The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1873-03-15
SATURDAY MORNING, tMARCH Is, 1873


South, not being responsible for the one,
cannot be charged, with the responsibili-
ty, for the other, with all its terrible
results. Bat, | shall take the bold
ground that such was not the object of
the war, either in the one case or the
other. Slavery :was not, as is the com
mon opinion, the cause ofthe var, but
the popular pretext for it
Can we believe that that war would
not have been wasel against the South,
even thou h her ordinances of Secession,
themselves. had torn the shack les of
slavery, from every slave, within her
borders, forever? No-uever
From, the very fnrmations of the
Constitution, by which the original thir-
teen, Sovereign aud Independent
States, were bound under thS Compact
of a Federal Union. There have been
those in our land who have jabored to
drag, the old sh' p, froa herEmoorlng4.
" u'S"a"tC Hci "tCh W hbock away
her bulwarks to silence hcr bctteries,
aud then leave her adrift, upon the
waters, o. an untried sea, wjth no haven
in sight, cxcep: the hostile ports Of Il
centralized dcspotsm.
Thithcr, she has drifted-sthi ,hcr sac
is drifting still-aud nothing, but the
grandcst outburst of patriotic fire, on
the part the whole American people
such an outburst indeed, as shall
sweep every pirate from the decks, can
prevent her eternal wreck upon those
fatal shores Great minds, and skilful
hands aud mighty energies, have bent
their power. to work out her salvation,
nd though checked at times, in her
course, the waters about her, are still,
too dark and rough and deep, for her
anchnrs to bc cast s
The Statesmen Of the South, have
ever bent their encl gies, to prevent the
mutlation Of that covenant, upon which
! alone could our Great BepuLlic, rest
secure in its glory. 'fftey have ever
held to the doctrine of Site Sovereignty
us the only safeguard, farShe liberties
of the S.ates, aud i;-ss ouly Is arguments
which are higher AMI yrcStcr, those OF
the sworl th.t this conviction Of lie
time can be swept away We must first
be made to feel that our liberties, arc
still secure, bc!crc we can ever be con-
Ni"cci that ,h't opinion w,s wr,n..
Emrrcs and Kingdom. m,y crumale
bri r. the power of the sword, but
scnilrr means aloae, can sweep away
conviction.
True Statesmen saw with appr.hen-
sion. the cloud that rose, upon tn c
| political horizon, when centralzin q
doctrines were proclaimed, in the very
convention, by which the constitution
itself WIS framed And TO di>pel that
cloud while yet only speck in the sky.
the doctrine oi state sovereignty was
engraitcd in the constitution by u .ani
nous vote Of all the sovereign States
each of which proclaimed To the world
! that in accordance with the constitution
Each State retains its SOW roignty, free
| iom and independence. aud every power
! jurisdiction, nc, not expressly delegated
| To tho United States in Con- gross Assem-
| bled."
Such was the New I'm gland, such the
| Ponn>y lva;.ia. su"h tho Virginia. such
the Carolina Of 1897. And such in
h"ory at least, has been every admins
tration and every party from that time
until 1860.
All recognized that doctrine as the
grand keystone of the arch, upon which
the whole fabric of American const,tu
tional freedom rested All felt that if
that stone were knocked away, then
should nothing but the ruins of the
"GIeat Republic be left. upon which TO
rear the dcsIo'ism of an empire.
Aud yet in defiance of this, the South
was called upon to contemplate such
things as the tariff of 1882, tho Mis-
souri, question, the Kansas troubles, the
notification acts of the Northern States,
the raid on llarper's Ferry in 1859, tue
discussion Of measures in Congress Tor
maintaining the Uuion outside of the
constitution, and wo:so even than all
| these the npulluse with which thssn ,,d