The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1869-04-02

! SHoulu tue ISSultS " pollcy so. mo-
mentous in its bearings, so important
in its results, and so destructive to the
very essence of our institutions. | ap-
p.oach it with no partisan feeling, in
no demagogueical spirit, but with the
feelings of one who, laying his hand
upon his heart, would do his utmost to
serve his constituents, to aid in the ell
/ ovation Of his fellow man and to pre-
serve and perpetuate the Common
wealth he loves, in which he was born
and on whose loved soil he hopes to
die. The consequences Of this amend
ment are far reaching. Itconeerns the
tiny infant, the gray-headed father,
the wife and mother, the young and
the old. Unborn generations are to
| feel its effects, and the destinies of the
State are in its keeping in its adop-
ton the we'll known and recognized
landmarks of our system and the es-
tablished policy of the fathers OF the
government are to be reversed. We
should approach its consideration, sir,
with the consciousness that this is the
forum of the people; that around US
now and within the sound of our voices
are gathered the living millions of the
Commonwealth, and that from this ele
walton the echo Of our voices, the sol
emn record of our votes are to pene-
trate the unknown years of futurity.
Feelings of awe at the magnitude of
the issue should prompt us to announce
here the grave reasons that impel us to
adopt or TO reject it, and | can but ex-
press my regret that the republican
party upon this floor, gentlemen of ed
ucation, of talent and of eloquence,
representing a majority of the people
of the State, have in obedience to a pre-
arranged order, seen fit in silence to
register the will of caucus. ] regret,
and | believe that i represent five
sixths of the people of the State when
/ say it, that they nave refused to rem
der here the reasons that impel them
to the votes they are about to give. In
a back room of the capitol, during the
past night, the Senators representing
$40, 900 of the electors and two millions
of the people of Pennsylvania, have
choked the arguments that should find
utterance here, and in grim and moody
silence, before the assembled majesty
of the people, and In the presence of
their constituents, await the hour for
casting the votes that are to adopt a
policy that affects the very life of our
institutions within this Common
wealth. For this refusal, Senators,
you must answer to your constituents,
and / arraign you before them with the
proud consciousness that upon this is
sue represent not the minority but
the vast majority of the people.
Sirs, the party to which you belong
is an aggressive onei inexorable par
ty necessity presses you onward; you
must advance; right or wrong you
must go on; if you stop to concert
measures to bring good government,
peace and rest TO an exhausted people,
if you do but turn aside to cause truth
and justice and equity to reign in all
the land, your inability to govern is
demonstrated, and the party you boast
as your pride is proved to be as "base-
less as the fabric of vision" 1t is
this inexorable necessity that is now
pressing you forward. 1t is this that
compels you to-day to crush out with
the will ofan accidental majority the
reference of this question to the people,
and to deny to them their right to pass
upon it, and it is this that impels you
to place your hands upon your mouths
and by silence to acknowledge the
weakness of your cause and your ina
bility to defend the measure you intend
| to vote for.
| now address myself to our power
over this subject, and will briefly re-
produce the arguments advanced in the
minority report of this morning;
Sovereignty is in the people, not in
the sense in which this assertion is Of
ten lightly made, but in that substan-
tial and important sense which makes
it the very basis of our system Of gov
ernment. Our own constitution ex-
plicitly provides in the second section
of the declaration of rights, that all
power is inherent in the people,"
This great power is not vested in the
State. nor in the United States. Neith'
er legislature nor q convention can
possess it.
Under our system the work of con-
vention specially delegated to form
constitution is imperative until it is
passed upon by the people, and receives
from their hands its vitality. The
Constitution of the United States and
that of our own State both passed the
ordeal of the people and became opera
tive only under their approval. The
tendency of public opinion is more and
more in this direction, for of the con-
stitutions adopted in the United States,
| upwards of eighty have thus been SUBJ
mitted and approved.
The proposition contained in the
amendment is a fundamental one. BY
this we mean that it was one of those
vital and important rights that enter
ed deeply into the compromises OF the
Constitution and that potcer 0Uer IL 'ed'
IL III
qiuea neither to the Federal nor the stdtt
government, but that the right to de
clare who should exercise the power o.
election in the State was reserved tt
the people and remains with them.