The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1866-05-30

are the antagonlstlc elements which accelera- |
ted the late civil war, though in the nature
Of things it was, perhaps, mere question OF
for the integrity Of territory and unity Of ma
tional power under the banner of the Union,
without regard to slavery, except a. it enter
Cd as a mill ary element in the contest
while the evfreme par y would always have
preferred the dissolu ION of the I'm On to its
restoration without slavery elimir ated, and
are now trying to force their pc altar dog
mas q the country as genuine Unionism.
Chief Juet.ce Chase, their great leader,
toge'h her vita Greeley, ii is kr,wn advise
rather than to resort to armed coercion, which |
was in violation of the g ate rights theory he |
had preached all his life, from the case q |
Jones vs.. Van Zant, in McLean's Reports, in |
1912, to the celebrated Obsrlin fugitive slave |
rescue cases, ex-parte Bushnell, ex parte |
Langston, in 1889, reported in Ninth Ohio
State Reports, when, as governor of Ohio,
| through the attorney general, G. P. Wolcott,
| he prosecuted q writ of habeas corpus to re.
lease prisoners convicted of violation Of the
| fugitive slave law, from the Cleveland jail,
| and openly declared that he would sustain
| by force the decision Of the supreme court of
| against that of the supreme court of the Uait.
| ed States, even if 1t resulted in . collision
with the general government-the full blown
Calhoun doctrine of notification No won
der Chief Justice Chase 10 now 10th to try
JEFF Davis for carrying this doctrine into
practical operation on a magnificent scale.
To understand fully why the chief Justice
touches the subject of Davis trial SO gingerly,
it is we'll to examine his record as governor
of Ohio in the Oberln cases. The writ of ha
beas corpus had been made returnable before
| all the judges. In Columbus, on the 25th Of
May, 1859. The day previous, May "a, an
immense convention assembled at Cleveland,
where portion of the prisoners had been
I confined In Jail, evidently for the purpose of
Influencing the decision of the court, as
Judge Swans nomination was then pending
before the approaching state convention
''Sons of Liberty" with infamatory banners
and devices, were on hand. and Giddings,
the presiding genius, advocated tearing down
the Jail, from the yard of which the prisoners
D addressed the crowd, but Gov Chase, more
prudent preferred to engineer the difficulty
into an organized conflict, in the name O
state rights. as Will appear by the following
spee3h, made at the meeting, and reported II
the Cleveland Herald, May 25, 1859:
81 do not wish to say, nor is it proper for you t
say, what the decision of our court should be IN
the case. That is lett to the court themselves u
o. determined is a matter between them, the PEG
ne pie, and God. will only say what | have Ire
IT quently said before, that as long as the state
f chief executive the process OF her courts shall b
=, executed. The process OF the United States cour
INA must not be sighted resisted, but so long as
II represent the sovereignty of our state Will sc
that the OF stats courts snail not De III
of terfered with, but will be fully enforced. -"
rs When am called upon to act, VIII act; I'm
tn mense aPpause.) In concluding, ne ma
not given utterance to all he he wished TO say, bu
Va what he had said he willing to live by and d
~ by.''
az John Langston. a colored man was the
3. called to the stand, aud proclaimed to the ex
cited crowd:
n, exhaust the law first for these men bat if tn
n fail, TOR Gods sake fall back upon your natur
al rights, and say the prison walls, Come down
:, aud set these men at liberty
q These speeches and proceedings wsrs re
or published by the OHIO State Journal, til
IT Chase organ, on May 26, 1859, with approbs
!, ton, for effect on the supreme court OF Ohl
II. before whom the cas- es were then arguing
"a the capitol, and If it's editorial of May 2
nv 1859, il said:
mr. NA- for the carping criticism of Gov. Chase, v
70 need only say he simply declared his determinatio
do his duty executive OF the state OF ohlo, VI
o To see the judgement of the supreme court exect
ed ted We have no d, Ibt he viii make good h
&c, word whenever the occasion may present ITSELF
,rs But if a collision is to take place,
lot | can saw with our contemporary, let 1t come, ar
-, woe be to those who have forced 1t upon the on
-, ragged people of Ohio.''
~. Such were the means taken to educate IL
n peopls up" to backing Gov. Chase IN a Co
NJ, templated armed resistance to the tedsr
.v government in regard to the execution OF
%, law that had been held to be C Institution
in by eve-y department of the government fro
its organization, and the governor repeated
;a1 declared. in conversation to a former la
tba partner of Chief Justice Swan, and 9th
10. prominent citizens of Columbus, Ohio, th
cIs he would, if necessary, resist the federal GO
of eminent by force, if the court released tt
.vs | prisoners and Col. Darlington, now OF &
40, 18th infantry the then adjutant general
~ the state. if examined under oath, wou
ga. doubtless make some rich revelations as
no the collection of arms and intention OF hol
tar ing the militia in readiness.
as On the 25th of May the case came on
s.;- argument, A. G. Riddle for the REALTORS. a
an. Attorney General c. P. Wolcott appearing
"a behalf of the state of Ohio, insisting that
~ REALTORS be discharged, COL N. II. Swayr
~ now of the supreme court of the United Stat
for and g. f Belden, district attorney for
limited States. Gov. Chase sat in the COL
20 room during the delivery of Attorney Gem
Iar. oil Wolcott's argument, in the preparation
ftsx which he was understood largely to have p'
on ticipated. By examining the Ninth Vi
W. State Reports, pp. 81 to 49, one can find I
'' Calhoun state rights theory fully set for
As a refreshing specimen, for the benefit
, srn those radicals who now insist that congr
yng possesses the same uni"isoo powoi 3e
cas- British parliment take the following
CUNT example:
DC ssBut again the right of the state to inquire
the 70 oe ..' ,nv nowar-bs II at,
~ | national or foreign-stlnds on even hrmer ba
for it results from the very nature of sovereig
itself The first and chief characteristic OF
Tue sovereignty it's right to the allegiance and sc
e rIuh
hose 'ee % - - ~ -. e. ~, ,bje IL. very exis,an
nee in war or peace, continually depends.
- | ANY nation that has wholly surrendered the a
nc glance citizens or its correlatIvc Incide
right protect them while IN its territorial LII
has in that very TACT abnegated every attribute
the sovereignty, aud become the local dependence
ming the power to which thai allegiance and right
de- been surrendered. But OhIo thank God, Is SIT
nm sovereign state, and has therefore never ylel
- this right--as she never could yield lt-and
'noy preserves her sovereignty to the federal any
ftial er government. For it will not be 81
uced toned that the general guardianship of the cit
isc nad nj to the federal Government. bu