, 1875-01-25

In his speech at the Baltlmore meeting
held to protest against the action Of the
President and Of Gen. SHERIDAN in the LOU
iEinna affair, Mr.. REvERDY JOHNSON used the
following language: "Iho State Qouisiann)
is now sovereign, except so far ns she has
delegated portion Of her sovereignty to tho
General Government This one sentence OF
tho venerable lawyer contains, in nutshell,
tho whole doctrine Of the Dcmocrntio party,
mud shows that tho principles Of that party
hnve not changed since the War.
It is in no sense true TINT the ESTATES"
Iayo delegated portion OF their sovereignty
to tho General Government. To admit that
they haye, il to grant TINT oil tho States wero
onco completely sovereign; that tho Con-
stitution is only compact by which part of
that sovereignty WIS alienated to the Gen
eral Government, and that tile United Statea
ID not q nntion, but collection Of potty
States held together by ropo Of sand. It
may seom absurd to find fault with this thco.
~ of our Constitution, or to rniso 0 cry Of
alnr1n becnuse it is loudly advocated az the
true one. 1t is, however, very far from ab-
sunl. The whole War Of tho Rebellion
lurked in tho very proposition enunciatcd
anew by REyEnDY JOHNSON. It was before the
Wnr rightly argued that, It tho States wero
once sovereign aud the Federal Government
creature Of their milking, the Constitution
WAS only contract, which, on condition
broken, tho individual States wera justified
in disregarding, The principle WAS wrong,
md when translated into action could not full
to 1aislead.
! hr. REyEnpY JOHNSON makes the nation
tho creature Of the statos; and, since tho crea-
| tor is superior to tho creature, the nation
must on his theory DO awayH at tie mercy Of
tho StateB But tho very reverse Of Mr. Jo11N-
soN's view of the relation Of tie StateR
to tho General Government Is historically
true. 10 this we have already called atten-
tiou In The TRIBUNE. II tie States wero
once completely sovereign and Ind delegated
only portion Of their sovereignty to the
General Government by compact, then we
are a confederation and not o nation. I'M
| der this Interpretation Of tho Constitution,
secession ia IN inalionabls political right, and
the War Of tho Rebellion was wrong for
which the Southern people may claina COM
ronsation. It cannot be too often repeated,
that the pfopEs who ordained and established
the Constitution were always one peopse. II
they were not one people when 1t was or
dained and established, they arc not ono peo'
pie yet. The Constitution is only law afte.
all; and all laws prcrupposo sovereign au'
thority from which they emanato. Before
sovereign power can be exercised by the pub
lication Of a law or otherwise, there
must be 4 concrete something In which
that power exists. Whether wa are
q nation, or only confederation,
as Ms. KEyEnpy JOHNSON and the Democratic
party maintain, Ia not q question Of tho in
terpretation Of written instrument. It il {
historical question. Historically, the indi
viaual States were never soyoroign. The,
!: never existed or acted as sovereign statca
Before the Declaration Of Independence the,
were colonies Of Great Britain and, - colo
nles, not aovcroign. 8lnoe the Declaration
: Of Independence they have been State
: united into naslon, acted a. united, an
D been recognized BY ths civilized world only 8
? States united. BY tho Declaration ot Inde
t pendeuce they appeared before the world q
l united independent States. But they hay
!. mover appeared, and they neyar were In 9aot
r ssyosally independent. .ststas* That Dsolaxa