The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-04-09

tive convenience. In respect to ali foreign
affairs the unity OF the naten Is complete, and
the Federal Government has exclusive iurisdlc
tom. 1t Is therefore natural that foreigners
should misconcelve ana under estimate our
State system. EaH
r When they -euhigrate .hfther-and mingleln our
politics the organization OF our parties tends to
confirm their error Our state elections so
generally turn on questions oil Federal policy,
al so constantly made suDsidial to our Presi.
dental elections that not only are foreigners
confirmed in their natural misconcephon, hut
thoughtless multludes amoug our native citi-
zens al beeuile6 into the same error The con-
sohdation theory, like every theory OF despo-
hsIn, has the advantage of simplcity--an at
traction TO indolent minds which shrink from
I the trouble of thought.
OF our actual 81 STEM, the most nlightenedex-
FOUNDER was Jefferson. We the more readily
|, recur to his authority, since, as the author of
/ the DeclaraA ion OF Independence. he Is held In
< professed reverence by the Radicals We shall
h maze copious quotations, to show, by,ther &C
cumulat1on, that the ideas embodied in them
were the central ideas on government around
winch his mind habitually revClved. We shall
[ quote from eXpositions made by him after his
final retirement to private life, when he was
under no bias either OF personal ambition or
party zeal. We ask that they may be well
weighed; tor II the doctrine they inculcate is
sound, it follows, wlthou5 further argument
that President johnson is right and the Repub
lican party all wrong We appeal from the ex-
cited passions of hotheaded zealots, to the calm
wisdom OF a great statesman, ripe in years,
. knovltdge and experience. ID 'A|
I In a letter 10 Major John Cartwright an Eng
lishman (June s, 1924, Mr.. JedeIson said:--
"With respect TO our State and Federal Govern
ments, ] do not think their relations correctly
understood BY foreigners. They generally sup
pose the former subordinate to he lat err. But
this is not the case. They are coordinate de-
I partments OF one single and integral whole. To
the State Governments are reserved all 'egisla-
ton and administration in affairs which con-
ceIn their own citizens onlyj and 10 the Fede-
raj Government is given whatever concerns
foreigners or citizens of other States these
functions alone being made federal. The one is
the domestic, the other the foreign branch OF
the same Governments neither having control
I over the other, but within its own department.
I There are one or two exceptions only to this
PARTITION oil power" ..r....H3-
To Judge johnson (June'l2, ls23), jefferson
I wrote: 81 have been blamed for saying that
/ prevalence Of the doctrine of consolidation
would one day call lorreIormation or re00htttog
r | answer by asking II a single State OF the Union
4 would have agreedto the Constitution, had it
gwen all powers to the General Government?
If the whole opposition 10 it did not proceed
from the jealousy and lear OF every State, of
being subjected to the other States ia matters
/ merely its own? And is there any reason to
/ believe the State- more disposed now than then
4 to acquiesce in this general surrender of all
(. their rights and powers to a, consolidated
y government, one and undiYdedW Further on
in the same letter, which is quite long and very
: aTgumentative, Jefferson says:-- 81. II ..lal or.
/ ut may be impractica6le to lay down any
general formula Of words which shall decide at
once, and with precision, in every case, this
/ limit of jurisdiction. But there are two canons
which will guide us safely in most OF the cases:
1st The capital and leading object of the Con.
sttuton was to leave with the States all authori-
ties which respected their own citizens only, and
| to transfer 10 the United Statessthose which
respected citizens of foreign or other States; to
make us several as to ourselves, but one as to
all others. In the latter case, then, construc-
lions should lean to the general jurisdiction, if
the words will bear it; ana in favor of the States
/ III tie former, II possible to be so construed
/ And, indeed, between citizens and citizens Of
7 the same State, and under their own laws, /
know OF but single case in which a jurlsdic-
ton is given to the General Government. That
is when anything but gold or silver is made a
! lawful tepder or the obligation OF contracts
! Is any otherwise impaired. Theseparate Legis-
i latures had so often abused that power, that the
! citlZers themselves chose to trust it to the
! general, rather than to their own separate au-
/ thor1tes. I'd On every question OF constructions
carry ourselves back to The time when the Con-
stitution was adopted, recollect the spirit mani.
| tested in the Debates and instead of trying what
/ meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or
| invented against 1T, conform to the probable one
in which ii was passed. Again, in the same
| letier:-"Can it be believed that under the jea-
! lousies prevailing against the Government, at
4 the adoption OF the Constitution, the States
! meant TO surrender the authority of preserving
order, OF enforcing moral duties and restraining
wee, within their own territory ?' E5'3 1g .4
! 10 John Holmes, (April ~, l820) Jefferson
/ WrOle:-"An abstinence, TOO, from this act OF
power would remove the jealousy excited by
the undertaking of Congress to regulate the
! condition OF the different descriptions of men
| composing a State. This certainly is the eXclu.
| sve right Of every State, which nothing in the
! Constitution has taken from them and given to
the general Government. Could Congress, foI
! example, say that the non-freemen Of Connec
ticut shall be freemen; or that they shall not
emIgrate into any other State Z" ~ 7tt
To Robert j. Garnett (February IA, 1920 =
'The best key for the solution OF questions OF
power between our Governm ents is the fact
that every ioreign and federal power is given
to the Federal Government, and to the States
every Iower purely domestic. / recollect but
one instance Of contlol vested in the Fedora
over the State authorities in a matter purely
domestic, which is that of metallic tenders
The Federal is, in truth, our foreign Govern
ment which department alone is taken from
the sovereignty OF the separate States" ,
n. We coulu accumulate similar quotations tC
almost any extent; but these viii suffice both tC
show the tenor OF Jeferson's Opinions, and tht
| vigor of conviction with which he held them
Amid the talk about impeaehlng Presiden
johnson, let it be borne in mind that he il
threatened with impeachment for acting il
| logical consistency with the doctrine SO per
slstently advocated as fundamental by the grea
and sagacious leader Of the American Demo
craey. Oh. lr..a ...fgs. els .f.rr.L d.. ..