, 1866-11-24
DAILY, TRI.NEEELY AND WEEKLY.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER p, 1866.
THE POWER TO DEFINE SurR.


SATURDAY, NOVEMBER "a, 1866. |
TUE POWER TO DEFINE SUP.
EIsAGE.
Mr.. Madison, in one Of the numbers of the
I,itsal-:. most correctly affirmed that sin
''a!s1nisil.sns Of every kind, there arc Ger
''ta!a primary truths, or just principles, upon
''wl4ich all subsequent rcasopinys must de-
At nd This il equally true in politics,
IL ais sind physics; and to no political dis
cussiol does it apply with more force than
"a the consideration Of the subject Of tho
elective franchise. Let us cnumeratc, some
Vi these principles, which are vital truths In
the systtn Of government established in the
lnltud STATES.
/. Al! power is inherent in the pcoplc,
who caunoi By their swu net or otherwise De
divcsted Of that power.
=. Iha, Tie United States constitute Ma
tienal Government, deriving It's powers from
the le E!e, and is not confedcracy deriving
Its power from separate States
5. Tlat being National t;ovcrnmcnt It
possesses all Eowcrs that nrc fundamental In
The organization of government.
VIVA. these riuiary truths in view, let MS
ask what is the nature OF the elective fran
ellsc III i ioltu:ar and representative govern
n!c',is Ali tree governments, founded upon
tLr col.scnt Of the people and deriving their
powers from tncM, must possess the at,so-
a'ca..d exclusive power of prescribing the
l:9:h.eE. uutics, and qualifications Of its own
Officers. hat IS 8 power 1hat cannot be del
e4a:ed tr a1y other authority. 1t caunot be
S.Hc;: IL airy cA erEal authority, nor left to
tlie eolt;roi os any portion less tLnn the
1s-ule u tic people. II is IL power insepa-
ra:le l!u:.. The sovereign authority. In our
4, :.:ts:ssi 1T It could not be separated IRON
t!.e :~,i, :sal authority without destroying
vii! II .::eirlc cf the Government ITSELF
I'll tl.l sAnG character is the authority to
Us ,t''-,I.e Qualifications Of the electors for
Ic:rr-' ciiccs. The power TO do this IS also
-tccses:y to all governments. It is . gruss
2'- ::rG,:.: 10 vAE.end that the authority Ia
!'srs@;!le The qualifications of electors under
CT" s"yc.i.Hlent shall exist in another roy.
c:l-s.,-Et~ The authority to prescribe the
qls.:ils 2:inns oi electors is q primary and in
Gsi.As!l',:: right i'll all governments. 4 gov
csLhieni without tAut power would be rs
Alp w:iLour helm. Tie power must exist,
a''d il e. 'Eut exist savc in the hands of the
SIT! Tt1nc auth,rity. To delegate that author
lt1 Is tstd le:,,atc 1he means Of destroying the
s"Vcruncnt. 1t is one Of the attributes Of
The supreme authority in the land, and that
s:1'T"1uv authority in this country is the
I,olsle-
Cle .tifc Iiost dangerous Of the many pc-
H1lc:ll ilr:esics which owe their origin to the
NECESSITIES OF slavery, is that this is not
= National Government, but Government,
tle Constituents Of which are States. The
d. rt,irc Of State Rights, 50 industriously up.
LII by the Democratic party for so many
yc"r-, is the direct result OF the theory that
this Is 9 conlederacy Of States, Instead Of n
e'ationai Government the whole American
people. It is time that this false doctrine
should be extirpated, and finally banished
from American politics. Since lSGl the peo-
l!c lave recorded in tho blood Of their mar
tyrcd sous the great truth that this is Ma
tional Government, before whose authority
eiatG sovereignty is but ditnsy cobweb,
aEd State authority nnd Independence, Us
opposed 10 the National will, are but other
N21ncs for rebcllicn and treason. Now, when
nc arc rcr"nstructing The Government, and
curing the evils Of past rebellion and false
doci4lne, Is the most appropriate season to
return 10 just principles and reasscEt the
Nallof'al authority OF defining the qualifica-
tiuns OF electors for all offices under the Uni.
ted States
Ihr-e is no error so common omono +1,oee
who v-iro ,pr, ,,oa IN ,hr r,l.,1;n., .,d
a1ntnr, rim Democratic marty =. 10 4hnorv
:1nt IN ,,rminr tbn t,onat;ent;o, .ho ,,o,.o,
Of defining the qualifications OF electors was
1,rn ~, =, ;,,o-r ,;,,,,t. .a~a ~ - ~
,,,t;, 49,, ;n,or1oi w., ,ri,.,s -. -,
t-;,r,o or eororo;,.,,,~ t,,.,. - 49, ,a,;t;
w., ,,,-, ,,,r,,5,,ne "r;.+,,o =, ,h,. Tatta,'a,
will, onL sr,,;ac, - ;te oo,,tsai VII,
o,,r s.,,o ntto,,rts tho a-ou,;e. -,
,o,.,,;.,, nv e,,i,u.1 o,th,,r;., :. !. =, ~
power and II is the dutv of The National
tioyrr1,u,,.n1 to restrain suc1, attcmnt and II
NECESSARY Ia set aside that state cavern
r,,,, .,,,i; rror;do ,notbcr in ito s+osd
Ilr ,r.n,rrs of ne Cone,t,rt;n, ,rcr, mt
i,ut,e,, ,f I'm. fart that IN ,,r,no ,hc mali.
t;I,,in,. ,f .,.c,,rs wos ~, ar,,,e,,-o
n,,,p,. -, I'm sr,rar,o x,+;,ro1 o,,.1,ar,,,
u, u.,i.>a, ~ a...;n, ~ ,,,o ,,atta. ,,t..
+,;s 1,,,,-,,...r..
ur,,........,
- -. s,.. N." W ~ - f..',A.A,|. y. eu
.,.. - : :. tA q. :.
~ '.pon p.,-1o, r, W. o,'.''l..l - "a' =.
euii'pcnt VI .ne So"s "sea1'o'', tne'c.o's, -
uellHe AM es'aoEen tnls i1eu Au 'he eou
sHlu'1ou- 10 Aa'e 1e1t open ioF 'hc oe
eNto''al leuAt'oa ol cohsFess' "oult
IaSe h'eh improper, Ior Inc reason lss
E'rntiorea. 10 have submitted It 10 LII
tlsc:tsl"n OF The states, would have bce1
Improper for tho same reason; and for th'
additional reason that 1t would have rcn
n fftf n AnRt ttn Ant