Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-11-19

He said, that the terms New States
in the Constitution "do intend new pc
IiticsI Souereignties," mark, Governor !
Hto be formed within the original limit
of the United States and do not inten'
new political Sovereiguties, with Terri
torial annexations, TO be erected withou
the original limits Of the United States.
Further on, be spoke of "the Poten
Sovereignties composing this Unioni'
" the proportion Of the political weigh
Of each Sovereign State constituting thu
Union.U " the States which established
the Association" Aud be declared 1t q
be upouestionable that " the violation o
a contract by one Of the parties may o'
considered as exempting the other from
its obligations ~ and also, that no per
son can be obliged, beyond his intent 8,
the time Of the contract"
In using this language, Mr.. QUINCY
only did what has constantly been done
by the Supreme Court of the United
States; and he iastlnetively felt that il
was no a~bdication or cession or surren'
der Of Sovereignty, for Sovereign States
to agree to refrain from the separate ex'
ercise Of certain Of their Sovereign pow
ers, and to exercise them jointly, By
means OF an Agency, Corporation OF
| Government, created by them for that
limited purpose.
In the great case Of BriscOe v. The
| Bank ofthe Commonwealth Of Kentucky,
Il Peters 81, the Supreme Court Of the
United States, Mr.. Justice MCLEAN de-
Hvering its opinion, said, The Federal
Government is one Of delegated powers.
All powers not delegated 70 it, er inhib-
tied to the States, are reserved to the
States or to the people. A State may
grant acts Of incorporation for the attain
ment Of those objects which are essential
to the interests Of society. This power
is incident 10 sovereignty" There is
such 8 thing, then, as the sovereignty Of
the States. Again the Court said, in
curing whether q State could be sued,
"No sovereign State is liable to be sued
without her consent" And, speaking
of the Bank which was defendant, as
the Bank the mere instrument Of the
sovereignty, to effectuAte its designs, and
is the State responsible for its acts?
Referring to the case of The Bank Of The
United States v. The Planters Bank, 9
Wheat. 9O4, and quoting the language Of
Chief Justice MARSHALL, himselfa Fed
eralist like WAsHINGToN, the Court said,
that the State Of Georgia, by giving the
Bank in which it held stock the right to
u and be sued, stripped itself of its SOW
ereigu character, so far as respected the
transactions Of the Bank, and waived all
the privileges OF that character. And
quoting from the opinion Of the Court,
given by Mr.. Justice JOHNSON, in The
Bank Of the Commonwealth Of Kentucky
v. Wistar and others, 3 Peters 43l, the
Court showed in the case first cited above,
that although the States were ~sovereigns,
which all conceded, they did not impsrt
any Of the attributes Of their sovereignty
to a Bank in which they held stock.
Mr.. Justice STORY was a Fedsralist OF
the strictest sort: and he, dissenting, in
the same case, said that Kentucky, in
creating the Bank in question, "acted
in lis sovereign character and capacity,
and could not, even for an instant, even
In intendment Of lEw, divest itself, ia the
transactions Of the Bank, Of that char
acter and capacity"
In PoUard's Lessee rs. Hagan, 8.
HolUard 221, The same Court held that
the United States never held any mu.
nieipal sovereignty, jurisdiction or right
OF soil in and to the territory OF which
Alabama or any Of the new States
were formed, except for temporary pur-
poses, and to execute the trusts created
BY the acts Of the Virginia and Georgis
Legislatures, the deeds off eession exc
cuted BY them to the United States, aud
the trust created by the Treaty with the
French republic, ceding Louisiana"
Virginia ceded the territory northwest
Of the Ohio, on the condition that the
States formed out Of il should be ad-
mitted members of the Federal Union,
having the same rights Of sovereignty,
freedom and independence, as the other
States" This was In 1854 but in 1902
Georgia ceded the southwestern territory
on the same conditions: and the Court
said lp. 223) that when Alabama was
admitted into the Union, "she succeeded
to all the rights Of Sovereignty Jurisdic-
ton and eminent domain which Georgia
possessed at the date Of the cessionr " ex-
eept 80 far as the title 10 the public lands,
vested for temporary purposes, remained
in the United States. They said that if
an express stipulation bad been inserted
10 the agreement, granting the munich
pal right Of Sovereignty and eminent do
main TO the United States, such stipuls-
lions would have been void aud iDopers-
tive, because the URited States hare no
Constitutional capacity 10 exercise mu
niclpal Jurisdiction, Sovereignty or emf
nent domain, Wi1tin the limits Of a State
or elsetchere, except IN he cases in Which
it is expressly granted. Alabama, the
Court said, " is entitled to the Sovereign
ty and Jurisdiction over all the territory
within her bounds, subject 70 the COM
mon law, to the same extent that GeOr-
gia possessed it, before she coded Il 10 the
United States" "It cannot be admit
ted" the Court said, that the King Of
Spain could, by Treaty or otherwise, i'm
part to the United States any OF her
royal prerogativesn over country ceded
by him Il her; " snd much less can It be
admitted thst they have capacity to
a power to exercise them. Every
nation acquiring territory, by treaty or
otherwise, must hold il subject to the
constitution and laws Of lis own govern
and not according to those OF the
government ceding it." Thus the royal
prerogatives now claimed by Congress
over conquered country, " outside Of he
Constitution" were long ago re~pudiated
10 advance by the Supreme Court.
The Court said, quoting from Gibbons
rs. Ogden, 8 Wheat ls6, that the Sow
sreignty Of Congress, though limited to
specified objects, is plsnary ss to these
bat that the right Of eminent
domain belongs 70 the States, aud IS an
attribute Of Sovereignty that to give
he United States that right over the
Ihores and soils under the nRYigable
waters, would be to place IN their hands
! weapon hat might be welded greatly
the injury Of STATE SopereianN.n