Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1866-08-17
THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
THIRD DAYS PROCEEDINGS.

adopted in the PhIiadeiphia Convention YES
terday, Hon. II. J. Raymond read an .Adaress
10 tbe people OF the United States" setting
forth that since the meeting Of the last National
CONVENTION, in the year tS60, events have oc-
Cured which have changed the character of
S,.,.n Snr internal E Pc icy, and given the United
eartn, and invoking the people 10 remember
always and everywhere that the war is ended,
and the nation is again At peace, and TO recog-
nize. in their full sign ficance, and TO accept,
with all their legitimate coEseq uences, the
political results of the war Just closed.
The Government Of the United States acted
throughout the war on the defensive Ii sought
only to hold possession of wha; was already v its
own. Neither the war nor the victory by
which IL was ended changed in any way the
Consultation Of the United STATES. The war
was carried on by virtue of Its provisions and
under the Limitation rs which they prescribed
and the result Of the war did not either enlarge,
powers " confers upon the Federal Govern
inert or release that q government from the re-
strictions which ii has imposed
The Constitution of the United States is to-
day precisely as il was before the wa---he
supreme law OF the land, anything in the con-
stitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding And to-day also, precisely
as before the war, all the powers not conferred
by the Constitution upon the General Govern
ment, or prohibited by it to the States. are
reserved 10 the sew raj States or 10 the people
thereof.
Ii has been proclaimed by Congress that in
addition TO the powers conferred upon it by the
Constitution, the Federal Government may
now claim over the States and the territory,
and the people involved IN the i1surrection
the rights of war-right Of conquest aud Of
cor fiscation, the right to abregate all existing
governments, institutions, and laws, and TO
subject the territory conquered and ats inhabl-
tants 10 such terms and regulations as the leg
islative department of the Government may
see fit TO impose, under the broad and sweep.
ing claim that the clause OF the Con sritution
which provides that no State shall without
lts consent be deprived OF its equal suffrage in
the Senate Of the United States has been an
nuled; and States have been refused, ahd are
still refused, representation altogether in both
branches Of the Federal Congress; and the
Congress IN which onIya part Of The States
and OF the people OF the Union are represented
has asserted the right to exclude Others from
representation and from all share in making
their own laws and choosing their own
rulers, unless they shall comply with such
condition and perform such acts AS
this Congress. thus composed, may itself
prescribe. That right has not only been as.
tically enforced al the present time Nor does
II find any support in the cry that he States
thus excluded are in rebellion against the GOV.
eminent, and are therefore precluded from
rebellion. They are one and all in an attitude
OF loyalty towards the Government. and of
sworn allegiance to the Constitution OF the
United States. In none of them is there the
slightest indication of resistance TO this author.
tty, or the slightest protest against it's Just aud
binding obligations. This condition of re-
by solemn proclamation Of the Executive De.
partment. The laws OF the United States have
been extended by Congress over all these
States and the people thereof. Federal courts
have been reopened, and Federal taxes i'm
posed and levied, and in every respecI except
that they are denied representation in Con
sress and the Electoral College, the States
once IN rebellion are recognized as holding
the same obligations and SUBJECT to the same
duties as the other States of our common
Union.
IL seems 20 us, in the exercise OF the caImes,
and most candid iudgln lnenl we can bring 10 the
subject, such 4 claim so enforced involves as
fatal an overthrow Of The authority of the Con-
stitution, and as complete destruction OF the
Government and Union. as that which wa
sought TO be effected by the States and people
IN armed Insurrection against them In can
not escape observation that the mower INNS
asserted to exclude certain states from repre-
sentaiion is made 70 rest wholly in the will
ana oiscrehon OF the Congress that asserts it,
Ii Is not made 10 depend upon specified con-
ditions or circumstances. no. 10 be subject to
any rules or regulations whatever. The ripht
asserted and exercised is absolute, without
qualification or restriction, not confined 10
States IN rebellion nor 10 States that have re-
belled. 1t IS the right of any Congr in for
NAL possession OF legislative authority, 10 ex-
clude any State or States, and any portion of
the people thereof al any time, from repre-
sentatlon IN Congress, and in the Electoral
College, at It's own discretion, and until they
shall perform such acts and comply with such
conditions as il may dictate. obviously the
reasons for such exclusion being wholly within
the discretion Of Congress. may change as the
Congress itself shall change.
One Congress may exclude a State from all
share in the Government for one reason and
that reason removed. the next Congress may
cludsd 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 ascendeucy of
Western or Southern interests or of boIb com
bined, may exclude the Northern or the East.
ern States from the next. Improbable ae sucn
usurpations may seen, the establishment OF
the principle now asserted and acted upon by
congress will render them by no means nm
possible. 1t was against this peril, so con-
sTpicuous, and 50 fatal to all tree governments,
that our Constitution was intended especially
TO provide. Nor DO these extravasant and I'M
1ust CLAIMS on the part Of Congress TO powers
srnni ano an,n9ra'y never conferred upon the Gov
ernment by the Constitution, find any war
their behalf
History affords no instance where a peonla
so power1ul In number, In resources, and in
Puolic spirit, after war SO long in its dura.
ton, so destructive ia its progress. and so ad-
verse In It's issue, have accepted defeat, and us
consequences with so much Of good faith as
has marked the conduct OF the people lately i'm
fnsurrectlon againstthe United States Beyond
all question this has been largely due to the
wise generosity with which their enforced sur
render was accepted by the President Of the
rIted States, and the generals in immetiiate
command OF Our armies, and TO the liberal
measures which were afterwards taken TO re.
store order, tranquility, and law, TO the States
where all had for the time been oyertbrown
No steps could have been better Calculated 10
command the respect, win the confidence re-
yive the patriotism, and secure the permanent
and aneciiopaie allegiance of the people of the
South 10 the Constitution and the laws OF the
Union han those which have been SO firmly
taken and SO steadfastly pursued by the Presi
dent of the United States 's''
And II that confidence and loyalty has been
SINCE impaired. If the people South are to-day
less candid In that allegiance than they were
Immediately upon the close of the war we be-
ueye II is due to the changed tone of the Ls-
glsiatiye Department of the General Govern
ment towards them; to the action by which
Congress has endeayored TO suppress aud de-
feat the Presidents wise and beneficial policy
OF restoration; to their exclusion from ali par
uclpauon IN our common Government; 10 the
withdrawal from OF the rights conferred and
guaranteed by the Constitution, and to the evi
dent purpose of Congress, in the exercise of a
usurped and unlawful authority, to reduce
them fIom the ranks Of free and &c nal mem
bers OF republic OF States, with rights ana
dignitfes unimpaired, to the condition of con-
suered provinces and q conquered people, in
all things subservient and subject To the will
OF ther conquerers. Tree only to obey law in
masking which they are not allowed 10 shara
No people has ever yet existed whose IoyaI,v
and faith such treatment long contln aed woniS
not ALLEVIATE and impair. So
The time is cloae A hap