Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-07-16
3 COLUMBUS O., TUESDAY MORNING. J

/ ers of 1889 appreciated the, necessity of pro-
! tecting the citizens OF the several States in
| each of the States. Hence, Section. 2, Of
/ Article 4, Of the Constitution THE citi !
zens of each shall be entitled to all the
| privileges and itnh1uhities OF citiz4ns
in the several States =, ~ whereby each
State was prohibited from withhold
| ing from citizens of any State ii
| the Union, the privileges and irnmunities
4 accorded to its own citizens. They also
saw the necessity of protecting all persons
in the enjoyment Of life, liberty and prop
erty," unless they were. deprived of the
same by due process of law. Hence the
provisions OF Article 5. of the amendments
! to the G institution: mo (person) shall be
| deprived of life, liberty or property, with
| out due process of law.n These protective
| provisions in the Constitution of 1888, are
similar and about equal in extent to those
| proposed in the pending amendment; but
under the Constitution of 1889, Congress
has no power to legislate upon these SUBJ
| jects. The Constitution, in these particu-
| lars, is protective of the citizen, and any
State legislation inconsistent with these
| provisions of the Constitutions is uncopsti-
| tutional and void, and wou d be- so held by
the courts, and the citizen protected against
the State. ~ 'i- '-'l '-i lil 'A' ii''-
| The legislative powers of Congress are
carefully defined by the Constitution, and
are limited Gn the Language of the late
| IRepablieaH Gonvenefona to National pur-
poses," only, leaving all subj bjeets of State,
local or municipal character to State legis-
| lation. -srra -f -slrE -a. -5.u
| Such, my countrymen, was the Ameri-
can system adopted by our fathers. 1t the
| Constitution had given to Congress the
| right to legislate upon all subjects affect
ing the life, liberty and property of the
| citizens of the States, and within the States,
| a hn1 q fcr1hi mo for Of 1oti
would have been withdrawn from the
States, and made subject to the control of
the Federal Government, which would
emphatically have been a centralized and
consolidated power. This Capitalization
and consolidation of power was not, at the
time of framing the Constitution, without
jealous and able advocates. All those who
doubted the capacity of the people for self
government, and were not friendly to the
American system" as finally adopted,
were in favor of extending the Federal
power and withdrawing from the States.
The men entertaining those opinions
have not been without their admirers from
that day to this. r- .-- -..,-.... ...
In my opinion there is, in this proposed
amendment to the Constitution, provisions
tending to and intended to be used in, the
total subversion of the system of govern
ment devised by our fathers, and substan-
TALLY ignoring the existence of the States,
or of making them mere dependencies of
the Federal Government. Can any man
doubt, that if the right to legislate upon
all subjects affecting 'life, liberty and
property had been among the powers
granted to Congress by the Constitution of
1888, that we should this day be looking to
the laws of Congress to ascertain our
rights and duties as citizens of the State,
instead of to the acts of our own LegiSlal
ture. Unless the trainers of this amend
ment intend that Congress shall exercise
this legislative power, then there is no rea-
son why these provisions should be incor-
porated in it; for ss protective provisions,
and as limiting the power of the State,
they have always been in full force. ~ ~.
We are not, however, left to mere con-
lecture upon this subject. { s- FL.
The 9TH section of this amendment pro-
vides specifically that: 1.-THE Congress
shallhave power to enfore by appropriate
legislation the provisions of this article"
Congress shall have power to enforce"
How enforce? but by supervising and linn
iting State legislation, or by enacting upon
all. these subjects such laws as Congress
may deem appropriate, and by withdraw
ing these subjects entirely from State leg
islation. So.
Such, my countrymen, is the proposed
amendment to the Constitution. Such the
attempts already made to subYert the sys-
tenn OF Government to which we have been
so long accustomed, and under which we
have grown in strength, and in we 18th,
and become powerful among the nations
OF the earth. ~ ~. ~ ~ -
Conventions may resolve that they are
"unalterably opposed" to these attempts, but
SO long as the whole active influence and
power of the party is given to the success
of such measures, the resolution is but an
insult to the people they are seeking to
injure and outrage. -aJ
This convention of the Republican party
at Columbus recently, also, by resolution,
places itself ION the broad platform of inn
partial manhood suffrage." .
l have detained you SO long already, that
it would be unjust to you, as well as to my
self, to enter now upon the discussion of
the subject matter of this resolution. You
all know what it means. 1t is negro suf-
frage. Shall the negroes of the United
States enjoy all the privileges of citizens
of the United States, and of the several
States, to the full extent enjoyed by the
white people of the United States? This
is the question, and the simple question.
1t may be covered up and perhaps made
more acceptable to some who are doubling
the propriety of it, by calling it universal
manhood suffrage;' but call it as they may,
it is purely and simply negro suffrage, and
no other kind of manhood suffrage, that
the Republican party of this country are
determined to establish. -
Well, my friends, l am opposed to the
whole scheme. My opposition, however,
is not based upon any unfriendly feeling
toward the negroes. / would be glad to
see their condition improved, and would
cheerfully do all in my power to contribute
to their happiness and srccess. But they
are different from us physically, different
mentally and no good can result from the
attempt to make them our equals POLITICAL
ly or socially.
1t never has succeeded; it never will sue
ceed. History has written "failure'' upon
every attempt and amongst others, Mexico
stands to-day, before the world, tottering
monument to the fallacy of attempting, by
constitutions and laws, to equalize the races
| of men. +s.s.-a
| Our fathers, wise in advance of their age,
saw the -fallacy OF attempting to equalize
the races, and provided against it. By
courage and toll, and the sacrifice of life
and treasure, they secured to us the grand
and mighty inheritance of good Govern
ment. They placed it in the hands of white
men to be managed and preserved for the
white race; and in white hands it has
grown to be the admiration of the world.
| Why now abandon the principles of Gov
ernment which have been so universally
successful, and enter upon an experiment
which has proved a failure whenever and
wherever it has been tried-resulting, in
every instance, in bloodshed, disgrace and
dishonor?
A Sharp EEejOinder.
1t is related that, at a recent dinner at
the Merchant Tailors' School, London, Mr..
Disraeli made a sDeech to the effect that