The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-02-08
COLUMBIA.
Thursday Morning, February 8, 1856.
Can it be Ratified3

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Can it be Ratifeds
The New York World, in speaking
of the constitutional amendment
passed by the radicals in the House
of Representatives, the other day,
saws there are fifteen States which are
certain to reject it, which they will
do with more decision, by the know
ledge that the President will approve
their action, and it only requires the
failure of ten States to ratify, to
defeat any amendment.
The World says that these States
would be fully justified in rejecting
it, without assigning any reasons. The
Constitution gives them perfect free
dom of action in relation to amend
ments; and by making so large a
number as three -fourths necessary for
their adoption, it demonstrates its
intention to render amendments not
easy but difficult. The circumstances
under which this particular amend
ment is proposed, makes it all insult
to the States whose representation it
seeks to abridge. If the number of
their Representatives could be consti-
tutionally cut down, no amendment
would be necessary; so that the very
fact of proposing it is confession
that they are now both entitled to
representatives and to the full num-
Der corresponding to their proper
tionate population as returned by the
census. To deprive them of an ac
knowledged constitutional right until
they will consent either to surrender
part of it, or to recover it by de-
grading concessions, is such a bare
faced .affront, that if the Southern
States were liable to be questioned
for their rejection of the proposed
amendment, this reason would be
sufficient. IF they are now entitled
to representatives, as the amendment
tacitly acknowledges, (since it would
be otherwise needless they are just
as much entitled to voice in Con-
gress on the question of its submis-
sion, as any of the States whose repre-
sentatives have voted on it. But had
the representative been present, to
which the eleven excluded States are
confessedly entitled, the amendment
could not have passed the House. AS
it was. its friends had only aine votes
to spare; and those States are, by an
existing Act of Congress, passed in
1862 and never repealed, entitled to
.Jy1y-eight. So that if the conceded
rights of those States were recog-
nized, no such amendment could be
submitted. In requiring two-thirds
of both Houses to propose amend
ments, the Constitution undoubtedly
intended two-thirds of the members
who might be present when all the
States entitled to representative were
permitted to have them.
We believe with the World, that
even Thad. Stevens himself has no
expectation that driving this amend
ment through Congress will subserve
any other purpose than procrastina-
ton. By contending that only nine
teen States are necessary for its rati-
fication, he divulges his belief that
three-fourths Of the whole number
will not ratify; and he knows the
President too well to suppose that the
ratification of nineteen will ever be
recognized as sufficient. The whole
purpose of the party would appear
simply to be the preventing the South
from participating in the legislation
Of Congress for the time being, or
until after the Presidential election.
The Camden Journal announces
the death of Angus McCasken. an
old and respected citizen Of Kershaw