Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-06-26
FROM THE FAR NORTHWEST.
Is Not a Suspension Of Judgment on the
New Departure Worth Considering.
The Question Ably and Logically Dis
cuSsed-TO Win we Must Have Pure
Democracy and Undetiled
DETROIT, MIoH, june Is. 1871

ALl AFCtAf h1tl AAaG oAAS ~ IA4udAAlA
snce which / had the pleasure G
forming with you during the recen
press excursion 10 the Saginaw Val
lev, does not, perhaps, justify my ad
dressing YOU personally at this time
Your speech at the Jackson banquet
however, disclosed q mind so wei
adapted to take national and phiiOsO
phical views of things that / felt at.
tracted to you, and was desirOus o.
eOnversing with you upon pOlitica
topics. Having been deprived of tina
pleasure, however, is my apology tO
obtruding myself upon Y ur notice.
As this letter is Of 3 political Lature
ID viii be the better understood If thI
antecedents Of the writer be known
Let me say then, that nay first poll
tieai action was with the Whit
party; that during the pOlitica
revolution which eliminated il
the wear 1860, became a Democrat,
and continued so until the cOnsUm-
nation 'Of the leading Congressional
measures relating to the South, and
for a wear or two past have felt no
strong political prefer enees, although
have generally voted with the Dem.
ocrstfc partv from habit and assOcis-
ton. The causes that made me q
Democrat were the same that led
thousands OF other Wings b. adopt
the same political course, and need
not be rehearsed. AS q Democrat. /
vas Of the ultra type, and the saeri.
fee OF business and position which an
adherence to my convictions involved,
ought to attest my sincerity. During
fhe war 1 eniOyed the felicity OF being
denounced ss a secessiOnist and trai-
tor. and while il is true that l could
feel no sympathy with the prosecution
OF the war on the part of the North,
and in general conversation did not
conceal my convictions, it is equally
true that I did nothing TO the injury
OF the Government.
was struck with q remark
which you made, in the speech
referred to, to the effect that
YOU were philosopher enough
TO know that the war was not due to
any one man, and that no one man
could have prevented it, but that it
yas due to political causes. There
was q vital issue involved in the war,
and that was the question Of State
sovereignty, or Federal sovereignty.
We were at a point in the develop
u1Snt of empire when 1t became q
Question whether the General Gov
ernment should exercise larger pow
ers than IL had previously exercised,
or whether il should hold a position
in our peculiar political system sub
ordinate to that OF the States. It was
a question whether the center OF po.
Iftical action should be at the head or
at the extfemities. The principle was
not one created by the war-the war
was simply the occasion which called
into action the series of events by
which was evolved the solution Of
the principle. As political PROPOSE
tiOn, Mr.. Buchanan enunciAted what
we will characterize as psradOXical
truth, when he said that the States
had no right to secede, but that the
General Government had no right
to cOerce. As e question in
volVing natural right, how
ever, the proposition was as
fallacious as it was in q political
sense true. Ny education has taught
me to revere the Constitution, and to
vindicate it, so far as I could, from
any infractiOn. / regarded the princi-
pies Of the Constitution, and the tradi-
tons Of the country which recognized
the right Of all peoples to determine
under what government they would
live, as paramount to the territorial
integrity Of the Union. These might
be preserved in one or a dozen vOlun-
tary Unions. They would both be
OyerthrOwn by a war that should
cOerce Union.
The war went on. The COnstitu-
ton was set at nought in IFS prOsecu-
ton, and the principle that all gov
eFnments derive their Just powers
from the consent Of the governed was
reversed. The fact was, and il viii be
found to rest in the very nature OF
things, that all established govern
ments must and a0iU exercise tbe 0OJU-
ez-s necessary 10 their OiO7l preservation,
ali aCrittel constitutions 10 the contrary
notwithstanding. The Government
under MF. LncOln's Admins
tration did this during the war,
and the Congressional usurpation
did il after the close OF the war,
when the functions Of the President
were made nugatOry during Mr..
9ohnsOn's term. In Difference TO the
popular respect for written cOnstitu-
fiOns, an effort has since been made
70 conform the Constitution to the
practice, but this, 80 far from deny
ing lhe prOpriety Of the exercise of
powers outside OF the Con stitutioE,
has affirmed and sanctioned it. If the
history Of the past has not alrea dy in
vested the Federal government with
imperial powers, ii viii exercise them
whenever the eXigency shall arise
calling fOf their exercise. This lea ds
20 the conclusion that no written
Constitution, which is Of necessity
the work Of human hands, can be
made adequate 10 the eIige9cies Of
any government, and that there is a
higher law which Is paramount. This |
conclusion was reached by nae at the |
close Of the political campaign Of 1865, !
and its avoWal is no "&eW Depar- |
11re" on nay part. This was the great /
principle wrought out by the war. /
Its visible and immediate results were |
Incidental and local, ana in these the |
South, unfortunately for her, was the /
great sufferer. The aggregate effect OF |
these results, for good or Ill, on the /
sum Of civilization and progress, must /
be determined by time.
In reaching these conclusions, do /
not understand me rs lamenting the /
fact, nor as saying that the condition /
Of the people under the government is /
changed for the worse. Really, ii 1
matters but little what power exer- /
eises the governing functions Of q |
country, so long as the power is wise |
iy exercised. We may we'll ponder |
Ghe suggestion, however, that the !
best security for good government !
Hes ia lntruSung Lhe governmental /
functions to the hands Of good men,
even with enlarged powers, rather /
than IN committing them TO the i
hands Of corrupt men, however fully /
we may seek 70 define the min the or
RGnic law.
Present political divisions must 70
late TO the exigencIes Of the times,
and can not change OF alter the vital
principle that has been adyerted to.
Weat, then, are present eZigenciesg
! do not read the Southern papers,
and know little Of Southern senti-
ment, but l assume that there Is a
party at the South which desires TO
have some Of the legislation relating
20 that section repealed, and which
perhaps demands that some Of the
late constitutional enactInents shall
be abrOgatsd or modified. This is the
only class Of political measures that / 1
skgall discuss at this time.
The opposing principles TO which
sllusiOn has been made, were repre-
sented by the political parties Of the
day. the Republicans representing the
principle Of Capitalization, and the
Democrats the principle Of State
sovereignty. The Democrats Of the
kallandigham school we're consistent
with the principle, while the "War