The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1866-09-01

3
/ the soil Of the Southern States, limited only
! by our own Constitution Our laws were
the only national laws In force upon it The
! Government of the United States was the
only Government through which those States
and their people had relations with foreign
nations, and its flag was the only flag by
which they were recognized or known any
where on the face Of the earth. In all these
respects, and in all other respects involving
national interests and rights, our possession
was perfect and complete. 1t did not need
to be acquired, but only to be maintained
and victorious war against the Rebellion
could do nothing more than maintain it 1t
could only vIndicate and re-establish the dis
puted supremacy Of the Constitution. 1t
could neither enlarge nor diminish the au-
! thOrity which that Constitution confers upon
! the Government by which it was achieved.
Such an enlargement or abridgment of con-
stitutional power can be effected only by
amendment of the Constitution itself and
| such amendment can be made only in the
modes which the Constitution itself pre-
/ scribes The claim that the suppression Of
/ an insurrectiOn against the Government gives.
| additional authority and power to that Gov
! ernment, especially that it enlarges the jur-
/ isdiction of Congress, and gives that body
! the right to exclude States from representa-
ton in the national councils, without which
! the nation itself can have no authority and
! no existence, seems to US at variance alike
| with the principles of the Constitution and
| with the public safety
! Third: But it Is alleged that in certain
particulars the Constitution of the United
States fails to secure the absolute justice and
! impartial equality which the principles Of
| our Government require that it was in these
respects the result of compromises and con
| cessions to which, however necessary when
/ the Constitution was formed, we are no lon
! ger compelled to submit and that now, haY-
| ing the power through successful war and
! just warrant for Its exercise in the hostile
! conduct Of the insurgent section, the actual
! Government Of the United States may i'm
| pose its own conditions, and make the Con-
/ stitutiOn conform in all its provisions to Its
! own ideas Of equality and the rights Of man.
! Congress, at its last session, proposed amend
ments to the Constitution, enlarging in some
very important particulars the authority of
! the General Government over that of the sew
eral States, and reducing, by indirect dis
| reimbursement, the representative power of
! the States In which slavery formerly existed
/ and 1t Is claimed that these amendments may
] be made valid as parts of the original Con-
| stitutiOn without the concurrence Of the
/ States to be most seriously affected by them,
or may be imposed upon those States by
! three-fourths of the remaining States as con-
! dltIOns of their re-admission to representa-
| tiOn in Congress and in the Electoral Col
| lege 1t is the unquestiOnable right of the
people of the United States to make such
! changes In the Constitution as they, upon
/ due deliberation, may deem expedient But
we insist that they shall be made in the mode
which the Constitution itself points out-in
! conformity with the letter and spirit Of that
| instrument, and with the principles of self
! government and Of equal rights which lie at
! the base of our republican institutions
! We deny. the right Of Congress to make
these changes in the fundamental law, with
| out the concurrence of three fourths of all
| the States including especially those to be
most seriously affected by them; or to impose
| them upon States or people, as conditions Of
representation, or Of admission to any Of the
| rights, duties or obligations which belong
| under the Constitution to all the States alike.
And with still greater emphasis do we deny
! the right of any portion Of the States, ex-
| cluding the rest of the States from any share
in their councils, to propose or sanction
| changes in the Constitution which are to eff
fe ct permanently their political relations and
| control or cOerce the legitimate action of the
several members of the common Union
| Such an exercise of power Is simply q usUr-
| patton; Just as unwarrantable when exer-
| cised by Northern States as it would be If
exercised by Southern, and not to be forfeit
ed or palliated by anything in the past his
tory either of those by whom it is attempted,
| or of those upon whose rights and liberties
| it is to take effect. 1t finds no warrant in
| the Constitution. 1t is at war with the fun
damental principles of our form of govern
ment If tolerated in one instance it be-
-comes the precedent for future invasiOns of
liberty and Constitutional right dependent
! solely upon the will of the party In power,
and thus leads, by direct and necessary Sc
quence, to the most fatal and intolerable of
all tyrannies-the tyranny of shifting and
| irresponsible political factions 1t is against
this, the most formidable of all the dangers
which menace the stability Of free govern
ment, that the Constitution of the United
States was intended most carefully 70 pro-
| vide. We demand a strict and steadfast ad-
herence to its provisions. In this and in this
alone can we find a basis Of permanent Union
and peace.
Fourth: But it is alleged, in justification
of the usurpatiOn which we condemn, that
the condition of the Southern States and
people is not such as renders safe their re-
admission to a share in the government Of
the country; that they are still dislOyal in
sentiment and purpose, and that neither the
honor, the credit, nor the interests of the
nation would be safe if they were readmit
ted to a share in its councils. We might re-
ply to this;
l. That we have no right, for such rea-
oOAiSj " OOAAJ W any HA OO u btAD AuellSS VI
people, rights expressly conferred upon them
by the Constitution of the United States.
2 That so long as their acts are those of
loyalty-so long as they conform in all their
public conduct to the requirements Of the
Constitution and laws-we have no right to
exact from them conformity IN their senti-
ments and opinions to our own.
3. That we have no right to distrust the
purpose or the ability Of the people Of the
Union to protect and defend under ali con-
tingencies and by whatever means may be
required, its honor and its welfare
These would, in our judgment, be full and
conclusive answers to the plea thus ad-
vanced for the exclusion of these States from
the Union. But we say further, that this
plea rests upon a complete misapprehensien
or an unjust peryersion of existing facts.
We do not hesitate to affirm that there is
no section of the country where the Consti-
tuition and laws of the United States find a
} marc rroT1pf and entire obadiar,ao than