The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-05-12

mas ever been presented for the main
tenance of the Union by main force, is
that the Union viii prevent wars.
Therefore, to prevent future wars, we
rushed into a war of fearful magnitude
The fact is, violence never brings any
thing but evil, and it brings evil 10
those who are in the right Just as much
as to those who are in the wrong
Therefore, violence should never be re
sorted to except in self-defence against
the violence of others.
The Times says the destruction Of
the Union would be a disaster to the
whole human race. Why so2 Does
the happiness and progress of man de-
pend on the extent of the territory
over which those who govern him ex-
ercise power, or on the extent of the
individual liberty enjoyed by the gov
ernedH Are the inhabitants of SWitZer-
land less happy than if they were alb
sorbed by France or by Germany
Would the inhabitants of the free cities
of Hamburger and Bremen be happier
and more prosperous if they were an
nexed to Prussia? Would the people
of the United States have been less
prosperous or happy had Louisiana,
and Florida, and Texas, and California
never been annexed? Is not the de.
sire to belong to great and powerful
nation an error inherited from despo-
tism, which invariably seeks to rule
over extended, rather than over con-
tracted, territory In what manner is
an individual benefited by being
member of a large rather than of a
small State, except so long as brute
force rules, and the natural rights of
man are disregsrded2 Would not the
loyal States. by themselves, have pos
sessed ample power to defend them
selves against the aggressions of others?
The fact is that human laws are per-
fectly unbearable when made to act
far beyond the locality whence they
emanate, because they then generally
encounter different circumstances from
those which they were intended to
meet or control. The Federal Govern
ment will be endurable only so long IS
it does not attempt to exercise the or
binary functions of government, but
limits itself to the administration of our
foreign relations, to the maintenance of
free trade and free intercourse between
the various States of the Union; and
to the dispensation of equal justice to
the inhabitants of all the States. The
absorption of power by the Federal Gov
eminent is not only dangerous to the
liberties of the people, but it is equally
dangerous to the existence Of the Fed
eral Government itself We believe
that the centralization of power which
the war has produced will create a
dozen causes for the disruption of the
Union in the place of every one which
existed before the war. The only dis
sensions which have ever existed be-
tween the States have been those pro
duced by the Intervention of the Fed
eral Government with local interests,
through the creation of banks, the i'm
position of protective duties for the
supposed benefit of local interests; ex-
penditures on works of internal i'm
proVements, beneficial only TO limited
localities and legislation on the subject
of slavery. Whatever be the value of
the Union to the people of the United
States, it may be purchased too dearly,
and every one who desires its main
tenance, should vigilantly seek to limit
the Federal Government to the eXer-
else of the powers clearly delegated to
it by the Constitution, and which do
not interfere with local government,
which alone should act on the interests
of the individual members of the
States -NelO York Com AdU.