The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1866-08-23

own rulers until they shall comply WIN suen
conditions and perform such acts as tnIs sel1,
gress thus composed may itself prescLlp -.
That right has not only been Ass $3.50. :,
forced at the present time. Nor does II ma
any support in the theory that the states
tbys arcluded are in rebellion against the
Govarnment. and are therefore precluded
from sharing its authority Fhey are not
thus in rebellion. They are one and all IN
an attitude ofloyalty toward the Government
and of sworn allegiance to the Constitution
Of tbe limited States In no one of them is
there the slightest Indication of resistance to
this authority, OF the slightest protest against
it's lust and binding obligation. This condl-
ton of renewed loyalty has been ofhclally
recognized by solemn proclamation OF the EX-
ecutive Department. The laws of the Uni
ted States have been extended by Congress
over all these States and the people Thereon.
Federal Courts have been reopened, and FED
eral taxes imposed and levied. And IN every
resnect except that they are denied represen-
tation in Congress 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 same duties Us
the other States ofour common Union.
It seems to us, in the exercise of the calm
est and most candid judgment we can bring
to the subject, that such claim, so enforced
involves as fatal an overthrow OF the author
ity-of the Constitution, and as complete
destruction of the Government and Union, as
that which was sought to be effected by the
States and people in armed instruction
against them both 1t cannot escape obser-
walton, that the power thus asserted to ex-
clude certain States from representation, IS
made to rest wholly in the will and dlscre-
ton of the Congress that asserts 1T. 1t is not
made to depend upon any speclhed condl-
lions or circumstances, nor to be subject TO
any rules or regulations whatever. The right
asserted and exercised is absolute, without
Qualification or restriction, not confined to
States in rebellion, nor to States that have
rebelled it is the right of any Congress In
formal possession of legislative authority, to
exclude any State or States, and any portion
of the people thereof, at any time, from rep
resentation in Congress and in the Electoral
College, at its own discretion and until they
shall perform such acts and comply with
such conditions as it may dictate. Obvious
ly, the reasons for such exclusion, being Who'll
" within the discretion of Congress, may
change as the Congress itself shall change
One Congress may exclude State from all
share in the Government for one reason and,
that reason removed, the next Congress may
exclude it for another. One State may be
excluded on one ground to day, and another
NAV be excluded on the opposite ground to-
morrow Northern ascendency may exclude
Southern States from one Congress-the as
tendency of Western or of Southern interests
or of both combined, may exclude the Nor
them or the Eastern States from the next
improbable as such usurpations may seem,
the establishment of the principle now assert
ed and acted upon by Congress will render
them by no means impossible. The charac-
ter, indeed the very existence of Congress
and the Union is thus made dependent sole
ly and entirely upon the party and sectional
exigencies or Performances of the hour
We need not stop to show that such action
not only finds no warrant in the Constitution
but is at war with every principle of our
Government and with the very existence of
= free institutions. 1t is. indeed, the identical
practice which has rendered fruitless all at
tempts hitherto to establish and maintain
free governments in Mexico and the States of
South America. Party necessities assert
themselves as superior to the fundamental
law, which is set aside in reckless obedience
to their behests. Stability, whether in the
exercise of power, in the administration of
government, or in the enjoyment of rights,
becomes impossible; and the conflicts of par
ty, which, under constitutional governments,
are the conditions and means ofpolitical pro-
gress, are merged in the conflicts of arms to
which they directly and inevitably tend.
1t was against this peril, so CONSPICUOUS
and so fatal to all free governments, that our
Constitution was intended especially, to pro-
vide. Not only the stability, but the very
existence of the Government is made by its
provisions to depend upon the right and the
fact of representation. The Congress, upon
which is conferred all the legislative power
of the National Government, consists of two
branches, the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives, whose joint concurrence or assent is
essential to the validity of any law. OF
these, the House of Representatives., says the |
Constitution, (article 1, section g. 'shall be |
composed of members chosen every second |
year by the people of the several States" |
Not only is the right of representation thus |
recognized as possessed by all the States, and |
by every State without restriction, qualifca-
ton or condition of any kind, but the duty |
of choosing representatives is imposed upon
the people of each and every State alike, |
without distinction, or the authority to make
distinctions among them for any reason or
upon any grounds whatever. And in the
Senate, SO careful is the Constitution to Sc
cure to every State this right of representa-
ton, it is expressly provided that mo State
shall without its consent, be deprived of its
equal suffrage" In that body, even by an
amendment of the Constitution ITSELF
When, therefore, any State is excluded from
such representation, not only is right of the
State denied, but the Constitutional integrity
of the Senate is impaired, and the validity
of the Government itself is brought in ques-
ton. But Congress at the present moment
thus excludes from representation, in both
branches of Congress. ten States of the On
ion, denying them all share in the enactment
of laws by which they are to be governed,
and all participation in the election of the
rulers by which those law are to be enforced |
In other words, Congress in which only
twenty-six States are represented, asserts the |
right to govern, absolutely and its own dis
erection all the thirty-six States which COM
pose the Union-to make their laws and |
choose their rulers, and to exclude the other |
tenfrom all share in their own government
until it sees fit to admit them thereto. What |
is there to distinguish the power thus assert
ed and exercised from the most absolute and
intolerable tyranny?
". Nor do these extravagant and unjust
claims on the part of Congress to powers and
authority never conferred upon the Govern
ment by the Constitution find any warrant in
the arguments or excuses urged on their be-
half It is alleged,
First, That these States by the act of re-
bellion and by voluntarily withdrawing