Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-07-22


TRUTH is none the less truth that
we must and do yield it to force: 1t
remains and stands undeniable and
eternal nevertheless. The late war
may have. determined that certain
rights shall be destroyed, and that the
States and people shall not enjoy them
for the future; but they remain never
theless. subject to rise and worthy to
be respected the moment they cease
TO be repressed by irresistible force, or
whenever wisdom and prudence and
Justice shall demand their re-establish-
ment. Whatever on compulsion we
may see fit or find it necessary to
Weld, if IS evident therefore that self
respect requires that Of our true con
viction and principle we should vol
UNFAIRLY cOncede nothing. That the
Constitution cannot be amended as to
the suffrage so as to control the
States without the unanimous
consent Of all the States is as much
a matter of fact as that the pretense
Of amendment in this respect has been
by force and fraud. We may bow be-
fore the Ubiquitous mandate; we may
find it for our interest to obey it; we
may think it wisest to yield submits
siveiy for a time; but it is disgrace TO
affirm that I" might makes right" and
that the iniquity of Congress should
have the permanent sanction of the
country. Every thing in its time
Suficientior the day is the evil thereof.
We call attention TO the following able
letter Of Hon. James A. Dawson, OF
Frankfort, Ky, taken from the Rich
mCnd (ky.) Register, in which this
subject is happily and strongly PIE
scented:
FRANKFoRT, KY, July 4, 1879.
Moor S. Turner, Richmond, N.Y.:
Ny DEAR SIR very much regret
that sickness in my family will prevent
me from attending and participating in
lie pleasures OF the barbecue at your
place tomorrow, as l promised you /
would.
There are many reasons why l desired
10 be with You on that occasion, among
which is The fact that the object had in
view meets with my most hearty sympa-
tiny, as well as the cordial approval OF my
Judgment; in fact, IL has been a favorite
plan Of mino since the PRONUNCIATION Of
The so-calIed Fifteenth Amendment,
which ] hold 10 be utterly and absolute
ly void.
1 maintain, in the first place, that the
subject matter of the amendment is not
within the purview of the amending
power, as defines in the Constitution;
that suffrage is a matter which belongs
10 the reserved rights of the States-oVer
which the General Government has no
control; hence that if every member of
both Houses of Congress mad voted for
its sGbmiss. on to the States, and every
State but kentucky had ratified it, still 1t
would be nugstOry as 70 us; because il is
a part Of our original sovereignty, never
parted with, and OF which we cannot be
deprived but by U own con-
sent. i grant that twO-thirds of Congress
and three-f0urths Of the States may
amend The Constitution in a prescribed
form astO the powers granted the General
Government; but 1 deny that under the
guisc Of amendment they may enlarge
the scope of those powers, or absorb the
rights Of the States. In other words, that
AK I1hNI - hlAthu uOEH UOL lEuUlV the
power to make a new constitution entire
~ an~tagonistic to the originsl-changing
the government from q confederation Of
CO-equal States 70 a consolidated, central
lied ~despotism, as this so-called amend
ment does.
secondly, I hold that II the power ex-
listed TO pass such an amendment. vet
that the manner Of proposing and ratify-
ing this was 50 utterly yiolative OF every
principle Of law and common decency Is
10 vitiate it. Instead of having been pro-
posed by two-thirds of Congress, it came
from two-thirds OF only a rnmp; and in
stead Of having been ratified by three
fourths Of the States, il was ratified by
less han half OF them. Eight of the
States, ! believe IL was, rejected it out
right; and in ten or twelve Of the others,
including Indiana and all the South, the
pretended ratification was so VIGOROUSLY
and monstroUsly fraudulent and forcible
as 10 rob II Of all efficacy. No man can
for a moment claim that the pretended
RATIFICATION OF this amendment by the
Southern states was In any sense the ae-
tion Of the people thereof. On the eontrE-
~, II was VIGOROUSLY the act of a yenal
and corrupt Congress, and its weak and
willing uool-the President, enforced NV
the bayonet and sword in the hands Of
petty carpet-bag military satraps, conse-
auenfly entitled 70 no other respect than
ALAL " lAA1 W u I1MI
only exist while the force is present.
Holding these views, / have maintained
that the people of Kentucky, Of the whole
country ought to put themselves in a
condition to test and litigate its validity
al the earliest possible day; and conse-
aaently that they should not estop them
selves by becoming accessories after the
fact. by accepting and acting upon il as
an a~eoomplished fact. That instead, they
ought to promptly and emphatically pro-
tesI against its validity, and In a most
emphatic form; and decline 10 recognize
n n any act which can rightfully be de-
nominated voluntary. At the FIRST i re-
commended the holding OF just such
meetings as yours. in which the white
manhood of the State should be urged to
unite and give public, prompt, and un-
mistakable expression of public senti-
mont and public determination on this
subject.
~ dadison county belongs the honor
of ~inaugurating these meetings, and
predict that the fires of patriotism and
enthusiasm which Will there be klndied
will spread to the circumference OF the
state, and overlapping the
thereof. communicate its warmth 20 the
white masses of all the States beyondi
and that whoever undertakes, with the
sprinkler Of accomplished facts, TO stay