The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1868-10-22

the gpr0V1SlOHS which declares that
each State shall be entitled to two
Senator's provision deemed so sa-
cred that it never can be changed, not
even by Constitutional amendment,
without the consent of the States
sought to be deprived of such repre-
fsentation. Again, if these States re-
tanned their character as States of the
Union, the consequence is inevitable
that they were States to all intents
and purposes. The cardinal idea as to
the States is that of equality. No
State has more power than another.
AL have the same rights, and are sub
tject to the same duties. When Con-
gress declares that the State of Vir-
ginia has lost her right to representa-
ton in Congress they deny that she is
"a State. When Congress denies to
Virginia the right to regulate the suf-
frage of her citizens they take from
her, one of the highest attributes Of a
State of this Uunion. i,7 sTaye .ess-f
Between these two classes of the
Republican party, that class who place
the right of exclusion upon the ground
that the States are out of the Union,
show most logical consistency. If
they are right in their premise, they
rare right in their conclusion, but there
is no lWay1in which the other class can
put their theory with even the SEM
biance of. propriety. In point of fact
they are equally wrong one is wrong
in the. premise, the other in the con-
clusion. 9saj S52H .Hosij= irilt
Secession did not take the States
out of the Union and if not, then, as
States, they are entitled to representa-
ton. Let!us put the question in an
other light. These States were in re-
bellion against the Federal authority.
They were in actual insurrection.
Such a condition of things as to States
is contemplated by the Constitution,
which gives to the Federal authority
the right and makes it its duty to put
down the insurrection, mot to put down
the States, to restore the former rela-
tions, not to destroy them.
j. take ii, therefore, to be clear that
not one of these Southern States was
at any time taken out of the Union.
Virginia, for instance, was just as full
ly q State of the Union in 1866 as she
was in 1860 Her ordinance of seces-
sion was a nullity and worked no
change. The insurrection within her
borders was an illegal act, and was
lawfully put down by force of.arms.
Our Federal system hangs upon the
position that no State can withdraw
from the Union by its own yolition
or by unsuccessful instruction. Once
a State, always State: You may make
q State out of a Territory, but you
can never make a Territory,-ou out Of q
State. Show me a State once in the
Union, and now out of the Union, and
you show me dissolved Union-the
result of secession followed by sue
cessful rebellion. No, fellow-citizens,
nothing short of successful revolution
can sever the ties which bind the
States together. In that case arms
take the place of law, and the arbitra-
ment isfnal. a5 si FaI
RECOGNITION BY CONGRESS OF THE EX-
IsTENcE OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
This theory that the eleven South
ern States ceased to be States in virtue
of their ordinance of secession is a
shanl-a false pretense manufactured
to justify the course pursued toward
them by the Republicans in Congress.
If time served could prove its falsity
out of their own mouths. Let one in
stance suffice. The Constitution pro-
vides that new State shall not be
made out of the territory Of State
without the consent of the old State.
;. When Congress set about to make a
new State out of the territory of Vir-
ginia, to be called West Virginia
( what did they recite in the preamble
of, the act creating the new State?
They recited that the consent
of the State of Virginia had been
given. Mark it that this was done be.
: fore the ordinance of secession o1
Virginia had been repealed, and be.
fore the insurrection had been pu
down. Even then, Republican Con
gress declared in the most solemn
: manner that Virginia was still Statt
of the Union, and that she had Leg
S islature capable of giving assent t'
4 such an act of sovereign authority a
7 the partition of her territory.
Look through all the legislation o
Congress during the war,and in ever.
s act, and in every resolution, the clever
: political communities engaged in tn
e rebellion are everywhere recognizes
s as States. They are uniformly de
= scribed as Gas the insurrectionar,
T States" or as estates in insurreclion.
Find, If you can, any act or resolution
g of Congress, passed during the war o
e since, which declares that all thes
e States, or any one of them, ever cease
to. be State. The legislative desig
IS nation given to them when the insul
rection was subdued is that of Estate
d lately in rebellion" -,...-. H..
r Nay, my friends, the Republica
.e Congress admitted Representative
n and Senators from those States
n. seats in each branch of the Nations
to Legislature, not as delegates from Tel
le ritories, but as Representatives an
in Senators from States-and this whi
~ the ordinances of secession were III
ne repealed and the rebellion was in flu
in vigor. What, then, has peace accon
to plished what war could not accon
ve, plish? Is this the fruits this IL
It, consumation? Did our gallant al