Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1866-06-06

New England States IFOi4 &c n OoS -
What would the Summers, aud Wades,
and Steyenses of that day have said to
that? And yet there was just as much
right do so then, as there is to exclude
the Southern States noW--that is to say,
there was and is no rightof exclusion IN
either case. Let no man deceive him.
self, or be deceived By sophistry upon
this question. It is vital to the exIs-
ltepee of our Government. The wrong
done to the Southern States is not done
to them alone--it is a wrong to all the
States-to Ohio as much as to South
Carolina. IF, upon some pretext or
another, majority in Congress may dis
regard and override the Constitution,
and exclude that State from representa-
ton, a majority in another Congress may,
in like manner and upon some other pre-
text. exclude Ohio And, besides, the
right alone-it is the right of every State
that all the States shall be represented.
The Union into which we entered is
Union of ali the States. The laws Of
Congress that we agreed should bind US
are laws made by representatives from
all the States. Our fathers never agreed,
nwe have never agreed, that States obedi-
dent to the Constitution should be ez-
cluded from Congress, and our laws be
. made by the remainder Of the States
There is not word in the Constitution
or in the history of the Republic that
gives the slightest sanction to such an
idea. On the contrary tits directly sub
versive of the Constitution, and, carried
!. into practice, is an overthrow Of our
Government. And in view Of these facts
) do not hesitate to say that the doings
OF the present so-called Congress Of the
United States are plain usurpations of
power. It is not the Congress ordained
, by the Constitution, but is an inchoate,
imperfect, fragmentary body, unknown
to that instrument. We may be bound
by its acts as the acts of a Government
de facto, Just as the acts Of usurpers ex-
ercising de facto the powers of Govern
ment, have generally been held binding (;
hut to solemnly call it a Constitutional
Congress is a mockery of the Constitu
ton.
Gentlemen Of the Convention, I cannot
! detain you by referring in detail to the
doings of this, so called Congress but
, there is one general view of them that 1
wish to present very briefly before I take
fmy seat.
No one can have attontively and i'm
partially observed the events of the last
five years, and especially of the last six
months, without being convinced, that
an organized conspiracy exists, having
for its object a fundamental change Of
? our system that shall make the General
, Government supreme, not only in those
matters. now confded to it by the Con-
stitution, but also in nearly, if not IN
every matter, now belonging to the State
Govern ments. There is nothing more
, striking in our history than the attach
ment of our ancestors to local self-Gov-
ernment. It was this feeling, more than
any other, that led them to confue the
! powers of the Federal Government to
: matters of general concern, leaving to
, the State Government exclusive jurisdic-
ton over everything of local or domes-
tic character. And so far did they carry
; this spirit, that even in the States an ad
: ministrative, and, in some cases, quasi
5 legislative power, has always been con-
= ferred upon theis various civil divisions.
, Thus we have boards of County Commits
sioners for counties, of trustees for town
: ships, of directors for school districts,
while every municipal corporation, from
the largest city to the smallest village,
has its council, enacting laws under the
' name of Ordinances, to regulate matters
] of local concern.
This is the true spirit and idea of our
D Republican institutions. and never was
ANYTHING better devised to secure good
= Government, to educate the paople in the
t science and practice of political power,
f and to observe their liberties and free in
I stitutions. Opposed to this idea of local
. self-governmsnt, is that of consolidated
r central power, huge, unrestricted, su-
D preme and irresistible National Govern
? meut. This was the favorite idea of a
q certain class of politicians at an early
D day but was decisively defeated in the
Convention that framed the Federal Con-
! stitutiou, and was so repugnant to the
t feelings. sentiments and habits Of the
t American people, that it was not
g until our late terrible civil war gave
r rise to the exercise of" Imperial powers "
by the General Government Ito use Mr..
= Stewards language,) and to the creation
? ofan immense national debt, that any
t one dared to revive the scheme. But no
t one can now doubt that it has been re-
vived. or that the Radical leaders in
. Congress are straining every nerve to
t carry it into effect.
r One of the means employed for this
e purpose consists of amendments to the
r Constitution. and one Of their chief rea-
t sons for excluding che Southern States
= from representation in Congress is, that
D in their absence, propositions to amend
= may be surely fail.
Gentlemen, I need not say to you, ed
i ueated as YOU have been in the Demo
+ cratic faith, that such a consolidated
s Government as these men are striving to
e establish, would be one Of the worst and
f most corrupt of despotisms ; and that il
3 the people wish to preserve their llber-
d ties and their substance, to have good
! laws, equal rights and light taxation,
? thew must never surrender their admir-
), able system of local self-goyernment.
# MRs PARTINGTON says the only way
? 70 nrevent steamboat explosions is tC