The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-04-30


| majority will generally violate justice where
they have an;interest in doing so, but did not
,think there was any. such temptation in this
county, But Mr.. Gerry could not anticipate
the possibility of government ID the hands
ofssa SET Of dishonest' adventures, supported
by ana Overwhelming lnumber'of emancipated
slaves, perfectly resistless in point of numbers,
ignorant of their own interest, as they are
reckless Of the rights of the property and per-
sons they asupersede. ,''9" ~. ~,
q Montesdue, and other distinguished public
lists, had suggested the Importance of federative
republics as PRACTICAL means of extending the
sphere of popular governments with safety to
4 the permanencyi Of the republican principle in
4 even great nations, because not only were
these smaller members of the Confederacy
protected against foreign conquest and domes-
| tic yiolence;g but should abuses crop out into
enc part they are reformed by those thatlre-
main sound; and thes section of the Constitution
under discussion, which guarantees to- every
State a.iepublican form of government, is the
logical CONCLUSIONS af the above premises. The
| evils gtoi be thus guarded against, then only
serepping1i cut to the imagination of. these
writers, are now developed here in full into
exaggerated maturity and fruitfuiness, and
hence we petition to the sound portion of our
Coufederacy to grant us the remedies referred
! Mr.. Madison, the greatest authority on our
form of government, again remarks. 1t Wlh
be found, indeed, on a candid review OF our SIT
uation, that some of the distresses under which
| we labor have been enormously charged on the
| operations of our Government but it will be
| found2atthe same time, that other causes will
alone account for many of cur heaviest mis-
fortunes, particularly y@for that prevailing
and7inereasing7 disEust.of public tengag
and alarm 5forIprivatef rights, which are echoed
| from one4nd-off.t .the-continent to the other.
These must tbe chiefly, if mot wholly, effects of
/ the unsteadiness and injustice with which q
| factious spirit has tainted our public admins
| trations. BY yHa4action, Z understand number
Of citizens; whether amounting to q majority
or q minority After discussing the dangers
tothe, equality of interests and the public veal
arising from the ,predominance of powerful fac-
tions, who become masters of the situation, he
| further REMARKS
sBiutt. t.tfhem the most common and durable source
| of faction has been the various and unequal
distribution of property, those who hold, and
those who are without property. II IL
The apportionmentofo otaxesEoR the various der
scriptions of5pEopeEtyi is an, act which, seems to
IS. perhaps mo legislative act in which greater
opportunity and temptation are given to a
predominant party to ,trample on the rules of
iufstice! Every shilling with which they over.
| burden thiegi1fefior number is a shilling saved
| in their pockets. MN r. TO secure thepnb-
lie, good and private rights against the danger
of such faction, and. at the same time pre-
serve the spirit and form of popular govern
ment, is then the great object to which our in
quiries are directed. Let-me add that it is the
great desideratum by which alone this form OF
Government can be rescued from the opprObrl-
um under which it has SO long labored." Here,
again, you perceive how pontedly his argu..
nents tend to show the necessity of the Federal
guarantee to each State 80
Hamilton on the same subject says: With
out q guarantee, the assistance to be derived
from the Union, in repelling those domestic
DANGERS which may sometimes threaten the
existence of the State constitutions, must be
renounced. Usurpation may rear its crest IN
each State, and trample upon the Liberties OF
the people, while the National Government
could legally do nothing more than behold its
encroachments with Indignation and regret.
*o,* x: The .inordinate pride, of State I'M
pertance, has suggested to some minds an OBJ
lection to- The principle of a, guaranty in the
Federal Government, as involving an oftclous
interference in the domestic concerns Of the
members. A scruple Of this kind would de-
prive us of one of the principal advantages to
be expected from the Union, and can only tow
from a misapprehension of the nature of the
provision. itself 1t could be no impeachment
to reforms of the State constitution by, q ma
iorty of the people. In a legal and peaceable
mode this right would. remain undiminshed.
| A guarantee, BY the national authority would
| be as much directed against the usurpation of
rulers as against the ferments and outrages of
| faction and sediti0n in the community"
Calhoun too, the most advanced advocate of
constitutional State rights. in his letter to Mr..
| William Smith. on the Rhode Island contro-
versy, 1S43, held that the guarantee clause IN
der discussion was intended to be more a cor
rectionary measure against the usurpation or
misrule Of State governments than for protec-
ton against domestic violence. And l would
here remark that the conservative views OF that
great statesman, who valued the Union next to
the Constitution and regarded each as neces-
sary to the existence of the other, have been
too often Inexperienced, aud too often mis-
represented, by opposite classes OF politicians
by citing what they believed to be the logical
consequences of his opinions rather than those
of his expressed views and avowed principles.
In discussing the fourth article Of the Consti-
tuition, he writes as follows:
Letter to Mr.. Simmons, of Rhode Island ::
az come now" ne says "to the last, in the
order in which am considering them but
the first as they stand in the section, and the
one Immediately involved in the question un-.
der consideration-I mean the guarantee off
republican form of government to every State
in the Union. ,.-. .......-...
II hold that, according to its true construc-
ton its object is the reverse of that of protec-
ton against domestic violence; and that in
stead Of being intended to protect the govern
ments of the States it is intended to protect
each State Il use the term as defined, viz: that
the State means the people) against its govern
ment, or, more strictly, against the ambition
or usurpation of its rulers. The objects of the
Constitution to which the guarantees refer