The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-03-03
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Are We u N1saons ~S~ =
s,it The great ;queatiQn. ,sreiwa ajaation !
ahaa been up for discussion, and is .decid.
ed in the Affirmative by the wise men oi
the North and East. In this answer, the
Federal Government finds sanction and
authority forall that it has done or may
do in the way of supreme control. So
large measure of power was never con
tended for until our internecine contest
silenced the organic laws of the land,
and Federal law-givers were forced to
admit that military necessity" had car.
rfed them entirely outside of the Consti-
tuition. What was seized upon then un-
der the stress OF military strategy and
the stern demands of self-preservation,
are now retained as grand measures of
administrative policy, certain to ensure
party sucoesses, even in defiance of the
popular will. When the bayonet be-
comes the guardian of the ballot, such
guardianship may be expected ns the
wolf extends toward the lamb. The in
novations made on usage and Republican
tradition, through the defiant ambition
and selfish greed of the men now in
power, have completely overturned con-
stltutional landmarks long considered as
established, and have carried our nation.
IA polity within the very verge of ire
,sponslDle and arbitrary rule. To get the
ship OF state back into her true bearings.
the man at the wheel and the officers on
the quarterback must unlearn what they
have learned amiss, and undo what they
have done.
In tho early days of the Republic,
when capacity was little honored unless
associated with honesty, such condition
OF things as now exists would have been
utterly impossible. At that time patri
otism went hand in hand with principle.
md the idea Of dopriving men of rights
which the Declaration of Independence
declared indefeasible, of oppressing the
many for the enrichment of the few. and
OF inarting Offices for gold to undesery
ers, was regarded with repugnance akin
TO that which parricide nwakens in the
Domestic ethics of ordinary humanity.
Without the consent of the people, who
are the sole source of Legitimate Q autho-
flty, we are supposed to have drifted
from confederation of equals into ma
Mon with government central, supreme,
and held to no accountability save that
OF its own imperial will.
The doctrine once obtained that the
ohange from provinces to State embraced
the glorious step from subordination to
supremacy. Now we are practically told
that the sages and revolutionary fathers
VINO uttered such opinions were Utopi-
ans ana lmpracticable theorists, who had
no true conception of the imperial au-
thority which sovereignty implied. That
radical doctrine Of to-day is that the
change from provinces to States was
mere step from one condition of subor-
dlnauon to another; that the true sove-
felgnty OF the real was transferred by the
federal paot from the individual States
70 the central Government. and that
since the date of our realized independ-
ence It mas been, and still is, an abuse of
language to call any, even of the origi.
nal thlrteen States, sovereign. Accord
ing to these modern rulings the so.caIled
Federal league has ever been a delnsion
and snare. The States could play at
sovereignty in pronouncing on mere
Questions Of local interest, bnt all the
real attributes of sovereignty acquired
by successful revolution and fellowship
IN common danger, were bartered
away, as was Esau's th-right, for de-
lusive mess of pottagel
Ii we accept the conclusion of the
party now in power we are nation, not
federation. The revolution. in which
30 much was periled, was fought in vain.
States are but enlarged Counties in the
national territory, and to question the
Imperial authority of Congress, even in
the legislation brought about by subor-
dination and bribery, is the worst of trea-
son.
Thus we 60. France is now discussing
the question whether she shall become Q
republic or limited monarchy. We have
decided by the ordeal of bitter expert
epce that republic is humbug.
Hedge it around as you may by forms,
traditions and constitutions, yet as soon
as the necessities of party or of ambition
demand, the himsy fetters will f1y
aa,sunder, 2, and might will stAe right. In
the authority Of brute force, overpower-
ing numbers and the unthinking bayonet
and battery, there is, indeed, q sort of
sovereignty, like that which the hawk
exercises over the dove, but it is not
such sovereignty as will respect either
wealth, refinement or intelligence; on
the contrary, it will exhibit itself in q
disregard of all laws but the law of re-
venge, all rights but the victor's assumed
right to plunder, all restraints save that
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