The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1866-08-29
WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 1866.

| Levied; ; and, IN every respect, except that
they are denied representation in Congress
and the electoral college, the States once
in rebellion are now recognized as holding
the same position, as owing the same obi
cations, and subject to the same duties, as
the other States of our common Union.
It seems to US, in the exercice of the
calmest and most candid judgment we can
bring to the subject, that such claim, so
enforced, involves as fatal an overthrow of
! the authority of the Constitution, and as
complete destruction of the Government
/ and Union, as that which was sought to be
effected by the States and people in armed
insurrection against them both. 1t cannot
j escape observation that the power thus
| asserted to exclude certain States fro.l
representation is made to rest wholly on
! the will and discretion Of the Congress
that asserts it. 1t is not made to depend
upon any specified conditions or circum
stances, nor to be subject to any rules or
regulations whatever. The right asserted
and exercised is absolute, without quaii-
| cation or restriction-not confined to States
in rebellion, nor to States that have re-
belled-it is the right of any Congress, in
formal possession of the legislative author
lty, to exclude any State or States, and
any portion of the people thereof, at any
time, from representation in Congress and
in the electoral college, at its own discre-
ton, and until they shall perform such acts
and comply with such conditions as it may
dictate.
Obviously the reasons for such exclu-
sion, being wholly within the discretion OF
Congress, may change as the Congress it
self shall change. One Congress may ex-
clude State from all share in the Govern
ment for one reason, and that reason re-
moved the next Congress may exclude it
| for another. One State may be excluded
on one ground to-day, and another may be
excluded on the opposite ground to-mor-
row. Northern ascendency may exclude
| Southern States from one Congress. The
ascendency of Western or Of Southern in-
terests, or of both combined, may exclude
| the Northern or the Eastern States from
the next.
improbable as such usurpations may
seem, the establishment of the principle
now asserted and acted upon by Congress
will render them by no means impossible.
| The character, indeed the very existence,
| of Congress and the Union is thus made
dependent solely and entirely upon the
party and sectional exigeDcles or toroear-
ances of the hour.
We need not stop to show that such
action not only finds no warrant in the
| Constitution, but is at war with every prln-
| ciple of our Government, and with the
| very existence of free institutions. 1t Is,
indeed, the identical practice which has
rendered fruitless all attemps hitherto to
establish and maintain free Government IN
Mexico and the States of South America.
Party necessities assert themselves as
SUPERIOR to the 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, be-
comes impossible-and the conflicts OF
party, which, under constitutional Govern
ments, are the conditions and means OF
political progress, are merged in the con-
fict of arms, to which they directly and
inevitably tend.
1t was against this peril, sV conspicuous
and so fatal to all free Governments, that
our Constitution was intended especially to
provide. Not 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 Con-
gress. upon which is conferred all the le-
Gislative power of the National Govern
ment. consists of two branches, the Senate
and House of Representatives, whose
Joint concurrence or assent is essential to
the validity of any law. Of these, "the
House of Representative" says the Con-
| stitution, Article /, Section 2, 'shal be
composed Of members chosen every second
wear b7 the people of the several States" "
! Not only is the right Of representation
thus recognized as possessed oty all the
States, and by every State, without re-
striction, qualification, or condition OF any
kind, but the duty of choosing representa-
tives is imposed upon the people of each
and every State alike, without distinction,
or the authority to make distinction,
among them, for any reason, or upon any
grounds whatever. And, in the Senate
so careful is the Constitution to secure to
every State this right of Representations
it is expressly provided that 'No State
shall, without it's 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 representation, not only is
right of the State denied, but the con-
stitutional integrity of the Senate is i'm
paired, and the validity of the Govern
ment itself is brought in question. But
Congress, at the present moment, thus
excludes from representation in both
branches Of Congress ten States OF the
Union: DENYING them all share in the