Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-15

radical discipline are eNt1eht lh tue run
. of the country, we shall be told that tin
union breakers were conscientious
patriots who thought they were doinl
their duty
THOUGHTS GROWN OLD.
TNUMBER THREE
1t does not seem to me that much lighi
has been evolved in all the disputations
discussions, and disquisitions on the
meaning Of the word sovereignty, y
the possession of its attributes by the
states, and the division of il between
! them and the general government
] think that the word has served little
purpose, except to introduce unnecessary
difficulties into the debate. / do not
| think we gain any new information as
10 the nature and powers Of the states by
calling them % sovereign IA word
I really applicable 20 individuals alone.
! Kings were once, and some still are, SOW
| ereigns or suzerains over their subjects.
The word describes the powers which one
4 has over others not those which one
monarch has as contTadistinguished from
other monarchs. A state has no sover-
eign power over the citizens; for they
ARE the state, and they are not sovereign,
/ because it is not sovereignty simply to
govern ones self. Autocrat and autOc-
racy would be better words, if any un
necessary ones must be used for they
mean self-gOverning, sell-controlling,
selfgOveTnment and selfcOntrol. But
all such words only make definitions
necessary; and then come disputes about
the correct definitions, which are wholly
Spart from the questions at issue,
A town, city, parish, or county is
municipal corporation. So is a state,
though with larger powers; and 50 is
the United States. The people are the
e0fporators in all but the last, and
whether they or the states are cOTpO-
rators in that makes no difference. The
states, satisfied of the inefficTzpsy Of the
confederation, resolved to create btiy
polite and corporate, to be cailN The
United States Of America That the
United States Is such a corporation, and
not merely a partnership Of states, Is
evident from the very definition which
the law gives OF q corporation, and from
the powers and capacities with which il
is invested
A corporation" !" or " body polite and
corporate is defined to be " body ere
ated by law, composed Of individuals
united under q common name, the mem
bers of which succeed each other, and
may be continually changed, the ideal
body remaining one, identical, and the
same, notwithstanding the change OF
persons"
1t is "a body of individuals, having
perpetual succession, and invested with
the capacity To act in more or less res
poets as an individual; particularly
by taking and granting property, con-
tracing obligations, suing, enjoying
privileges and immunities, and exer-
rsf-s of af0r
OF less extensive, according to the design
Of its institdtion, or the powers con-
ferred upon it-an drtifoid! being, ex-
isting only in contemplation of law; the
creature of law; the great object in
creating which is, to bestOw the charac-
ter and properties Of individuality
on a collective and changing body of
men,
When a, 3, and c form a mere part
nership or joint stock company, they con-
tract, HIey sue, Heg convey and take by
conveyance, ia their joint or partnership
names. But when the Law incorporates (
the same persons into an insurance or Z
other company, 4 contracts, sues, con- &
veys, and takes by conveyance. The law
regards the company as person, having
an individuality of its own. separate and
distinct from that of A, b, and g; is
not being in law their property,
nor rs debts ktcig dehta
1t il a person Ia law So Is a city, q
county or state.- The law, by kind
Of poetic personification, invests the
creature Of its imagination with the
character, attributes and capacities Of "A 7.
real and actual being and so the con-
stitution regards the United States; and z
therefore it is that W., contrary TO the I
usual custom, connect lese words in the /
plural with a verb in { - singular num- I
ber, and say the United States is,n and 4
not "are -
For the necessary requisites of oeTpo- 7
ration all belong TO the United States, F.
inasmuch As without being such il could 4
not in any one respect act as an individ- [
ual or single person in law and it does 4
50 in many. 1t has individuality and
identity. II is one and the ,
same to-dgg as IL Was yesterday. and .
will be tomorrow The great object is 4
effected of bestOwing the character
and properties of individuality on
q collective and changing body, an /
aggregate and series Of men and states +
Individual citizens are bOru and die,
succeeding each other in constant z
change, aud new states are formed aud I
enter into the uIlQn, but the United \
States remains "a law the same. nj
takes property by purchase, or by treaty 7
after conquest; q grants and conveys {
land; Il contracts obligations, Issues 4
bonds, sues end IS sued, pleads and is i'm
pleaded, has common seal, and pos
5esses q variety of powers, privileges and (
The plurality of states no /
more makes Il plural than the plurality
Of citiEeus of ii state makes the state a
mere partnership Of its citizens The
of the United States is not in +
law the joint property Of the states. its
debts are not their debts nor are the
states parties in law 10 its GOnds, its
grants, or 2 treat ties.
When the constitution was made. each
state was a corporation, with such pow
ars and franchises as the people of each
had chosen to invest it withaI. When
the constitution took effect, and the
United States began iis corporate ma
.i0nal ezisience,kt took such powers aud
was invested with such pTeTogatives as
the people of the several states, acting in
their corporate capacity as states, chose
70 conieri aud those of the states re-
mained as before, except so far as they
we're limited and narrowed or wholly
taken away by the new charter.
The superior dignity of the constitu-
corporation, Ia no wise change the gen
sral rule TO be applied in constituting its
charter. That rule is, that a corporation
l&s such powers, fFanchises, perogatlves,
aud privileges, only, as are specified and
granted in the charter Of its ereat ton or
acts amendatory thereof, or
As result from the mere fact OF its being
corporation, and without which il would
not be u corporation, and have perpetual
existence, or eontinuauee OF identity at
ALL Whatever the power and dignity OF
the corporation, the same legal
rules Of construction apply and
govern as in expounding aud inter
preting the charter of town. In all
.he grant of powers is to be stritiy con
5trued, and vet so literally Is that the
general object and purpose Of the creation
lf the corporation are not to be defeated
We are not 10 use the technical stricmess
with which we cOHstrue penal statutes,
and in favor Of The life or liberty of the
citizen but only that which is necessary
in order not to stretch and extend the
powers of the corporation beyond the
plain intention Of those who enacted
the charter, rs that intention may
he fairly aud naturally deduced from
the words. Technical words are
TO be regarded as used in their
technical and established sense, and I
to others the common and popular sense
is to be assigned, upon the natural pre-
i'm the respective cases, that
such were the senses III which the words
were used. All the ordinary legal rules
of Interpretation apply jast as they do 10
an ordinary deed ard there is no more
necessity of what il miscalled "meta-
physics in one ease than IN the other.
/ shall not repeat those rules. They are
familiar TO every lawyer, and they all /.
concur in the one great object of aseer- I