South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-09-22
Hon. VIM. 5. GrOesbeck ON
the Amendments.

ed slavery was everywhere, IN tn,
North as well as in the South, anC
therefore the Constitution did no
forbid it. Very coon, however, anC
from time to time, the States them
selves, acting separately, abolished
1t within their respective iurisdIe'
tIons, till it was 10 DO found no.
where but in the South; and a
last it was disturbed and threaten.
ed there. Tue South rebelled a.
this. War came, a long, bloody
costly, civil war, and the rebellion
was overwhelmed and slavery de-
stroyed.
This result Is now declared II
the Constitution. Such a declara-
ton was to be expected. The re,
suits of successful war are always
declared in some binding form. L
It be a wal between nations, the
results appear i'll final treaty; if
be a civil war, they usually appear
in some modification of the funda-
mental law, conforming 1t to the
new condition of the Government.
Such is our ase The receEt Con
stitutioual amendments stand for
the final treaty of our civil war.
LOOK at the question IN another
aspect. How 30 the states now re.
gard slavery? Ohio has declared
there shall be no slavery within her
jurisdiction; New York has declar-
ed 1t In her Constitution; PeDnsyl.
wanna has declared 1t. Every state
In the East and il the North and
In the West has declared it. No,
only this. Every state IN the South
has declared 1t, and remembering
cur past it is wise and proper that
our Federal Constitution should
declare it. Let this trouble be put
away from US, SO that it may never
come again.
What is the second change ? 1n
substance, this "All persons born
or naturalized in the United States
are citizens Of the same, and of the
state in which they reside. No
State shall abridge the privileges or
Immunities Of citizens of the Unit
ed States, or deny 10 any person
the equal protection of ITS laws"
There is also a clause in this amend
ment dIsqualiiyIhg certain citizens
from holding Office under the Unit
ed States or under any State; and
another clause affirming the validi-
ty of our public debt. and the In
validity of all rebel debts.
What is the third ? The right
ofthe citizens of the United States
to vote shall not be denied or
on account of race, color
or previous servitude."
These are the changes made in
our Constitution during the last ten
famous amendments of
we have heard so much, and
which are so often referred to, even
now.
The Thirteenth Amendment alb.
Olishing slavery throughout tho
United States is accepted by all,
and in the South as unanimously
as in the North. The doubt and
hesitation have been abou. the
and fifteenth Amend
1ents, because of the means used
10 procure their adoption, and be-
cause of the change they make in
The relations which had always
existed between the Federal Cow
ernment and the State Govern
In the language of our recent
State Convention, the means US ed
10 procure the adoption of these two
amendments were extraordinary,
violent, and unsatisfactory. There
no thinking, right.minded man,
who desires that a single other
amendment may be made to the
Constitution as these we're made,
for it is impossible to preserve It's
.sacredness under such treatment.
The Constitution should never
be lightly dealt with; nor should
It be altered for mere party advant-
age. and any amendments proposed
be fairly submitted TO free
and unthreatened judgment. Such
was the case IN reference to all
amendments previously made; such
is not the case IN reference to these
Two. But l do not care to dwell
upon the history of the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth amendments. for /
see nothing in their history that
will destroy their validity. You
cannot Invalidate legislation by
showing 1t Is tainted with fraud.
1t may be admitted that an act of
was passed by undue
means; that coercion, bribery, and
all kinds of corruption were applied
to effect Its passage, and yet the
cannot set it aside. The val
idity of statute cannot be i'm
peached on such grounds, nor can
the validity of q constitutional
amendment No Court has iurIs-
iiction to inquire into the circum-
stances under which either was
passed. The only question is, were
they, In fact, passed? If they were
all courts must recognize them.
l go into our Supreme Court
and impair the validity of an act of
by showing that enough
congressman to change The result
had been coerced to vote for it, or
to vote for i:2 Clearly, !
would not, nor could L successfully
q constitutional amendment
IN these grounds. The Supreme
Court has no supervision over the
of Congress in Passing o
statute, or over the action of Stale
Legislatures or Stats Conventions
N adopting constitutional amend
neut.
1t would be unwiso TO confer on
he Supreme Court such extraor-
jurisdiction. The fault is
rot in the machinery of the Gov
'rnment. 1t is as complete as il
Ihould be; but it is not complete
uuuph. ard human invention can