Clarksville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1865-1867, 1866-11-16
MEXlCANS, FENIANS, SOUTH

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struetions to call for U. s. troops, j
he think proper, to regulate the pc
litical affairs of foreign govern
ment, yet suffers q revolutionary par
ty, right under his nose, to trampl,
upon the Constitution and the right
of the South. It is nonsense t
claim the right, in the one case, ant
plead want of power in the other
The Constitution guarantees tht
right of representation to every State
Congress denies the right to tel
States the President takes an oatl
to support the Constitution, yet Con
gress remains master of the situation
and the President turns from the
oppressed South and takes steps, in
the face of the Constitution, to regu.
late the government of Mexico.
1t may be that white men, of the
South, are under the han of the gov.
eminent, and that their color is bar
to their exercise of civil rights. Black
being the favorite color, the negro
claims the first care of the powers
that be, and as the bulk of the Next
cans are mulatto -colored and the
next in complexion to the negro,
they claim the second place in the
affections of our rulers, and their po-
litical liberty must be secured whilst
the South groans under the weight
of despotism. The Irish, too, have
been declared, by the Radicals, to be
inferior to the negroes, and forthwith
the government exerts its influence
to prevent the British officials from
inficting punishment upon Fenians
and yet JEFFERSON DAVIS languishes
in prison, the victim of vindictive
tyranny--the more vindictive because
his cause was just, and because his
exalted virtues are a standing re-
proach to the grovelling instincts and
mercenary meanness of his enemies.
There is no constitutional proviso
that authorizes this government to ex :
tend a protectorate over any foreign
country, and neither Congress nor
the President can rightfulIy exercise
any such power. But there is a
proviso that every State shall be rep
resented in Congress, and that each
shall regulate its own internal af-
fairs, subject only to the Constitution
This positive constitutional injunc-
ton is disregarded by an unconstitu-
tional Congress, and the President
contents himselfwith the declaration,
that his policy is the correct one,
and, in the meantime, Congress is
sending the Constitution and the
country to the devil, encountering no
more formidable opposition than an
Executive protest and a reiteration of
Executive devotion to the organic
law of the land.
The President, it is true, is the
only friend of the South, speaking
comparatively, but, with his power,
it is strange that he can effect so lit
tie, after protesting SO much. The
entire people of this section have felt
grateful for his sympathy, and have
earnestly upheld him as the only bar
rier between Radicalism and ruin
Yet they begin to feel that one sturdy
and timely blow for liberty is worth
a thousand vetoes and protests. One
such blow, as " Old Hickory " would
have struck, and the victory would
be certain. But as it is, liberty and
the. Constitution are both overthrow
by the Radicals, and the military arm
of the government is to be extended
beyond the South to uphold, in for
eign cline, the rights denied to us
at home. The Constitution confers
no authority for such Intervention in
foreign affairs, but commands that
the rights of the States shall be held
inviolate; yet the negroes of the
South, the semi barbarous Indians OF
Mexico and the Fenian convicts OF
Canada, are all to be protected by the
government which heaps upon the
poor whites, of the South, nothing
but wrongs and insults.
1t may be that the President can
do no more than he is doing, but il
seems strange to the people, that one
in command of the army and navy
and treasury, and sworn solemnly to
defend the Constitution, can bring ne
other weapon to bear upon body
which he declares to be an uuconsti,
tutional assemblage of traitors, than
empty protests. Southern traitors