Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-03-02

troll had they over Virginia If the pee
pie agreed to it Rli, 7ChO agreed, and icH
whom > individual with individual
They could not 90 that. Some person
in Virginia, many, Patrick Henry 10
one, were opposed to ratifying the con
stitutiOn. That was a minority. tn
, majority could only cede the rights O
/, the State, by action had through the con
: stituti0aal organisms. And what al
surdity It becomes TO look elsewhere 10
! the authors Of the grant, for the grantOr
! when we knew that Virginia, as a State
ratified the constitution, and SO 2Dqs tn
{ grantorl
: Virginia, then, agreed TO these things
She necessarily plighted her faith tina
she would keep her promises Otherwise
. what a rope OF sand the constitution
would have been If its continuance
depended, and the Observance of lts pro
visions, not on the solemn sacred faitt
Of the States, but on the Whim Of the
people Of all the States-Or, in the last
resort, force, and not the public honor o.
the States No wonder that States have
no consciences, if their faith is pighted
for nothingi Why should they not then,
pass personal liberty bills, and without
scruple violate the constitution; as men
readily offend against Odious Laws, when
they do not feel their conscience OF
honor concerned, and themselves under
personal obligation to obey them.
Did the States not agree with each
other, to give full faith and credit to the
public acts, records and judicial proceed
ings Of each other? By what direct
action upon individuals could the gen
eraI government prevent the granting Of
a patent of nobility by State, OF pre-
vent a State from entering into n COM
pact or agreement with a foreign power
or with another State when the con-
stitUtiOn provided that criminals and
fugitive slaves, escaping into other
States, should be 'deliUcrcd up; was
this not an AGREEMENT on the part of
each State, that it would not merely
remain quieseent and inactive, offering
no opposition and interposing no
. obstacle, but that it would dcttcely
bestir itself, and deliver up the Grim
inal and fugitive2 Perhaps, if the States
( had not been taught that their faith and
[ honor were gGt concerned 10 see this
/ provision made eifectual,- they lad
not been taught that they owed no dr.
| ties, and had incurred no obligations, by
| this clause, it not being their agrceDtCHt
but only the tar, contrary to the higher
| law and imposed on them by the 'One
/ people of all the States, the spirit Of the
constitution, and its letter too, If il had
been rightfully interpreted, might have
ruled the Northern States, and their
constitutional duties, in this respect,
have been performed. The faith and
4 honor OF a State is a guarantee of its
/ fidelity, as much superior to its mere
/ duty 10 obey the law imposed by & supe-
/ riOr, as the faith and honor Of a gentle-
man, than The duty of a mob TO observe
I the faith Of contracts and respect the
rights of innocence.
In the absence, indeed, of this plighted
4 faith and honor Of the States, as the
only sure and solid foundations of a
/ National Government, il the States
! were TO exist at all, there was no real
guarantee for the performance Of cOnSti-
I tutional duties, and therefore none for
I the continuance Of the Republic. 1t
| was not possible for It to endure. Like
a mass Of sand, not yet hardened into
rock, the Nation, not composed Of States,
cemented together by the sacred faith
/ and honor Of each, but Of the people Of
all, was a mere cOnglomerate Of myriad
particles without cohesion. Like the
creature made by krankenstein with the
form and features and al the parts and
organs OF q man, and life and the func-
tions Of life, and intellect, it was yet a
monster.
II the Constitution was made by the
people Of al the Udited States, or if it
made the people of all the States one
people, and the States were not parties
10 the Constitution, aud promised moth
ing by it, and engaged themselves to
nothing by il, then, that people being
one, il has the same natural and inherent
rights as any other people or political
unit. IF that people came to consider
the existing form Of government destruc-
tive of any Of the ends for which it was
Instituted, IL had the riQht to alter or
abolish il, and to institute a new govern
ment, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing It's powers
in such form, as to them might
seem most likely to effect their
safety and happiness.' No phghted
faith between the States would inter-
veue to prevent that. There was none
such. There was, at most, only the
promises Of man TO man, among the
pvriads of 8 the nation That the con-
stituGon provided a specific mode for its
amendment could not restrict this inali-
enable and limitless power. They were
but like similar provisions in a State
Consultation, in despite of which the
people may, in convention, make new
constitution when, ana as often, as they
please They can repeal il when they
nlease. in the exercise Of the same power
bV which they made it. If there are
promises, they are not made by the
people to the States, for then the States
would be parties TO the compact. They
are Of the same sauetity as the prom
ises in a State Constitution, revO-
cable at any time. The one people has
only to meet in convention and make a
1Is.
abolish the equal suffrage Of each State
| in the Senate, create an empire, elect an
| Emperor. Who could deny the right OF
&C the people - to govern Itself in its own
way fit has made one government
proper, acting directly on individuals
] FOR and over the States, can It not make
another? Shall the fractions of the unit
( be permitted to gainsay its action and
rebel against it? If it is one people, the
( majority, no matter where they reside,
! even il all in the Northern States, may
l hold the convention, the Southern States
/ refusing to join iR it, and the action Of
the convention would bind the whole.
/ Ratification by the States would be ab-
! surd, as, on this theory, il was absurd at
/ first.
The one people can have no superior
I It must be absolute master of itself. All
I The ZuhldulCtS VI bfib CbusblAlNlDAl ditg
on the northern theory, necessarily de-
pendent on its autOcratic will. No drop
I of water or even wave has an independ-
ent will in the great ocean. Let there
| be no promises between the States in the
! constitution, and there is nothing OF per-
/ manence in It. 1t is true, every govern
ment is said to be founded on the con-
sent OF the people. IL is true that idle
! theories say that it always rests in con-
I tract. Ii often rests in conquest and
/ rsurpation. But if the one people made
! that Of the United States, it t0d8 a COM
| nacf between and among all the citizens,
/ Rut that compact was no more than this,
1 II the one people made the government,
/ man agreeing with man and the States
I NO oarties,-that was agreed on should
stand. aud be binding on all the frac-
( lions. until the whole, the one people,
I sec IA TO change it. There could De no
! ether contract, because, the States not
! beinr parties, the agreement is between
man and man. 1t is absurd TO speak of a
con1nacf between unit and its fractions.
There is no irrevOeable agreement be
tween a majority and minority, be-
canse these shift and change daily, and
riOhts vest only in entities. Ifthe people
I anu riOhfz a. a naot.la