New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-12-30
TIE REAL ISSUE.

L
ereignty the real and only issue of vital
character in the next presidential election.
| This, it will be remembered, was the real
| issue presented to the country in 1860,
when the Republicans made Mr.: Lincoln
/ their candidate for presidential honors.
That great man was regarded as the en-
bodiment of principles antagonistic to the
growth of the slave power, and opposed to
State rights aiming at sovereignty incom-
| patib1e with the sovereign power con"
ferred by the constitution Of the United
4 States upon the nation at large. 1t Is
true the extension Of slavery was put forth
| as the time as the issue between the Re-
| publican and Democratic parties, but tine
real issue was State rights, reaching to
state sovereignty, giving State the power
| 10 gecede in case the will of the majority,
| expressed at the ballot box, did not make
| choice Of President acceptable 70 the
slave oligarchy OF she South. In the po-
| litical contest of 1860 che people at large
failed to support the pretensions OF the
secessionists, and they desired TO nullify
| their allegiance to the constitution by
J withdrawing from the Union. The
! slave power had attempted in 1882 to
nullify law of Congress, and their action
was sustained by Mr.. Calhoun, the great
champion of notification in that day. But
the prompt action of President jackson,
backed by the strong voice Of the nation,
put stop to the work Of notification at
that time without resort to arms. Such,
however, was not the case with the at
tempt to nullify the constitution in 1861.
The enemies of the Union were prepared
to maintain by force the doctrine OF State
rights and State sovereignty over that OF
national right and national sovereignty,
and the consequence was, as everybody
knows, long and destructive civil war
which ended in the overthrow Of slavery,
the final subj ugation Of the rebel armies
and amendments to the national constitu-
ton, extending the right Of suffrage and
rendering the power of States in the
American Union clearly subordinate to
the sovereign power of the nation.
With all Of these pregnant facts staring
an enlightened Democracy in the face, it
would seem somewhat astonishing that
its leaders and teachers should still make
State sovereignty the real issue in the next
presidential election. And that this is
the ease is made more glaringly apparent
every day.
The Louisville Courie--Journa! is now
seriously discussing with the Chicago
Tribune the question Of State sovereignty.
In this discussion the latter paper says:
There is no escaping the fact that the
the fundamental issues between the two
parties is. that the Republican party holds
the United States to be nation possessing
every power necessary to complete nation.
atty; that it holds these powers, not as
gift from the States, nor as an agent OF other
sovereignties, but as nation IN no wise
dependent upon the States. The Democratic
party holds, on the contrary, that this is
not . nation. but cOnfederacy OF sovereign
States, which have delegated certain limited
powers to a certain federal agency: that the
general government is creation by or,gna.
sovereignt,es whose inherent sovereignty is
intact.
In answer. the tourier-.'ourna' takes OPP
posite grounds and maintains "that the
States existed as sOvereignties before the
Union was formed; that they formed the
Union: that they delegated to the federal
government certain powers. which are
limited. aud that the federal government
Z. in somewise dependent upon the
States" The Courier-JournG' then ar
CUES. in proof Of what it says. that if all
the States should refuse to elect Senator'S
there would be An end to the federal gov.
ernment for the reason that no law could
be passed; no appointment to office made;
no treaty approved. And, taking i. for
granted that such an improbabls event
could happen in all the States. or even a
majority of them, that paper wants to
know how the federal government could
exercise that ''comp,ete nationality claimed
for it by the Republican party.
We would answer, through the people.
They have sustained the federal govern
ment in that complete nationality that
las made its power superior to State au-
thority and fixed sovereignty in the nation.
This has been repeatedly done. No State !
of the American Union is less responsible
to the people composing it than is the
- khA p1rskaS GhaSa o. I
people thereof. yet the argument o: the
to,tgis,..!..raai is intended 20 create a
different impression. It would revive the I
dangerous doctrine tina: sovereignty Is !
vested in the Stat. and not the nation, |
which is nothing more DOR less than . re-
vivai of the right of State 20 secede from |
the Union. The people have shown
themselves in earnest both az the ballot
box and upon the battlefield OH this vital
question. They have decided III favor Of
that complete nationality that VIII give
protection 90 every American citizen and
preserve the integrity OF the eountry.
Yet the .jour.a. does not feel satisfied
with the action Of the people upoa this |
subject. and takes the position tia. TIE
States existed before the Union and fosm.
81 il. and, unfortunately. We think. sese.s
q history to provo that it is correct in
Sha: j: -.ys upon the subject. We have
read history TO little purpose if il doe. 10:
Prove the very reverse of what the journal |