, 1874-12-10

| 6"i wv "l'o1ilcf We arc q nntlon A1lu INV
neon q milton since the dato Of tho Dcclart
lion OF Independence, spite of tho fact TIN
Jones, or brown, or Smith wns Of tho opfnio
MY yoalH ngo TINT wo wcro not. Wo NIGH
SNOW tint many Of tho nblcst men Of thi
! Eation held that tho States nro not sovera'
| " independent; but of what valuo voul,
s''ch testimony bo If, MS historic
ii fact, they wcro soycrally intlepon1
entF Wo might go rs far buck a
l782, and show that tho Logialnturo of Nov
York demanded TINT there should DO n mato
r'ai Change made in tho articles Of oonfcdor
alton, for tho renson that thoy Ind proved in
adequate to secure tho peace and security o.
tho "nation, NOT Of the "individual States
IN thor sovereign capacity But we cnrs
little to do this. Tho uttorances of States aud
THO uttcra1lcea Of ablo mon at this ear1y pc.
flod OF our history simply offset ouo another,
MUTUALLY destroy ono another. Tho nntion
existed Independently Of its members or tliyis.
iona, mud these latter had not yet, it may be,
become fully conscious of it's existence. Tic
nntion, perl,aps was not conscious Of itself.
Extreme youth in tho cnso botll Of nations
md Of individuals is Tho timo in which tloy
know what thoy aro, and scarcely thak they
nrc.
Tho whole question botwoon ourselves aud
tho Democrats is simply this: Wero tho
people of the Unitod States always ono people
ono in origin, language, customs, manners,
and laws ono in objects, aims, and etforta?
If they were, they wero always ono nation !;
and that they wero is a historical fact, which.
If documents, or contracts, or nlcn contradict,
so much tho worse for tho documents
md contracts, for tho mon and their
nttorances. If the people Of tho United
statcs wcro, ~ claimed, a, people,
ono in origin, in language, customs,
lnanners, lnws, III efforts, aiins, md tenlcn-
cles, then they were an orgnnio people and
every orgauio people nxod in tile soil, and in-
dependent Of every other people, constitute
nation. Tho States never existed EXCEPT as
stntcs united. They never wcro soycrally ill.,
dependent. Thoy always actca together.
No foreign power over recognized them ns
separate. No foreign power over made
trcaty with them as indopoudont. They
never Ind any foreign relations as sovereign
nationalitics. They hive always been soy-
creiga in their union, not in their isolation.
They wero not sovereign under Great Britain,
rhs no ono will deny. They did not become
soverally sovereign by separation from Great
Britain; for they did not separate scyerally
but rs unit,-as ono people, one milton.
From tho beginning they Anye been United,
not confederatod, Statcs,-the proper name
Tor MI alliance of Statos severally sovereign.
tho confederation failed, as it most sig.
aally did, it fai1cd because it did not rococ-
nize fully enough tho real nature of tho peo.
pie who framed its articles, that they wero
nation and not an alliance of independent
nnd sovereign States
If tho States wcro ever sovereign, they are
sovereign still; mud, as sovereign, havo the
light to secedo from the Union when tloy
Hill. True, tho st. Louis Times denies TINT
his follows from tic promises it admits; but
hat only proves its Democratic obtuscnoss.
It grants tho promises Of syllogisnl, but will
lot allow tho conclusion tint inevitably fol-
ows from them We would like to ask our
Democratic contemporaries few questions
which may help to o1ear up their idons as
Q whether wo aro nation or not,
Did tho sovereign States in con-
ontion become a new and single
overeign state? If they did, did
hey lose their own sovereignty? And
they lost it, where did it 60 to To
hc new sovereignty? How could it? But |
it did go there did not their SOVEREIGNTY |
erish ut That moment, and they with their |
overeignty And then, what became of the
ontract when the parties to it died and left
o sovereign s,lcceysora Or If the int1cpend-
ut sovereign States oeded their sovereignty,
what power did they ccdo it How could
aey cede it to something not yet in exist
aco2 Did they cedo it to the United States
ut tho United States did not exist to oedo it
}, according to our Democratic friends. Or
id they code it to nothing at MI and do they
old it still sovereign and supreme We