The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-08-21

half Of one department OF the General Govern
ment. It has been proclaimed ny Congress tha'
in udditi N to the powers conferred upon L Dy ch
Constitution, the Federal Government may nos Nv
claim over the states the te rtory ana the Peop'
involved in the insurrection, the rights u war a
the right of conquest and OF connscation: s.i VII
rip ht to abrogate Ill existing Governments, ls.i
tutions and laws, and to subject the
quered and its inhabitants to sucn iaws = It,
tions and depriyations as the leglestlt.e ;n,pose
Under this broad and epipg claim, tnav 'o State
of the Constitution which provides thae ito enna
shall, without it's consent, be deprlyJea as has
suffrage in the Senate OF the Unteo rafinaad
oeen apnueu, yaed ranreeen atom altogether in
snu aiu hrencbes e,l og The Federal Congress- Ano
.So uoeh nonarass in which only part OF tne
states and Of the people VI tIe onpn 1--we - ~
represented has asserleu naA,oanpta VIC t;on and
axplnde the rest from represe;nta.aon' ,ama ama
1917 oil ahare in making their own 4 laws
lloI oa;no their own rulers until they shall com
u anoh conditions and perform such acts as
th;;s Congress thus composed may ltseli Pr
snrbe. snri That right has not only been asserted,
,t 4 has been exercised, and is practically en-
fnrcad at the present tine Nor does it tind any
aunnort in the theory that the States thus ex-
oiuded are in rebellion against the governments
and are, therefore, preoluded from sharlng G ies
authority, They are not thus in rebellion. Thty
are one and all, in an attitude of loyalty toward
the Government, and OF sworn allegiance to the
Conatitu ion of the United States. LII no one OF
them is there the slightest indication OF res1st.
ance to this authority, or the slightest protest
against its just and binding obligation This
c6ndiion of renewed loyalty has been officially
recognized by solemn proclama ion Of the Execu-
tive Department.. The laws OF the United s. S'ates
have been extended by Congress over all these
States aud the people thereof. Federal Courts
have heen reopened and Federal taxes imposed
and levied, and in every respect, except that they
are denied representation in Congles and the
Electoral College, the States once in rebellion are
recognized as holding the same position, as
owing the same obligations and subject to the
mo duties as the other States OF our common
Union. .5oz,,.,...
and most candid Judgment we can bring to the
subject that such claim, 30 enforced, involves az
fatal an overthrow Of the authority OF the Constl'
tntiop. and as complete destruction OF the GOVERN
ment and Upion, as that which was sought to be ef
fected by the States and people in armed insured
ton against then1>both. 1tcannot escape cbserva.
States from representation is made torest wholly in
the will and discretion Of the Congress that as
serts it, It is not made to depend upon any spe'
cited conditions or circumstances, nor to Ee SUP
iect to any rules or regulatioes whatever. The
right asserted and exercised is absolute, without
nnafica ion or restriction, not confined to States
in reheion nor to States that have rebelled 1T IL
the right of any Congress in formal possession o
legislative authority to exclude any state OF
States, and any portion Of the people Thereon, 81
in the Electoral College, at it's own discretion and
until they shall perform such acts and employ
with such conditions as it may dictate. Obviously,
the reasons for such exclusion, being wholly within
the discretion OF Congress-, may ohange as the
Congress itself shall change One Congress may
exclude State from ell share IN the doVefnment s
for one reason; and that reason removed, the mex
Congress may exclude it for another. One state
NAV be excluded on one ground to-day, and
another may be excluded on the opposite ground
| tomorrow. Northern asoendancy may exclude
! Southern States from one Congress-; the ascend.
both combined, may exclude the Northern or the
Eastern States from the next. improbable az
such usurpations may seem, the establishment Of
the principle now asserted and acted upon by
Congress will render them by no means impossi.
BILE. The character, indeed the very existence. Of
Congress and the Union is thus made dependent
solely and entirely upon the party and sectional
exigenoies or f0rbearanoes of the hour.
We need not stop to show that such. action not
only finds no warrant In the CONSTITUTIONS but II
at war with every principle OF our Government
and with the very existence OF FREQ institutions
u is indeed, tho Identical practice which has ron
dered frntless all attompts hitherto to establish
and maintain froe governments ia MoxiSo ana ttie
STATES ol South America, Party necessities asser
! themselves as superior to the funda,nontal :, law
behests. Stability, whether in the exercise o
power, in the administration of government, or In
the endowment Of rights, becomes lmpossible; anC
the conflicts of party which, under constitutions
governments, are the conditions and means OF po
| litical progress are merged IN the conhlots Q
arms to which they directly and inevitably tend
z 1t was against this peril, so conspicuous and st
fatal to alfree governments that our Constitution
was intended especially to provide Mt only the
stability, but the very existence OF the Govern
ment is made by it's provisions to depend upon
Che right and the fact of representation. The
Congress, upon which is conferred all the legisa.
tive power OF the National Government, consists
of two branches, the Senate and House OF Repre-
sentatives, whose joint concurrence or assent II
essential to the validity of any law. OF these the
House OF Representatives, says the Constitution
(artice /, section 2), .'shall be composed Of mem
b.rsschosen every second year by the people Of
the several States" Not only is the right OF rep.
resentaton thus recognized % possessed by all
the States and by every State without restriction
qualification or condition Of any kind, but the duty
OF choosing representatives is Imposed upon the
people OF each and every Stat, alike without
distinction, or the authority to made distinc.
tons among them, for any reason or upon any
grounds whatever. And in the Senate, 30 careful
is the Constitution to secure to every State this
right OF representation, it is expressly provided
that sno State shall, without it's consent, be
deprived of its equal suffrage" in that body, even
When, therefore, any State is excluded from puoh
Representation, not only is a right OF the State
deuied, but the constitutional integrity of the
Senate is impaired, and the validity OF the Gov
ernment itself is brought in question:. But Con.
gress at the present moment thus excludes from
representation, in both br.nchts OF O'ngress,
ten tates OF the Union, denying them al share iu
the enactment OF laws by which they are to be
governed and all participation in tile election oi
the rulers by which those laws are to be enforced.