The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-05-06
.CO(,lLtINlTlBTA. [ J
Wednesday Morning. Nay g, 1853.
.SProarsas,. and the oonstitusio=,

ME. Steyens, the maSter-spiftGs pt
the radical party in Congress and Q6t
of it. Has said: s'Some of the msnns
bers of the Senate seemed to donhs
| their powers under the Consultation,
which they had just repudihsed and
wholly outside of which all agreed
that we were acting, else, our whole
4 work Of. recoustfuctioni vas asufpa-
:. ,tion."- eEyenathe- New,.York, Times,
which represents. o more cautious
radical sentiment, he's said: $50
much of the strong effort Of the last
six -yeafss military and civil, has
BEEN done eo,aside of the letter
of the Constitution. that it ia
vain labor to appeal to any abso-
lutte constitutional guide, however
earnestly moderate and conservative
mon may. desire to make such IN
appeal. r. The Baltimore Sun thinks
there is no more ominous sign that
the country is drifting towards. un-
known and dangerous shores, than an
impaired respect and veneration of
the American Constitution. The
sneers and scoffs with which all ap-
peals to that fundamental law Of our
tGovernment are met by the extreme
radicals, and the grave declaration OF
more rejecting organs of that party,
like the Times, that ''it is vain labor
to appeal to any absolute constitu-
tional guide, " indicate want OF in
telligent appreciation of the princi-
Piles and valueNof free constitutional
forms which, If prevalent among a
majority of the citizens of t.iis coun-
try, would render them an easy prey
to the usurpation of all rights and
liberty. It is common thing to
hear from the radical press that the
Constitution formed in 1857, with its
government Of limited powers, does
not meet the wants and necessities of
1867; that the country has out grown
the Constitution; and that we might
as we'll attempt to make the garment
of child fit q man, as that instru-
ment, fabricated in our political in
fancy, meet the requirements Of q
republic eighty years old. It is diff
cult to understand what want Of
adaptation there is between those
maxims of political wisdom, the pro-
duct of centuries of experience in
England, embodied and applied in
the Constitution by the greatest
statesmen of America, and the extra
ordinary material growth and pro-
gress Of the country. Certain it is,
that, under this Constitution, We
Z have run q career of wealth aud
! prosperity unparalleled in the annals
of nations, and which was never in
terrupted till its principles were de-
parted from. Besides, the Constitu-
ton, among its other evidences of
sagacity and forecast, contains within
itself an explicit provision by which
it may be legally changed, whenever,
in the opinion of the people, such a
change is necessary. It, therefore,
meets all possible demands of pro-
gress, whether material or politi-
cal, and no necessity whatever can
arise for going in time of peace for
years outside the fundamental law
which the people have themselves
enacted. That Congress has done so,
is admitted by its great radical leader,
and, according to the New York
Times, so much has been done in
that direction that it is vain to ap-
peal now to any absolute constitu-
tional guide. If this be so, then the
people of the United States are at
this moment practically without
Constitution; the limitations it i'm
poses upon the various departments
OF the Government have ceased to
exist; military governments may be