Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1866-03-02

there was one other adopted Said l. what
is that hIr President? Said he, Il have Ia
bored to preserve this Union; | have toiled
four years Ihave been subjected to calumny
and misrepresentation, yet my great desire
has been to preserve thesUnion of these States
intact, under the Congtatution as they were
before" But, said /, ssMr. President, what
amendment do you refer top lie said he
Thought there should be an amendment added
to the Constitution which would compel all
the States to send then Senators and Repre-
sentatives to the Congress Of the United
States. Yes. compel them. The idea was
in his mind that it is part Of the doctrine
of secession to break up the Government by
States Withdrawing their Senators and Rep
resentatives from Congress, and, therefore,
he desired constitutional amendment to COM
pei them to be sent. How now does the
matter stand? In the Constitution of the
country, even that portion of it which pro-
vides for the amendment of the organic law
says that no State, witheut its consent, shall
be deprived of its representation. And row
what do we find Wesfnd the position taken
that the States shall not be represented, that
we may impose taxes, that we may send our
tax gatherers to every region and portion of
a State, that the people are to be oppressed
with taxes, but when they come here to par
ticipate in the Legislation of the country, they
are met at the door and told enc; you must
pay taxes, you must bear the burdens of the
government, but you must not participate IN
the Legislation of the country, which is to af-
feet you for all time" Is this just? [''No,
no." Then I say let US admit into the coun-
ellis of the nation those who are unmistaka-
bly, and unquestionably loyal; those men vino
acknowledge their allegiance to the govern
ment, and swear to support the Constitution.
It is all embraced in that The amplifca-
ton Of an oath makes no difference if a man
is not loyal: but YOU may adopt whatever
test oath you choose to prove their loyalty
that is matter of detail for which care
nothing-let him he unquestionably loyal,
owning his allegiance to the Government,
and willing to support it in the hour of peril
and Of need, and | am willing to trust them.
[ know that some do not attach SO much i'm
portance to this principle as do, but one
principle we carried through the Revolution
was that there should be no taxation without
representation. hold to that principle laid
down as fundamental by our fathers. IF it
was good then, it is good now. If it was a
rule to stand by then, it is a rule to stand by
now It is a fundamental principle that
should be adhered to as long as free Govern
ment lasts.
know it was said by sosnc daring the re-
bellion that our Constitution had been rolled
up as apiece of parchment, and laid away !;
that in the time of war and rebellion there
was no Constitution. Well, we know that
sometimes from the very great necessity of
the case, from q great emergency, we must
do unconstitutional things in order to pre-
serve the Constitution itself. But, if while
the rebellion WAS going on the Constitution
was rolled up as parchment; if it was VIC
lated in some particulars to save the Govern
ment, there may have been some excuse to
justify it. But now that peace has come
now the war is over, we want a written Con-
stitution; and say the time has come to
take the Constitution down, unroll it, re-read
it, and understand it's provisions. Now, if
you have saved the Government by violating
the Constitution in war, you can only save it
in peace by preserving the Constitution, and
| the only way to- preserve it is by strict ad-
herence to the Constitution Of our fathers as
it is now unfolded 1t must now be read
and understood by the American people. =
come here to-day, as far as ! can, in
making these remarks, to indicate the Con-
stitution and to save it, for it does seem to
me that encroachmcnt after encroachment is
proposed. ] stand to-day prepared SO far as
| can to resist these encroachments upon the
we have peace, let us enforce the Constitu-
tution let us live under and by its provi-
sions let it be published let it be printed
in blazing characters, as if it were in the
heavens, punctuatcd with stars, that all may
read and understand; let us consult that in
strumcnt; let Us digest its provisions, under
stand them, and, understanding. abide by
them. | tell the opponents Of this Govern
ment, q care not from what quarter they
come, whether from the East, West, North,
or South, } you who are engaged in the work
Of breaking up the Government by amend
ments to the Constitution, that the principles
of free government are deeply rooted in the
American heart. AL the powers combined,
| care not Of what character they are, can
cannot destroy that great instrument that
great chart Of freedom.
They may seem to succeed for time, but
their attempts will be futile. They might
as well undertake to lock up the winds or
chain the waves of the ocean, and confne
them to limits. They may think how it can
be done by concurrent resolution; but
when it is submitted to popular judgment
and to the popular will, they will find that
they might as well undertake to introduce a
resolution to repeal the law of gravity as to
keep this Union from being restored. Il is
just about as feasible to resist the great law
of gravity which binds all to common cen
tire, as that great law of gravity which will
bring back these States, and replace them in
thew relations. All these conspiracies and
Vaccinations, North and South, cannot pre-
vent it. All that is wanted is time until the
American people can set to know what is
going on. would the whole American peo-
pie could be assembled here to-day, as you
are. | wish we had an amphitheatre capa-
cious enough to hold these 30,000,o0o Of
IL Al I