Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1866-01-19

great degree Of general 0ppr0hatinD .
amounts to q practical interpretation
OF the Constitution absolutely cOnclu-
sive upon all parties, and unavoidable
as Il precedent for The future. The Sue
ccSstul exercise OtthiS inherent power
demonstrates that the Constitution con-
tains, when rightly interpreted, ample
resources for ita own preservation. -
Upon what grounds can this conduct
of the President he Justified? The effort
to consider State, for political purpos-
es, separate and distinct from the neon,e
who compose it is q manifest absurdity.
n State is body polite, or civil COM
munity- united together for the purpose
Of government, and heir government is
the accredited legal organ through
which they act, and by which they are
known aS a municipal 0rwaui2ation.-
South Carolina may have land and do
fined territorial Boundaries, hut it can
have 10 government without inhabit-
ants, ami without government. al
though having inhabitants. it wauld
not DC known or recognized aS n State.
The people Of that, aud every other State
in the Federal Union, are nothing more
or less than municipal body, cXercis-
ing the powers and fruuchisc Of a gov
ernment under the authority of the
tni,ed States, and in subOrLination 70
the paramount sovereignty of the Con-
etitutton, which is the supreme law of
the land. This subOrdinatiOn of States,
and supremacy of the Constitution, are
our sheet and anchor and bond Of per-
petual union. Any theory averse to
this would result in the inevitable de-
strnction Of our nationality.
While Ill territorial condition, tho
Il hN l,s ss,,Y. r 81
aries she now Possesses, and though
within the jurisdiction Of the Federal
Government, Alabama was in no Con-
stitutionAl sense State in the Union,
and she became such only through the
act OF admission adopted by Congress in
pursuance OF the provision authorizing
new states to be admitted. BY this act
OF admission, or ordinance, accepted by
the people OF Alabama, the United States
became bound, among other things, to
secure TO them republican form of gov
efnulGnl, To protect them against invas-
IONS ana domestic violence; while. on
the other hand, the State 80 created ae-
knoWlcdgcd the sovereignty of the Con-
sntuuGN, and tie supremacy Of the gem
crai Government within the scope OF It's
granted powers. From these mutual
obligations, pcrp2tually binding as Con-
sutution0l covenants, neither party can
legally recedc. The original States be-
came members Of the Union by ratify-
ing and accepting the Constitution
which placed them upon like footing
with those subsequently, admitted, and
created between them and the govern
ment precisely the Same reciprocal Oh
legations.
Reasoning from these obvious prem
lses 1t follows that the attempted cXpa-
triation OF the Southern States, and
Their Efforts to maintain ii by war, vir-
tually dissolved, for the time Being
their political rel lations with the Federal
Government, inasmuch as these unau-
thOrized acts violated their constitution
al OhiigaiOls, and, on their part. the
conditions upon which they were ere
ated and admitted as members of the
Union. The treason of few individu-
ais, or mere local iusurrection, would
not have produced this result. But
when the people C1. ROs8g renouncCu
their constitutional rights and delibcr-
atcly trans erred their allepiauce to a
hostile sovereignty, taking the empire
power OF the State with them, and lev
Iln| war 20 maintain their now TpIa-
tons II hCamc treason on their nurt in
vJIy;nG by the established rules OF ma
J0Nat conduct the deslrlatiblitv of
lLtjr political organizations. For il is
manifest, chat, ii these States had ac-
COM gi.sled their i"caS0uGbic designs,
their political separation would have
been complete, although their torritori-
nj boundaries might have remained as
before. But, being overcome by the SUI
Pcrior power Of the Un0n, they were
tOr"ibly rctained within its iuriSdirtion
q Hgt .,f Z
Having with reasonable intent violated
the solemn covenants by which they
were originally organized Is States. and
having ,orteitrd their rights under them
they are now in no condition to claim
the benefits Of these covenants, which
can only te renewed by the disposition
of the Federal Government, IA the in
nocent and injured party, in the cxer-
else of its sovereign power.
Having thus ascegt liued the true con-
ditinn OF these States, under the CoGsti-
tuition, the question rs 70 whether they
have been Out of the Union becomes u
mere abstraction. In legal contempla-
ton they certainly were not: for nj,
their acts in that direction, being i'm
conflict with the constitution, became
null and void; yet 1t il nevertheless
equally clear, as the matter Of fact. that
for period of four years the authority
OF the Union was forcibly excluded from
the states, and that, during that period.
th2y were out Of their constitutional or
bits. Had this condition been main
and their separation permanently
established, then the proposition that
they were out of the Union would
have been disputed and may
we not therefore with equal propriety
now admit that, for all practical pur-
poses, these States were not in the Union
while the abnormal condition existed.
10 hold, as many do, that the func-
tigns of these States were merely sus-
pended, not destroyed by rebellion,
would result in the logical conclusion
that their former condition revived
when the cause Of that suspension was
and, if they have not been
destroyed, by what right do We now in
tervene in their affairs, and require
their governments to be reformed before
allowing them to resume their civil and
political relations with the Union >
FROM what source does the President
derive righttul authority to appoint
Governors for the States, confefring
power to elect delegates and organize
conventions, prescribing
the qualifications OF electors. and. by
directions, require them to
adopt certain measures and reject others.
He could do none Of these things for
Pennsylvania or Iowa, and he does them
for the insurgent States only as the ai-
agent of constitutional sOver-
eighty, and because their civil vitality
has been destroyed. and they have cests-
ed to exist except as geographic bound
aries within the Union, containing in
deprived of organized govern
ments.
Upon this broad and conclusive theory
the work Of restoration has SO far pro-
gressed. Ii was the landmark which
guided Abraham Lincoln in his labors,
wherein he was endorsed by the over
verdict of the American peo-
pie. 1t il the grand and abiding prin-
ciple i'm accordance with which the
struggle was maintained by us and the
Union saved. And | hesitate not in
saying, that to abandon il now would
be an insult to the memory of the mar
tyPs who have fallen in its defense, and
q dishonorabie surrender to the enemies
we have conquered.
LII the view we have taken be not cor
rect, then the President has committed
n fragrant violation of the constitution