Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1867-12-10

With OF without the consent OF the EXecu-
tive, do anything, which would have the eff,
feet, directly or indirectly, of separating
States from each other. To dissolve the
Union is to repeal the Constitution which
holds it together, and that is a power which
does not belong to any department of this
Government, or to all Of them united. This
is so plain that it has been acknowledged by
all branches of the Federal Government
The Executive, (my predecessor as we'll as
myself,) and the heads of all the depart
ments, have uniformly acted upon the princi-
pie that the Union is not only undissolved,
but inaisSoluble. Congress submitted an
amendment to the Constitution to be ratified
by the Southern States, and accepted their
acts of ratification as n necessary and lawful
exercise Of their highest function. If. they
were not States, or States out of the Union,
their consent to n change in the fundamental
law of the Union would have been nugatory,
and Congress in asking it committed a polits
ical absurdity. The Judiciary has also given
the solemn sanction of its authority to the
same view of the case. The Judges of the
Supreme Court have included the Southern
States in their circuits, and they are constant
ly, in JdMc and elsewhere, exercising iuris,
diction which docs not belong to them, unless
those States are States of the Union. If the
Union. the Constitution is the Supreme law
for them, it is for all the other Statcs.-
They are bound to obey it. and so are we.-
The right of the Federal Government, which
is clear aud uuquestionable, to enforce the
Constitution upon them, implies the cOrrela-
tive obligation on our part to observe its lin
itatiOEs and execute its guarantees. With
out the Constitution are nothing. By
through aud under the Constitution we are
what it makes us. We may doubt the wis
dom OF the law; We may not approve of its
provisions, but We cannot violate it merely
because 1t seems to cUniine our powers with
III limits narrower than we could wish 1t is
not question of individual or class or sec
tiOnal interest, much less of party predomi>
nance, but of duty, of high aud sacred
duty, which We are all sworn to perform
If VIC cannot support the Constitution with
the cheerful alacrity OF those who love and
believe in it, we must give to it at least the
fidelity of public servants who act under sol
emn obligations aud commands which thev
dare not disregard. The constitutional duty
is not the only one which requires the States
to be restored. There is another considera-
ton, which, though Of minor importance, is
Of great weight. On the 22d Of July. 1861
Congress declared, by an almost unanimous
vote of both Houses, that the war should be
conducted solely for the purpose of preserv-
ing the Union and maintaining the suprcma.
cy of the Federal Constitution and laws.
without impairing the dignity, equality and
rights of tue States, or of individuals, and
that when this was done the war should cease
do not say that this declaration
is personally binding on those who Joined
In making 1t any more thar individual
members Of Congress are personally bound to
pay public debt created under a law for
which they voted. But it was solemn pub.
lie official pledge Of the national honor, aud
cannot imagine upon what grounds the re.
pudiatiOn Of it is to be justified, if it be re-
membered that this promise was not made to
Rebels only. Thousands of true men in the
South were drawn to our standard by it. and
hundreds of thousands in the North gave
their lives in the belief that it would be car
ried out. 1t was made on\the day after the first
battle Ofthe war had been fought and lost. All
patriotic and intelligent men then saw the nc
cessity of giving such an assurance, and be-
lieved that without it the war would end in
disaster to our cause. Having given that as
surance in the extremity of our peril, the vi>
ulatIOn of it now in the day of our power
would be rude rending of that good faith
which holds the moral world together our
country would cease to have any claim upon
the confidence of men. 1t would make the
war not only a failure but a fraud. Being
sincerely convinced that these views are ccr>
rect, l would be uufaithiul to my duty if |
did not recommend the repeal of the acts of
Congress which place ten of the Southern
States under the domination of military mas
tiers. If calm reflection shall satisfy a ma
jOrity Of your honorable bodies that the acts
referred to are not only u violation of the ma
tiOnal faith, but in direct conflict with the
Constitution, l dare not permit myself to
doubt that you will immediately strike them
from the statute book. To demonstrate the
unconstitutional character of those acts |
need do no more than refer to their general
provisions. 1t must be seen at once that
they are not authorized to dictate what alter
atoms shall be made in the Constitutions of
the several States to control the elections of
State Legislators and State officers. members
OF Congress, and electors of President and
Vice President, by arbitrarily declaring who
shall vote aud who shall be excluded from
that privilege. To dissolve State LegisIa>
lures or to prevent them from assembling, to
dismiss judges and other civil functionaries
of the State, and appoint others, without re.
gard to State law; to organize and operate
al! the political machinery OF tie StRes; to
regulate the whole administration OF their do.
mestic and local affairs according to the mere
will OF strange and irresponsible agents, sent
among them for that purpose-theSe are pow
ers not granted to the Federal Government
or to any one of its branches Not being
granted, we violate them in the face of pos
tive inrerdict, for the Constitution forbids us
20 do whatever it does not aifirmativelv au-
thorize either by express words or by clear
implications. Ii the authority we desire to
use does not come to us through the Consti
tuition we can exercise it only bv usurpation
and usurpation is the most dangerous of DO
lltIeai crimes. by that crime the enemies of
free government in all ages have worked out
their designs against public liberty and pri>