, 1865-06-24
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js tbs. title Of An elAbsnate editGriAlln lhe
! New York Freemap,s journal Of the sStk
lsf April, the initiatory paragraph Of which
b SsfolIows: +'''
/ 'DtEsyties and political arrangements. nav.
ing men ~ their anthOrs, ere, like thsirlau-
th0rs, doomeS 70 decay and death. A gwen
system may be IzSrS worthy Of affection Ind
respect than SiherssRSSt this GannS4 skeE1PA It
from succumbing TO tbs universal hail: dust
thou art and Gnt0 dust thou shalt return"
The writer goes on to Hx. IN, n Sub,
stance, that the system Of ,pOhSsa ideas
of which ME. Jefferson was the grsG5 rep.
resentative, has ceased to exist as a li%ssg
political force having reached its extfne'
guishmeht through the facts, political and
military. Of the last four years. lie says
"Tbe several States are nov no longer as
when the United States Constitution was form
ed-sul juEis MO State, any longer, belongs,
a. IL did, t0'itseif!' 1tbelOngs 10 the Union
The United States, Bow, has come in possession
of sovereign power over the several ShteS.-
The States, 10 faet, IRE no longer properly
States. Al most they Sfe estates--conditiOns
4 ouo 'NNNN~~-SSese1 S~AN oNOJOSe ~ = uiB"SA
soveEeign power. - a.s
The moral which the writer seeks to
draw from this is, that it is unwIse to con.
tend for .. lost condition, or an obsolete
idea that it IS oar, duty-OE, rather the
duty Of Democrats, for his article is writ
ten from a party peiut Of view--to accept
the revolutions Vtlich has been accomplish.
ed, and look forTard to some solution Of
pending problems in the practical future,
rather than vafhiy labor to restore an i'm.
practicable. past. 30 much we are able to
understand: the following, in which the
written attempts TO describe The condition
to be sought for-as we do not very well
comprehend tive must give in his own
words: f-,i! '''! '.'' G. .'. ~ ''"r
"But, tn this system, there rs still proSis.
| ion for freedom. States are held subordinate
TO the Union, but they are. yet, powers for free
men to use in asserting their rights. II is hot
the Puritan idea Of .wiping out adj these State
liues.' They are not recognized as primary, but
they are recognized as secondary powers. The
very genins Of liberty in government, consists
in the recognition Of secondary powers, or, in
scholastic language, secondary causes. That
is, powers endowed with the right OF acting
freely within their spheres-causes, though sec.
ondary, endowed with the. force TO produce
their own, effects. This may seem little alb
sttuse to men not familiar with the old scholas
tic nIeth0dss In fact The principle, to those moi
familiar with it, requires studied thought
Words can not be found IN renderit more clear
But il 10 in ths- OVder of Gods denlings with
men. Catholics will understand it by reference
to the powers God has given TO the priesthood
To Others, we may HlgstFats il, in some respects
more appositely, BY the delegation of power
made by sovereign authority to judges-ap
pointed By the. sevePeign-removable BY tbt
sovereign-but, while acting, independent, anC
able to bind or loose, BY their own secondary
power" g.. ..4ssl ..l..
1t seems to US rather early in the day
to take it for granted that, through the
effects Of the war, the absorption OF the
States In the central polity is a fact accom-
plished eiindeedi At is carly 10 pSonouuce,
with any Certainly, what facts nre accom-
plished. We have. thus far. played but
one act Of d drama which, there are many
reasons to believe, contains several. We
are standing now at n point between two
epochs in our history, and have, as yet, but
faint limitations as to how the events Of
the one win affect the conditions Of the
other. And, in our opinion, it would be
Just as unsafe to assume that the present
eclipse Of the precious metals, by that
which we are wont to call "Our uniform
national currency" is an accomplished
fact; that the latter is, in conformity with
the progress Of ideas, and that it win,
therefore, furnish for all coming time, the
neutrality-suspicious. Of the country, as TO
assume tbat thes present State observation
the result Of the same series of causes
is to be perpetua ed in our future politi-
cal condition "
In all generalizatiohs Of the present,
With view tO-ebtsin auguries for the iu-
ture, The narrower the Geld of vision, and
the fewer the integers taken into the pro-
cess, the easier the labor, but not the
more ultimately satisfactory. The ele-
ments are many and various; and until
they are all collected, their, respective
forces accurately measured, and the effects
Of their interaction comprehcndcd until
We are able to eliminate all that is transit
tory and accidental, nnd bring theona to
something yhich-to borrow an aritb-
metical term-resembles q common de.
nominator,, speculation upon their ulti-
mate organizations will be Of little value;
and the conclusions Of to-day will stand
reversed by the facts Of tomorrow.
Inrespect to the question whether State
sovereignty has finally succumbed-yield-
ed to that Sentence of decay and death
which is the destiny Of all ''dynasties and
political arrangements"-if there are facts
which lead to conclusion upon one side,
there are also facts which lead to con-
clusion upon the other and opposite side.
IT. within the Iast four years, the move
ment has been all in one direction, it
should not be overlooked that, during the
four years Immediately preceding the last,
the movement was just as distinctly in
the other; every Northern State Legisla-
ture in the hands Of the party now in
power having, within that period, practl- :
cally carried States Rights to the point OF
nuIliflcation-passing laws in direct CON
travention to the acts Of Congress and the
provisions Of the Constitution.
/ Now, We have the same 'rightItO cep-
clude that the dOings Of the irst quadtten.
| nal period were true expression Of the
spirit of the people, and Of the degree Of
hfofcs inherent in the State politics, that
another hes to conclude that the do
ings Or the last were the true, expression.
Al any rate, thetwO extreme examples
may 5e fairly set, down as balancing ench
other, anii botk be- placed 10 the aOcOaet
of transitory excitement. The facts, tax.
en- together, teach that we havsTtwe IN.
tagOWistic forces existing,in our political
system; the one Of which tends toward
consolidation; the other toward disinte-.|
grafton; an6, &c party theories and notions
ofprssumed necessity 60 With The one.
there are certain stubborn political and
economical facts, which will not be with
out their effect 70 give activity 70 he0th-
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