Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1867-12-14

| p0rtlon) OF their citizens, were mere nullitcs.
II we admit now that they were valid aud cf-
tectual Tor the purpose intended hy their au.
tho's, we sweep from under our feet the whole
ground upon which we justified the war;
Were those States afterwards expelled from
the Union by the war ? ! he direct contrary
was avcrrcd by this Government to be its rur-
pose, and was so understood by all those who
gave their blood and treasure to aid in it's
prosecution. 1t cannot be that successful
war, wagcd for tho preservation Of the Union.
had the legal effect of dissolving it. The vic.
tory Of the nations arms was not the disgrace
OF her policy; the defeat Of secession on the
battlefield was not the triumph of its lawlcss
principle. Nor could Congress, with or with
out the consent of the Exccntivc, do any
thing which would have the effect, directly or
indirectly, of separating the States from each
other. 10 dissolve the Union is to repeal the
constitution which holds it together and that
is power which does not belong to any de-
rartmcnt Of this Government, or to all Of
| them united
This is so plain that it has been nchnow|
edged by all branches Of the Federal Govern
mcnt. The Executive (my predecessor as
we'll as MYSELF and the heads of all the De-
rartmcnts have uniformly acted upon the prin-
clp'c that the Union is not only not dissolved,
but indissoluble. Congress submitted an
amer mcnt of the constitution 10 be ratified
by th nthcrn States, aud accepted their
acts OF 'tication as a necessary and lawful
exercise of their highest function. If they
were not States out Of tho Union. their con
sent to change in the Fundamental law ol Tie
Union would have been nuyatorv; and Con.
grcss, in asking it, committed a political alb
' Snrdlfy Ipa h,o oil AZ,
solemn sanction Of it's authority to the same
view of the case. The Judges of the Su-
prcmc Court have included the Southern
States in their circuits, and they are constant
~, az ddnc and elsewhere, exercising iuris.
dction which does not belong to them, unless
those States arc States OF the Union
| If the Southern States arc component parts
OF the Union, the Constitution is the supreme
| law for them, as it is for al the other States
The right Of the Federal Government, which
is clear and unqucstionahlr, to enforce the
Constitution upon them, implies the corrcla-
tive obligation on our part to observe its lin
ltations and execute its guarantees. Without
the Constitution We arc nothing by, through,
and under the Constitution we are what it
makes u.s. We may doubt the wistlsm of the
law, we may not approve of its provisions, but
we cannot violate it merely because it seems
to coniinc our powers within limits narrower
hen we could wish. 1t il not n question Of
indlvidnnl, or class or sectional interest, much
less OF party prcdominancc but of duty--of
high and sacred duty-which we arc all sworn
to perform. If we cannot support the Con
stitution 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 solemn obligations and commands which
they dare not disregard.
She constitutional duty is not the only one
w'Eiinh requires the States to be restored There
is another consideration which, though of mi
nor Importance i, yet OF great weight. On
the 22d day of July, 1861, Congress declared,
by an almost unanimous vote of both Houses,
hat the war should he conducted solely for
the purpose of preserving the Union, and
maintaining the supremacy of the Federal
Constitution and laws, without imraring the
dignity equality, and rights of tile States or
of individuals; and that when this was done,
he war should cease. I do not say that this
declaration is personally binding on those who
joined in making it, any more than individual
members Of Congress arc personally bound to
pay public debt created under the law for
which they voted Ru. it was n solemn, pub.
lie, official pledge Of the national horor, and
[ cannot imaginc upon what grounds the re.
pndia'ion Of it is to he justified. II il be said
that we arc not bound to keep faith with rcb.
els, let it be remembered that this promise
was not made to rebels only. Thousands Of
true men in the South were drawn to our stan
dnrd by it, and hundreds of thousands in the
North gave their lives i'm the belief that it
would he carried out 1t WAS made on the
| day after the first great battle of the war had
been fought and lost Ali patriotic and in.
clligcnt men then saw the necessity Of giving
such an assurance, and believed that without
| it the war would end in disaster to our cause.
! Laying given that assurance in the extremity
of o,,;r neil the violation of it, now. in the
day Of our pUwcr, would be rude rcnding Of
that good taih Which "olds the mortal world
together; our country wv. :" cease to have
any claim uron the confidence U men, 1T
would make the war not only failure, hut
fraud.
Being sinccrely convinced that these views
arc correct, | would be unfaithful to my duty
if did not recommend the repeal Of the Acts
of Congress which place ten of the Souh3rr
States under tho domination of military mas
ters. If calm reflection shall satisfy major
ity of your honorable bodies that the Acts re-
fcrrcd to arc not only violation of the ma
tional faith, but in direct conflict with the
Constitution, dare not permit myself todoubt
that you will Immediately strike them from
the statute book.
To demonstrate tho unconstitutional char
actcr Of those Acts, I need do no more than