The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1867-03-07

compel them, as the whites, to use it in a
4 particular way. IF they do not form Con-
stitution with prescribed articles IN it, and
afterwards elect Legislature which will act
upon certain measures in prescribed way,
neither black nor white can be relieved from
the slavery which the bill imposes upon
them. Without pausing here to consider the
policy or impolicy of Africanizing the South
ern part of our territory, will simply ask
the attention of Congress to that manifest
well-known and universally acknowledged
rule of constitutional law, which declares
that the Federal Government has no juris-
diction, authority, or power to regulate such
subjects for any State. To forcethe right OF
suffrage out of the hands of the white peo-
pie and into the hands of the negroes is an
arbitrary violation of this principle.
This bill imposes martial law at once, and
its operations will begin so soon as the Gen
eral and his troops can be put in place The
dread alternative between its harsh rule and
compliance with the terms of this measure
is not suspended, nor are the people afforded
any time for free deliberatiOn. The bill says
to them, take martial law first, then deliber-
ate And when they have done all that this
measure requires them to do, other condi-
tons and contingencies, over which they
have no control, yet remain to be fulfilled
before they can be relieved from martial law.
Another Congress must firstapprove the Con-
situations made in conformity with the will
of this Congress, and must declare these
States entitled to representation in both
Houses The whole question thus remains
open and unsettled, and must again occupy
the attention of Congress, and in the mean
time the agitation which now prevails will
continue to disturb all portions of the
people.
The bill also denies the legality of the gov
ernments of ten of the States which partici-
pated in the ratification of the amendment
to the Federal Constitution abolishing slave
ry forever within the jurisdiction of the Uni
ted States, and practically excludes them
from the Union. If this assumption of the
bill he correct, their concurrence cannot be
considered as having been legally given, and
the important fact is made to appear that
the consent of three-fourths of the States
| the requisite number-has not been consti-
tutionaly obtained to the ratification of that
amendment, thus leaving the question of
slavery where it stood before the amend
ment was officially declared to have become
part of the Constitution.
That the measure proposed by this bill
does violate the Constitution in the particu-
lars mentioned, and in many other ways
which forbear to cnumerate. is TOO clear to
admit of the least doubt. 1t only remains
to consider whether the injunctions of that
| instrument ought to be obeyed or not. l
| think they ought to be obeyed, for reasons
which 1 will proceed to give as briefly as
possible.
In the first place, it is the only system of
free government which we can hope to have
az nation. When it ceases to be the rule
of our conduct, we may perhaps take our
choice between complete anarchy, CONSOLE
dated despotism, and total dissolution of
the Union; but national liberty, regulated
10y law, will have passed beyond our reach.
1t is the best frame of government the
world ever saw. No other is. or can be so
well adapted to the genius, habits, or want.
OF the American people. Combining the
strength ola great empire with the unspeaka-
BILE blessings of local selfgovernmcnt-hav
ing a central power to defend the general in
rercsts, and recognizing the authority of the
States as the guardians Of industrial rights.
it is the shcet-anchor of our safety abroad
and our peace at home" 1t was ordained
" to form more perfect union. ctabish JUS
tice, insure domestic tranquility. promote the
general welfare, provide for the common de-
Tense and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and to our posterity." These great
ends have been attained heretofore. and will
be again, by faithful obedience to it. but
they are certain to be lost if we treat with
disregard its sacred obligations
1t was To punish the gross crime of DEFY
ing the Constitution. and to vindcate is
supreme authority. that we carried on
bloody war OF four years duration. Shall
we now acknowledge that we sacrificed
million of lives and expended billions of
t-na L,
not worthy of respect and preservation?
Those who ADVOCATED the right Ct seces-
sion alleged in their own justification that
We had no regard for law, and that their
rights of property, life, and liberty, would
not be safe under the Constitution. rs admin
istered by us. If we now verify their aSser-
ton, we prove that they were in truth and
in fact fighting for their liberty, and instead
of branding their leaders with the dishonor-
ing name Of traitors against a righteous and
legal government. we elevate them in history
to the rank of selfsacrificing patriots, con-
secrate them to the admiration of the world,
and place them by the side of Washington,
Hampden and Sydney. No, let us leave
them to the infamy they deserve, punish
them as they should be punished according
to law, and take upon ourselves no share of
the oClium which they should bare alone
1t is a part of our public history, which
can never be forgotten, that both Houses of
Congress, in july 1861. declared in the form
of a solemn resolution that the war was and
should he carried on for no purpose of sub
jugation, but solely to enforce the Constitu-
ton and laws; and that when this was yield
ed by the parties in rebellion the contest
should cease with the constitutional rights
of the States and of individuals unimpaired.
This resolution was adopted and sent forth
to the world unanimously by the Senate and
with only two dissenting voices in the House.
1t was accepted by the friends of the Union
in the South, as we'll as in the North, as ex-
pressing honestly and truly the object of the
war On the faith oft, many thousands OF
persons in both sections gave their lives and
their fortunes to the cause. To repudiate
it now, by refusing to the individuals with
in them the rights which the Constitution
and laws of the Union would secure to them,
is breach of our plighted honor for which
1 can imagine no excuse, and to which can
not voluntarily become party.
The evils which spring from the unsettled
state of our Government will be acknowl-
edged by all. Commercial intercourse Is
impeded, capital is in constant peril, public
securities fuctuated in value, peace itself is
not secure and the sense of moral and polit-
ical duty is impaired. To avert these cal
antilles from our country, it is imperatively
required that we should Immediately decide