Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-02-13
Stalls or TIE SOUTHERN STATE,

!
Uhefber the wrongs il suffers justifies
! secession. and that "the others alto
have The same right to judge Of it; and
! If they deem the cause insufficient, TO
/ dam he riOht TO sscede, and prevent Il y
necessary, By arms"
G needing these positions, what Is Il
status OF the Southern States? TO an
swer this. we waive for the present the
nosifjoD maintained by the ruling party
~ me limited Stsies, which / call the
ITnion marty for distinction, that ssces-
sion cannot be justified under any cir
cuuos,aucaz. by virtue Of the nature OF
fbe constitutional compact. We VIII
consider accession as . right, for sufiiclent
osUsa and as @ wrong which may be
rivbtfullv entertained without euch
cause: and OF the aufiiclency OF bhe
cause each party must, rom the nature
of The question, Judge fer ltselI. safe
under the belief that the compact o.
Union has been grossly violated Dy the
other States. aud that Its safety requires
Il to s.cada and in the most imposing
ana fsynaI manner decides that it will
no ionger be bound by the compact, aDd
that II seceGes from the Union Yet the
other States, Judging Rs they may Tor
theunselyes. that there is no cause for
su.h secession, and that a continued
/ ITuiop under tie compact Is important
/ :, tbeir welfare. resolve to restrain, by
/ force, the : ate from seeding; the ssces-
/ SION Of the 3.ate, then, is an issue TO be
! 9erife5 bv arms, and is not 9 fact accom-
! nIishad u1tjl Il is established by victory.
/ IT1tiI that issue is decided Icy victory or
! treaty. seression-not the right, but the
! facts in allowance. II the State Sc
coded tben she becomes a separate ma
tinp. free from the compact CT Union ;
/ n ane fail. she never accomplished her
great object Of being oHt Of the Union ;
/ INIT fha other States do accomplish their
object Of returning her an the Dnicn,
/ bouud hv all tie obligations Of the com
nsct Of Union, aud as legitimate, ne
( csssarr conclusion, entitled to all the
/ benefits. The issue Is sepafauon, seces-
sior from the Union under the
( Constitution, against continuance ia
/ tbe ITninn under the GOnstitu-
/ fion. In the latter case, the State, con-
auered. Il you please, has all her rights
Tnder the compact unimpaired as soon
/ asvauquished; otherwise disuniOn would
/ he ACCOMPLISHED by the very party which
/ f,uyht 30 maintain the Union the COM
part between the States would be viO.
/ lated, annulled, by the party which
rerorted to arms to main tain it inviOlable.
/ In the controversy, then, between the
perties ia the late struggle, while war ac-
tuai!y existed, the rights of war, as
| incident thereto between civilized States
/ necessarily uhtained; but upon the Gee.
/ s2N Atf hOstilities and Cf all resistance
/ 10 tE+party fighting against secession,
( the Constitution aud laws of the United
states, with al the obligations and rights
up5er them remained in the same force
( Is existed before sUy attempt to secede.
l have thus far based my argument
uuon your position, in which 1 concur,
+ that the political right or wrong OF seees-
sion depended upon whether the ConsC-
fnr;onal compact has been violated or
not. But this is not the pcs ton assumed
/ Lv the Northern party in the late coz
/ ttst Ttis party maintained that State
/ could not iiadeT Gi3g circumstances, Sc
cede: that any State aIiluaLee Of sececs
/ sion was rulI and void, ald all who
/ cLeved il were traitors; and tbat as soon
- al opposition should lie overcome,
each Stale should have lis rights IL the
/ Union unimpaiEed The conclusion Is
/ he same logically in either case, IL the
fist secession was uUjustitisble, and
the compact Of UGion must not be
/ imp2ilcG. NictCry sustains the
/ Union over all the S-2res, a. States, with
the Constitution ar sYs, in full force.
/ Ia the other ca c "pre ended secession is
reither more nor less than rebellion ;
aud when the rebellion WIS put down,
/ the Union remained, not restored,
! uniupsireJ, as il existed by virtue OF the
] Constitution sll the time from lis first
/ formation, WITH the amendments since
duly made. Thus the logical re sult must
/ lie the same, whether ycu admit or not
/ The doctrine Of secession, as rightly
I qualified by you. In either case the
/ conclusion mEst be that the Union. that
/ i The Constitution Of the United States,
/ continued 10 exist in iGiI force to their
! farlhest bounds, and that the war was
waged by the Government only TO en-
| force obedience to the Constitution and
laws. II you admit the right of seces-
sion. however qualified, then it must fol-
/ low that those vino resisted the United
! States Government in obedience TO a se-
cgding state, would not be guilty of trea'
son: whereas they would be If secession
be denied. This is the only difference.
Tie difference between you and my
! self is important. | desire to be dis.
/ tirc,Iy understood. We agree in the
right Ct secession when it is based upon
q moral right and adequate cause. We
agree that there IVES adequate cause. We
I agree that TIE sggrieved 5 Jate must Judge
for Itself and that the other States have
! the same right to judge that they have
not violated the compact. The Others
NAV deem the cause" for secession
! " insufficient, deny the right to seeede
and preCs1t IL, II necessary, 6y arms. u
| That is precisely The case that cid exist.
! The Southern States believed that they
/ had sufii5 lent cause 10 seeede, and tried
d. ,fhar Gfa4ns dcnTf1 ad fhe
cause Insufficient, denied the right to Sc
cede, aud prevented it by arms. Then
the Southern States did not sccede; they
! were never cut of the Union. 1t is true,
they adopted ordinances Of secession,
! ana used all the means in their power Il
/ seuarate themselves effectually from the
other States; but these denied the right
| and exercised their right which yoU
coucede, TO prevent, and they did pre-
| vent, secession by arms,
The attempt to tecede was promptly
met and prevented most effectually
Secession was not an accomplished fact
Then no S ate was sut of the Union anC
no State has, according tO this argument
10 be Te-admitted ia the Union. Nc
State threw of or seeded from any o
lis obligations, however it may have
sought to do 90, from the Constitutions
compact, nor lost any Of its constitutional
rights. This is the logical conclusion
from your premises, and not that The
seeding States withdrew from, and are
now out Of, the Union. The praotica
consequences Of this conclusion are i'm
pOrtant: Fnst-COncede that State hai
a right 10 Judge whether it has sufficient
cause TO seeede, and accordingly an
nouuces that it Judges the cause suff1
cieut, aud takes the first great trial steE
by solemn ordinance by its citizens il
convention; then the war must be wageC
by the other States resisting upon the
State ss a political body to prevent j
fccm doing e wrong, and tn force it tC
dO-What? Remain in the Union RnC
10 be Obedient to the Constitution anC
laws. A war cannot go beyond its pur
pose without violating the very princi
ple upon which il was first waged. Al
soon as the State is coerced, it is in thS
Union under the C2cstituuonal obliga
tions which it sought 70 throw off; ant
the State and sll its zens have all th'
Constitutional and legal rights which
they hsd before. Second-The citizen
OF the State Obeying It's ordinance Of Sc
cessi0n could not be tried for treason.
There is another important view 4
take Of this great controversy, which
{ neg You 10 lBAuiEt me 10 take. ~ !
this: The right OF secession under an!
circums tanceR, was 2T=st issue between
the sec. ions, NCrth arG south. Howeve
earnestly asserted, p IS as earnestl,
denied. War was tne result and afte
, a terrible war, the North conquered
This, you will say, does not settle the at
stract rIgbt-the right cf the question
Admitted. Neither did the partition 0
Poland, the conquest OF Scotland by Ed
ward Ill, or Of Ireland by England
settle any abstract right. But coDques
has its rights and its duties and obligs
tions. What the victor declares to b
his rights, be asserts and maintains b,
force. He must be respected; and tn
vanquished has only the dernier resor
TO sssert the right Of the conquered
Now the Northern States denied III
right Of secession most earnestly an
persistently. They insisted that the OF
dinaness Of secession we're null and void
and that no State could leave the Uniol
an instant, or divest itself Of the obliga
tions which the Constitution imposed
With most extraordinary unanimity
those States announced to the world tha
the var was made to maintain tn
Union and the rights of all the State
/ uuimpaired. They conquered, and hav