Columbia democrat and star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1867, 1866-09-05
The Resolutions of 'o8 Still the
creed of the DemocracYA


Nothing is more common than to hear the
immortal Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
OF 179S denounced as the g parents of the
heresy of secession. " And yet it is histori-
cal truth that these resolutions were the
creed of the Democracy from 1898 until 1861.
1t is true that these resolutions declare that
The several States which comprise the
United States, are nHt. united on the princi-
pie of unlimited suizhission to the General
Government
That whensoever the General Government
assumes undelegated powers, its acts are un-
authoritative, void and of no force.
That each State has an equal right to judge
for itself, as well of infractions as of the
mode of redress. That the powers of the
Federal Government are no further valid
than they are authorized by the grants in
the compact, and that In case of deliber-
ate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of
powers not granted, the States have the
right, and are In duty bound, to interpose
for arresting the progress of the evil, and
for maintaining, within their respective linn
its, the authorities, rights and liberties, ap-
pertaining to them.
There can be no misunderstanding the i'm
port of this language. 1t, in direct terms,
asserts that each State is the Judge of the
violations of its rights, and may decide, for
Itself, what Its mode of redress shall be- 1t
Is for it to say whether it will remain in
company with aggressive, unfriendly and
oppressive companions. 1t is for each State
to decide for itself whether it will be held
to compact violated and broken by the other
parties to it. That is the doctrine of the
Revolution of '9S. For 63 ye2rs the Demo
cratic party and the whole country, sub
scribed to the wisdom and truth of this doc
md nf lD,,lo-
It's PRONUNCIATION than the leaders of the
Black Republican party In debate in the
Senate of the United States, February 2Oth,
1855, Senator Wilson, Of Massachusetts,,
said
Il recognize the doctrine of State Rights
in its application to slavery as well as to
matters of public concern. will stand side
by side with my Democratic friends in vindi-
cation of the Virginia and Kentucky Reso-
lutions Of l79S-'99, which they have en-
dorsed.'
In the same debate, Senator Wade said:-
Il am one of those who at all times be-
lieve in the wisdom, the constitutionality, and
the propriety of the Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions Of l79S-99. l ground myself
upon these resolutions, and standing upon
them, | denounce this bill as violation not
only Of the spirit of these resolutions, but
as an attempt to trample upon the rights of
the States. y
Again he said: =
"Who is to be the Judge of the violations
of the Constitution Of the United States by
the enactment of the law2 Who is to be
the final arbiter-the General Government
or the States in their sovereignty? Why,
sirs, to yield that point is to yield up all the
rights Of the States, and to consolidate this
Government into general despotism. F."
The reader will find these speeches in the
Appendix to Congressional Globe, vol 81,
2nd session of the SD Congress, page 533.
In the subsequent Congress, Senator
Wade, in the ablest and most studied speeches
of his life, said =
But Southern gentlemen stand here, and
in almost all their speeches speak of the dis
solution of the Union as an element of every
argument, as though it were e peculiar con-
descension on their part that they permitted
the Union to stand at all. If they do not
feel interested in upholding this Union-if it
really trenches on their rights-if it endan-
gers their Institutions to such an extent that
they cannot feel secure under tiff their in
tercsts are violently assailed by means of the
Union-I am not one of those who expect
that they will long continue under it. l am
not one of those who would ask them to
continue in such Union. 1t would be do
ing violence to the platform of the party to
which | belong. We have adopted the old
Declaration Of Independence as the basis of
our political movement, which declares that
any people, when their Government ceases
to protect their rights, when it is so subvert-
ed from the true purpose of government as
to oppress them, have the right to recur to
fundamental principles, and if need be, to
destroy the Government under which they
live, and to erect on Its ruins another more
conducive to their welfare. [ hold that they
have this right. | viii not blame any people
for exercising it, whenever they think the
contingency has come. l certainly shall be
the advocate Of that same doctrine whenever
l lind that the principles Of this Govern
ment have become so oppressive to the sec
ton to which ! belong, that free people
ought not endure it. You will not then find
me backward in being the advocate of dis
union. l hope the Union will continue for
ever. L see nothing at present which think
should dissolve it; but if the gentlemen see
it, l say again that they have the same in
tercst in maintaining this Union, in my iudg-
ment, that we of the North have. If they
think they have not, be it So You cannot
forcibly hold men in this Union; for the at
tempt to do so, it seems to me, would sub
vert all the principles OF the Government
under which we live
Neither Mr. Seward nor any other Repub-
lican member of Congress raised note of
objection to this doctrine Nobody objected
to it. 1t was the acknowledged opinion of
all the statesmen in the country Of all par
ties Now behold the change For having
honestly, and, as he believed, patrioticalIy
acted up to these precise principles, Wilson
and Wade now want to hang jefferson Davis
For doing what these men said they would
do, what they said all had clear right to
do, they now propose to murder Mr. Davis
But there stand the Resolutions Of '9S; and
there they will stand, the everlasting monu-
ment Of the wisdom and patriotism of the
founders of our Government, and perpet-
ual rebuke to the degeneracy, hypocrisy and