The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-04-17
]. pa.ssve Obedience. "

50 Passive SDSSu5ACSss ssS4sgj
aar neiehbor Of the Wing regrets very
,,,,rch e. sec the willingness with wh,ch /.
,,,s,,v 81 the lcaaing Journals rs well %
nro,psnen mon i'm the South, whe claim 20
NJ pemocrs.s. accept the deelaFation ct
northern coasolid ationists thas. a : has oesn
settled that the FesseRal 6cvef Ne |
nent cafsaot be restricted In legisIaing
Tor the protection or the pronastion
50 me aaterests ana ssslt1cing az its
citizens, y, a sypaashisisg friend once
ina,,;rea OF ksay whose husband
had recently departed this life whether
che deceased was willing TO go "Wiii
ing ?S said she; s.he had to be-" The
g wiIlingncss. wath which the'esding jour
mails and prominent Democrats accept theu
Status as subjects is ~ the same kind. Thes
t<an,t help themselves. Indese, in this lag.
Iieclaration mas hcfoundi the sum and Sub
stance OF their whole teaching on the SOD
iecf. And we doubt not thas the Wing and
they Tor we, fer we are amongst the!per-
sons touched ssy our neighbor's remarksl
agree in effect alpon the very point (which
seems to be as issue.
Sometimes words aarken counsel. When
ace speak OF the United States Government
we do not Rlean the Administration. We
Include in the definition Of that term all
that the Federal Constitution imparSs to it.
we refer TO the Executive, the Legislative,
and the Judicial departments. We suspect
that the Wlag refers only to Congress and
The President. 1t would hardly con-
tend that the South couia wisely
resist law which had been passed
by Congress, approved by the President
and sanctioned by the Supreme Court.
II is such laws that we have in our mind
when we say that the States are po"erless
and have no rights except such as the req
eral Government comedies to them. HOW
is II possible they can have any others
Shall an Objectionable or unconstitutional
act of Congress be resisted by force ana
arms? We say not; and we suppose that
! our neighbar would agree With us. What
then. Resist it by peaceableimeans With all
orr heart. But peaceable resistance can emu
in only two ways. Either the three de-
part ments OF Enforcement must come
over to our side, and thus enable
us to accomplish our purpose, In
which case we should have just such
rights as the Federal Government might
!, concede to us; or else the three depart
ments aforesaid would continue to deny us
the rights which we claimed, in which case
we should most assuredly realize that we
had no rights except such as that Govern
ment chose to concede to'us. Our neighbor
saws that "the might OF the Federal Gov
eminent is one thing, and its right to eSer-
else its brute power quite another" In this
declaration we might concur with the Wig.
But we do not see that would change the
facts OF the case. What we maintained and
what our neighbor seems to deny is that the
Snmht" Of the Federal Government is
ouch That no "r;ghy" OF State can for
moment stand before it. We do not say
that such ought to be the condition of
things, but merely that such it is.
Let us look back at the history of our
country and see what it teaches. First, tho
aar. upon the States was, according to our
understanding, violation Of the Federal
constitution; but Us there may be doubt
spon that point, we pass it by. Secondly,
1he emancipation OF the slaves was clear,
nndoubted, and gross violation Of the Con-
stitution. The act may result well; but it
is none the less true that it was undoubted-
ly an overpowering Of right by might. 1t
was deed which the Government had no
right to do. But it did it aa the same. And
we OF the South have submitted to it so
far tamely and submissiyely; and we
are not acquainted with anybody who pro-
poses to resist it and reclaim his slaves. In
this case it is quite evident that we had no
rights except such as the Federal Govern
ment chose to concede to us. Thirdly, the
several so-called amendments to the Federal
Constitution-the thirteenth, fourteenth,
and fifteenth-were not adde to the Con-
stitution in the manner provided for by
that instrument. Our neighbor knows that
If the Supreme Court dared to decide a test
case according to the Constitution those
amendments would 60 By the board. They
were injected into the body Of the instru-
ment by force. The southern State Legis-
latrres acted whilst under duress. But who
of us in tho South proposes to raise
question as to their validity? No
body. They are acquiesced in as
the work of Government whose
will we cannot resist, its power being such
that we cannot Withstand it, and its ability
to execute its will being such as to leave us
no rights which that will does not concede
10 US. Fourthly, Congress has passed laws
regulating the elections in all the States
whenexer congressman or presidential cleo
tors are to be chosen. A Federal supervi-
sor stands over our State officials anG sees
that he performs his duty as a faithful sub
feet OF Uncle SANS. A Federal deputy
marshal arrests and imprisons whom he
xviii. AL this may be great outrage, but
how can we help ourselvess We can't do
sit. We are bound hand and foot, and it is
useless to deny the fact.
Our neighbor says Of those who agree
with us that "f they had lived in the
several periods when oppressed peoples,
chatting under the iron rule Of despotic
power, rose in their despair to shake off
the chains that bound them, they would
have given little courage encourage
ment?| to the insurgents" &c. That
means that we ought to rise in our despair
TO shake OFF the chains OF the Federal
government, Or. IL Ii doesn't mean that.