The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1866-08-31

the establishment OF the principle now
asserted and acted upon BY congress will
render them By no means impossible.
The character, indeed the very exis-
teDce, of congress and the Union is thus
made dependant, solely and entirely, upon
the party and ev.pnal exigencies and
forbearance of the Hour. We need not
stop to show that such action pot only
Euds no warrant in the constitution, but
is at war with every principle Of our gov
ernment, and with the very existence OF
free existence Of free institutions. 1t is,
indeed, the identical practice which has
rendered :ruitless al. attempts hitherto to
establish and maintain free governments
N Mexico and the states Of South America.
Party necessities assert themselves as srpe-
rior to tie Fundamental law, which is set
aside in reckless obedience to their be-
hests. Stability, whether in the exercise
Of power in the administration Of govern
ment, or in The enjoyment Of rights,
became impossible and the conflicts of
party, which, urder constitutional governs
menls, ale the conditions, and means Of
political progress, are merged in the con-
flicts Of arms to which they directly and
inevitably tend
1t was against this peril, SO conspicu-
Gus and so fatal to all free governments.
that ou- constitution was intended
especially to provide. No, only the
stability, but the very existence of the
government is made by Its provisions to
depend upon the right and the fact of
representation.
The congress, upon which is conferred
all the legislative power of the national
government, consists Of two branches, the
senate and house of representatives, whose
concurrence or assent is essential to the
validity of any law. Ofthese, the house
Of representatives." says the constitution
(Article l, Section p ''shaIl be composed
of members chosen every second year by
tie people of the several states. Not
only is the right Of representation thus
recognized as possessed by all the states,
and by every state without restriction,
qualification, or distinction of any kind
but the duty of choosing representatives
is imposed upoL the people of each and
every state alike, without distinction, or
the authority to make distinctions among
them for any reason or upon any grounds
whatever. And ia the senate, SO careful
is the constitution to secure to everysstate
this right of representation, it is explicitly
provided that 10 state shall, without its
consent, be deprived Of its equal suffrage
in that body, even BY an amendment Of
the constitution itself When therefore,
any state is excluded from such represen
tation, not only is right of state
denied, but the constitutional integrity Of
The senate is impaired, and the validity Of
the government itself is brought in ques>
ton. But congress, at the present mo-
meut, thus excludes from representation
in both branches Of congress, tel states Of
the union, denying them all share in the
enactment Of laws by which they are to
be governed, and al participation in the
election of officers by which those laws
are to be enforced. In other words. a
congress in which only twenty-six states
are represented asserts the right to govern
absolutely, in lis own discretion, all the
tLirty>six states which compose the union;
TO make their laws and choose their
rulers, aud to exclude tho other ten from
all share in their own government, until
it sees fit to admit them thereto. What
is there to distinguish the POKER thus
asserted and exercised from the most
abs pute and intoierably tyranny!
First, Nor do these extravagant aud
unjust claims on the part of congress to
powers OF authority never conferred upon
the government by the constitution. find
any warrant in the arguments or excuses
urged in their behalf. 1t is alleged, at
first, that these states, by the act Of rebel
lion, and by voluntarily Withdrawing
their members from congress, forfeited
their right of representation; and that
they can only receive it again at the
hands of the supreme legislative authority
the government, on its own terms and
at its own discretion. If representation
in congress and participation in the gov
eminent were simply privileges conferred
and held by favor, this statement might
have the merit of plausbillty but repre-,
sentation is, under the constitution, not
only expressed as a right, but it is imposed
as a duty and it is essential In both
aspects, to the existence Of the govern
ment, and to the maintenance Of its
authority. In free governments, funda
menta! and essential right cannot be for
feited, except against individuals BY due
process of law; nor can constitutional
duties and obligations be discarded or laid
aside. The enjoyment of rights may be
for time suspended by the failure to
claim them, and duties may be evaded by
the refusal to pertoT,n them. The with
drawal of their members from congress.
by the states which resisted the govern
ment, was among their acts of insurrec
tion-was one Of the means and agencies
by which they sought to impair the
authority and defeat the action Of the
government; and that act was annuIed
and rendered void when the instruction
itself was suppressed. Neither the right
of presentation, nor the duty to be rep
resented, was the least impaired by the
fact of Instruction; but it may have been
that, by reason Of the instruction, the
conditions Oh which the enjoyment of that
right, and the performance Of that duty,
for the first time depended, could not be
fulfilled. This was, 10 fact, the case.
An insurgent power, in the exercise OF
usurped unlawful power had prohibited,
within the territory under it's control,
hot oil IN M nd