Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-03-06

=
/ Verdict pronosInesd by a famous clergy
man upon q famous Statesman who haC
died, and for who the country wa
'draped in the externals Of ws.' HI
was. the prescher said, an ambition!
and able, but not an honest man. o
which. we are told. one Of the pro
foundest admirers Of the Statesman said
II was an outrage, that sermon; anC
the worst Of it was that it was true.
Much Of the argument we have beer
considering, proves that.
The use made Of the word People,
bv the expounders Of the northern doc
tTine. has been eminenly dishonest
! They have hal1itually used il As a word
having but one hxed, dehnite, infiexibie
meaning, like term in mathematics,
They could not but have known that Il
was one Of the most pliable and elastic
words in the language, n noun OF multi
tude, properly used either in the singular
or plural, it, niesning and reach varying
| indefinitely, according TO the context,
| With them It involved political unity or
/ oneness: and thus they used it fraudu-
! lently, and earned sufficient title 70 the
verdict of dishonesty.
We may as properly say, the people OF
! the world the people Of Europe the
\ people of America the people of the
| United States,' a. the people Of South
/ Carolina Thus it is often and indeed
commonly a merely collective noun,
without political application. The
! people of Germany, calling Deutsch-
/ land their Faderland,' are properly
called so, because, Austrians, Prussians,
| Bavarians, WIrtemhergers, or however
politically separated into different peo-
ples. they are all of one stock, all Ger
mans, ali speak the same tongue.
80 the people OF America, the 'peo-
ple Of the United States when under
the loose articles of Confederation, were
properly so called, since, they were all Of
one stock, with unimpOrtant exceptions,
the Colonies and their language all
English.
Again, the word people has different
political meanings. The people Of the
Confederation Of the Rhine were apprO-
priately so called, because they were one
people, for certain purpc s and TO
certain extent. How n rev were so,
could not be GEeertaiued - any immu-
table meaning Of the word people,
since il has uoue such; but only by means
OF the articles of Confederation, not
made by any one people Of the German
States included in the Confederation, but
people, in certain respects and to a GER
tain extent
So the American articles OF Confedera-
ton, made by the several States, made
their people one, to certain extent and
for the time being: and it was proper to
cal! them Q nation and the people of
America, the people Of the United
States.'
There was then, politically, one peo-
pie Of all the States, so far as the action
of all was one action. A people is one,
when and Just SO far as it acts or may
act as one. Its unity Of action IS its
unity of being. The people Of yhe Uni
ted States did not, in any other sense,
make the Constitution, which was but
the same articles Of Confederation under
@ new name, and with alterations and
additions. They did not act as one
people in making that because they did
not act under the articles, exercising
any power agreed by those articles to !
be exercised Jointly; but they acted |
precisely as in making the articles, each |
State as a separate people.
a single feet and idea have served to |
mislead the people. As the constitution /
was ratified by a majority of the people |
in each State, these aggregate majorities |
made q majority of the people Of all, |
over the aggregate minOrities Of all. !
Thus it was ratified by a majority of the |
whole people; and therefore it was the |
act OF that one people. But this is .
mere trick Of iialectics. The people of |
Delaware were, in number, perhaps q |
thirtieth part Of the whole people of all /
the States. If this whole people I
had made tie constitution as one /
people, this fraction of it would /
have counted and weighed as lSG. But |
it acted not az 4 fraction, but as unit /
with sovereign power to ratify or refuse |
to ratify for itself. If it decided one way, |
and every soul in every other State de- |
cided the other, their votes were nothing |
to the people Of Delaware. What kind |
OF a political unit is that, in which a |
fraction Of one-thirtieth acts for ITSELF |
and twenty-niae-t -thirtieths do not over /
weigh One2
Nor did the constitution make the peO- |
pie of the States one people. They were |
so before, for certain purposes, and SIM |
ply continued 10 be so, only for more en-
larUed purposes and TO q greater extent : |
one people, SO far As their action was one /
action under the Constitution: one, pro !
fuyt0 and pro 6dc rice Only,-to that ex- /
tent and for the time being. Not one
people oUer tie Constitution, as its au- |
thora or to amend it; but one in acting |
under it. Thay had been one people all |
the time, iRt1aking war, peace, treaties, |
FTSenining money, in establish !
ing rules az TO captures and prizes, and /
Courts of sppesl in cases Of captures, and |
Courts for the trial of piracies and felOnies |
on the high seas, in granting Letters Of |
MaTque and Teprisal, maintaining an I
army. fixing the standard Of weights 1
and measures, regulating trade with and |
managing the affairs Of Indians, bOr- /
rowing money and emitting bills of !
credit, building and equippiug q navy, |
and establishing pOstOtices and enacting |
postage.
The States really constituted a corpo- |
ration before, with very united powers, /
for these other purposes. This national /
corporation, called The United States, /
was continued by the States, who were |
the sole corporatOrs. 1t was invested /
with such Of tie powers, prer0gatlves and 1
franchises, faculties and capacities Of the /
several States, as they agreed by the !
constitution if should possess and exer- |
else: that is, as they agreed jointly to eK- /
ercise, through, and by the agency of, /
this national corporation. Each State
also agreed to refrain from exercising |
certain other powers, which, though not |
to be exercised by the nation, were either
contrary 10 good morals. or not consis-
tent with their new relations 70 each
other; and certain other powers, not be-
fore belonging to any State because pow
srs of control over them, it was agreed
might 5e exercised by the national cor
poration.
The United States was a corporation,
because if it had not been, it could not
have acted in any one respect as an indi-
vidual or state, or single person at law.
A state IS IS much a person, as a human
being is. The United States should
always have been used as a term Ia the |
singular. It Lad individuality and con-
tinuing identity. 1t was one and the
same at all times, Notwithstanding the |
addition of new states tO-the Union and
the constant succession of citizens.
1t could take property by purchase,
treaty or conquest. It granted and con-
veyed land it contracted obligations,
issued bonds, sued and was sued, pleaded |
and was impleaded, had a common seal,
and possessed 8 variety Of powers, pre-
negatives, franchises and privileges. It's
was not, in law, the joint pro-
perty of the States. They were not pai-
ties to its suits. Its debts were not their
debts in law. They were no parties, in
law, to its bonds, grants or treaties. It
was strictly corpus lJolitict1a, a body
polite, the manifold acting as one, the
States acting as a Nation. As we call a
particular corporation Bank, County,
a Town or City, we may conveniently
call this a Nation, since the fathers even
termed the United States a Nation, when
only united by the articles Of Confedera-
ton.
We do not forget that Arkansas was
not admitted into the Union until 1896,
and therefore was not one of the original |
parties TO the constitutional compact.
But she was admitted as the peer of the
other States, ard on an equal footing in
all respects with each OF them. Momen-
tarily seized of the full and complete
powers of Overeignty, she simultane-
Ously parted with the same portion of
them as had been parted with by the
original thirteen States, entered into the
same engagement, and consented and |
agreed to the same restrictions, beeom-
ing in all respects party to the compact.
The doctrine of mOmentary sezin, ap-
piled where land is conveyed to one that I
he may forthwith mortgage to the grantor
in order that power and other liens may
not intervene, removes all embarrass-
ment As to the mode in which a State Just |
created enters the Unicn, and applies /
with equal reason as to the case Of cOn-
Il u