The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-02-04
Letters from the People.
Our System of Government WIN
ID it<

7 thduC at cuHuOWH, iCdu duh choi IS
made at randem." l attempted in thai
article TO show that our system of Civi
Polity consisted of the theory, plan, OF
ideal, which the Fathers conceived anG
evidenced to us by the Constitution
they established; that this system i:
self-existent, and rot dependent for it,
existence, but only for physical expires
sion and practical results, on the People
who are constantly changing, and that
this sy stem can only be displaced, mod
ified, or impaired by amendments of the
Constitution in the modes pointed out
or by successful and accomplished Rerolu
ti0a-the right of which eur Fathers
admitted to exist, and it's exercise jus
| tifiable ia extreme cases. / will now
attempt to give an outline of the sys,
TEN of Civil Polity that they establish.
ed.
Prior to July 4th, 1776, the thirteen
Colonies, though separated, were
united by common allegiance
to the British Crown. That on
that day they unitedly declared
their Independence to sustain which,
they conducted TO complete success, the
most unequal war ever known. Imme-
| diately after the declaration these colo
MES assumed for themselves the dignity
and character of sovereign States, and
the people of nearly all formed for
| themselves respectively, State cons:itu-
tioRs; and in them, while the terrible
and unequal war was raging-laid the
| first foundations of Onr present polity.
They placed the sovereign power, which
| in the mother State was vested in the
King. in their respective peoples, who
were to execute the same through
agents whom they periodically elected
or appointed, made responsible to the
people and v no were sworn to obey and
/ conform to the respective State COnsti-
tntions, which provided for the three
great departments of Government: Leg
! islative, Executive and Judicial, care
| fully defining the duties and powers of
each, aud in many instances expressly
| forbidGng any interference with each
other in the discharge Of their respect
i've duties. The Legislative was TO
| oOutiue itself to making the laws: the
| Executive, who was made commander
| in-chief of the army, to carry the laws
into execution, and the Judicial to in-
terpreting and applying the same to
cases as they should arise. In l717 the
thirteen States, through their Legisla-
lures, entered into compac., which
they called ARTICLES of Confederation"
! This was compact or league
between the several sovereign States, to
which the States in their corporate ca.
pacity were the parties, and not their
respective people who held the SOW
ereign power. These articles provided
| for no Federal Executive, ner Judiciary
department., but only Legislature,
called the Congress, constituted of del
egates appointed by the Legisla-
tare Of each State. This Congress was
empowered to pass laws, but it had no
| Federal Executive TO enforce them after
they were passed, nor Federal Courts TO
expound and apply them. All that
Congress could do, was to entreat the
respective sovereign States to make
their respective people obey them.
J While the war lasted and the outside
pressure was strong, the authorities OF
| the States generally complied, but when
peace came in 1893, and the outside
/ pressure was removed, many of the
States declined, and the Congress be-
came remediless-unless il could per
suade the complying States to compel
/ those that were recusant, by declaring
war against them. A more deplOrable
/ 80 fhin,vo ha m n ~ nod M
taxes could be raised TO pay the heavy
| debt, or interest, or even the current
expenses of the Congress. 1t was "a
rops Of sand" in truth.
| Thus circumstauced, the great mea
who had carried through the unequal
war, aroused themselves to make secure
| the precious boon they had purchased at
so great sacrifices, met in convention
| in Philadelphia, and with George Wash
ington in the chair, devised and put in
form our present National Constitution
| 1t describes the parties whose work it
was to be thus: I'VE, the people of the
| United States, do Orddip and establish
this Constitution for the United States
OF America" and when the draft was
completed it was submitted to the peo-
pie convened in their respective States
TO sigu or ratify, and provided when
ratified by the people of nine of the
thirteen States, it should be binding to
that extent, and might be put
in operation, which was done In
1850, and the other States rat
flied after. Art. d, sec. 2nd, declares,
that the Constitution and laws of the
United States made in pursuance there
of, treaties, &c, shall be the supreme
law of the land and the Judges of every
State shall be bound thereby, anything
in the Constitution or laws thereof to
the contrary notwithstanding" Art. .,
amendment, reads thus: "The enumer
alton in the Constitution of certain
rights shall not be construed to deny OF
disparage others retained by the Peo'
ple." Art. 10, amendment, r.ads thus
1.-THE powers not delegated to the Uni
ted States by the Constitution, nor pro.
hibited by it to the States are reserves
to the States respectively, or to the Peo'
ple." -, .
These are the clauses showing that
it was the people, who possessed the
sovereign power, that made it; that de.
clared that the powers expressly granted
/ to the National Government thereby,
should be the supreme ldw of the land,
any State constitution or laws thereof
to the contrary Notwithstanding; and
that all powers not so granted were re-
served to the States respectively or to
the people. They express the distriou
ton of powers made, and the relation OF
those powers so clearly as to leave nc
room for comment, which is the cast
generally with tie production oi
these great men. The reasons why
the fathers Submitted the ratification
to the people instead ofthe Legislatures
was that the people held or controitet
all sovereign powers, and so were able
to reserre or take back, any powers, they
had previously granted to their respec