The tri-weekly news. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1865-1876, 1866-04-26
Notes on the Constitution of The United
States.
BY d. b. M'oREIGHTsg Ey q
NO. A. htH S.

"zen Of the United States, and who shall
mot, when elected, be Ah iinhabitant Of
chat State in whichhe slull be chosen ~
There are three points in this clause
worthy Of consideration. l. The age
of the representative. This secures the
Office against novces. n man must be
man for a. that which the position re-
auires of him. 2. His citizenship. "A
residence Of seven years is supposed to
identify citizen Of tho United States
with the welfare OF the States. 8. His
habitaton in the State electing him.
Mark tho distinction between "citizeh",
and "inhabitant." The first enjoys the.
immunities, the privileges and the free.
dom of the whole Union. But the, sec
ond, in addition to all these, enjoys pc.
culiar rights in his native or adopted
State and by his State is meant that
one in which the representative has,
holds or keeps himself SO while the
Citizen may have the interests Of the
whole Union at heart, the "inhabitant'
has particularly at heart the interests Of
his own State. .,I...
There is evidently marked dstinc.
tion sustained in this clause between. a
General Government and State Gov.
ernment. rs,,.sg g.rEA..b
CLAUSE Sd. Representatives and
''direct taxes shall be apportioacd
among the several States which may
zoe included within this Union, accord
ing to their respective numbers, which
"shall be determined by ad ling to the
''wholc number of free persons, including
"those bound to service for term Of
wears, and excluding Indians not tax.
"ed, three fi(ths of all other persons"
"&c. 1 .,.-.
AS this clause is quite long, and the
remaining portion of it specifies how,
and upon what, such "apportionment"
shall be based, only the substance will
be given. 80
The first enumeration was to be made
three years after the first meeting of
Congress under this Constitution, and
"within every subsequent term of ten
years" This is why the census is taken
every decade. This clause also assigns
each State its quota Of representation
for those first three years.
Our foreiathcrs in framing a Consttu.
tion were particular to make representa-
ton and taxation proportional. One of
the stern charges in the immortal Decla.
ration was "for imposing taxes on! US
without our CONSENT"
Observe the classes Of persons EN-.
braced in the enumeration. "All free
persons" all persons "bound to service
for term of years, and "three ffths of
all other persons" The only excluded
clase being nntaxed Indians. This
clause of our Constitution presents
strange anomaly. Do not forget that
four months wero taken mp in building
up that grand old charter of liberty
And no part of it shows moro plainly
the antagonistic principles at play in its
formation than this clause taken in con.
nection with another subsequent one
which will be noticed in proper order
Here is body of wise men who had
scarcely recovered from the effects Of
the scorching flames of war, and that
war fought upon the principle Of inll
and equal rights to every man represen.
tated IN Government 'No representa-.
tion, no taxation" was the war,cry.
Should not the rule work both ways /?
"No taxation, no representation" But
hero hree.fourths Of two classes are