Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1866-09-08

ed, and all participation in tho election of the
rulers by which those laws arc to be cnforcnJ
IN other words, Congress, in which onl,
sweuty.sx States are represented. assert, tbe
right to govern, absolutely, and in its own dia.
eretlol, all the thiry ax Statas ushioh
4 Inc Union to make their lava and chnnss
m aud to exclude tile other ten from
a'i snare IN their own Goyernnont, until il
sees III to admit them thereto What is there
to distinguish the power thus asserted and nv
crciscd from the most absolute md iptolcr,lIo
tyranny? Nor do these extrayagapt md nm.
just claims on the part Of Congress to powers
and authority never conferred upon tile Gov.
ernmcnt by tho Constitution find anv war.
rant III tho arguments or excuses urged in
their behalf. 1t is alleged:
l. 1h@t these States, by the act of rebel
hon. and by voluntarily withdrawing their
members from Congress forfeited their ripht
70 representation, and that they can only re-
ceive it again at tho hands of tho sunrcmo
legislative authority of the Government on its
own terms and its own discretion. If renre-
sentation in Congress and participation in the
Government were simply privileges conferred
ana hed by favor, this statement might have
the merit Of plausibility; but representation
~ under the Constitution, No. only expressly
recognized as right, but j is imposed as
duty, and it is essential, in 10Th respects. to
the existence of tho Govern oept and to the
maintenance OF its authority. In free Gov.
efnhcnts, fundamental and essential rights
cannot DC forfeited, except against individuals.
by due process Of law Nor Gun constitution
al duties aud obligations be discarded or la;d
aside. The enjoyment of rirbt NAV ho fnr ,a'o
time, suspended by the failure to claim them.
aud duties may be cyadcd by the refusal to
perform them.
The withdrawal of their members foo,n Con.
gress by tho States which resisted the Gen.
erai Government was among their acts of in
IIoriss sought q to inD,;. -". u. .gen-
dorcd void Wfetsha sfetsat tbe aston Of the Goycru low ru
suppressed. Neither tho right Of representa-
ton. nor the duty 10 be represented was in the
least impaired by tho fact Of insurrcction, but
it may have been that. hy r""a:.; &c &c tH- :"
mcnt of thnt right and tie performance of
that duty for the time depended, could not be
fulfilled.
This was in fact the case. An insurgent
power, in tho exercise of usurped and unlaw
ful authority in the territory under its control,
prohibited that allegiance to the Constitution
and laws of the United States which is made
by that fundamental law tho essential condition
of representation in its Government. No man
within the insurgcnt States was allowed to
take the oath to support tho Constitution Of
the United States, and, MS necessary consc-
oucnce, no man could lawfully represent those
States in the councils of the Union But
this was only an obstacle to the enjoyment
of the right and to the discharge Of duty.
1t did not annul the one, nor abrogate the
other, and it ceased to exist when the usurpa-
ton by which it was created had been over
thrown, and the States had again resumed
their allegiance to the Constitution aud laws
of tho United States.
2. But it is asserted, in support of the au-
thority claimed by the Congress now in pos
session Of power, that it flows directly from
the laws of war; that it is among tho rights
which victorious war always confcrs upon the
conqucrors, and which the conqucror mny cx.
ercisc or waive, in his own discretion. 10
this we reply, that the laws in question relate
solely, SO far as the rights they confer arc con
cerned, to wars wagcd between alien and in
dependent nations, and cnn havo no place or
force in this regard in war waged by the
Government to suppress an insurrection of its
own people, upon its own soil, against its au.
tho rity. If we had carried on successful war
against any foreign nation, VIC might thereby
have acquired possession and jurisdiction Of
their soil, with the right to enforce our laws
upon their people, and to impose upon them
such laws and such obligations as we might
choose But we had before tho war complete
Jurisdiction over the soil of tho Southern
States, limited only by our own Constitution
Our laws wore the only national laws in force
, upon it; the Government Of the United States
} was the only Government through which those
States and their people had relations with for
eign nations, and its fay was the only flag by
which they were recognized or known amy
where on the face Of tho earth. In oil thes'
respects, and in all other respects involving
national interest and right, our possession wa
, perfect and complete. 1t did not need to b
{ acquired but only to be maintained, and vic
!. torious war against the rebellion could do moth
: ing moro than maintain tit could only vim
]. 4 IL IL tod