Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-03-03
s,nies Wore Never SOVEREIGN.

qualntcd with the history Of the Union
they sought To destroy. That history was
accessible, and if largely illitcrate pco.
pie were deliberately deceived by men
who knew better than that the States were
ever sovereign, It adds to tho infamy of
their treason. The attitude Of the ex.
Confederate and the Democratic majority
In the House, as shown on the amnesty
question, and the efforts of some of them
TO keep their true sentiments from public
knowledge by altering their speeches after
delivery, Is q grave public danger, and
not the less danger because some per.
sons would gladly waive away its consid-
Grafton on account of Its being unseuson.
able. The waving away of the subject
does not remove the danger and 1t has
been growing in magnitude until, through
Democratic support and sympathy, the
South, flooded with at1nesticd populations,
has brought Into activity the class who
stood alool during the time Of reconstruc.
uon, and who as class, whatever their
sex. arc bitter political termagants.
The Union which the South endeavorod
to destroy through the pretense of States
rights may thus be briefly described II Is
historically correct 10 say that the inhab.
itants OF the Colonies, before their indie
pendence, always regarded themselves po.
iiically as one people; and in State pa.
per appealing 10 the King, they said they
were his blajesty's faithful People in
America" The Declaration of Indepen.
dence, which is the American Magma
Chdrtd, says: When in the course ofhu.
man events it becomes necessary for ONE
PEOPLE 10 dissolve the political bonds
which have connected them with another"
Here this principle of nationality IN our
political system is boldly expressed, and
expressed in such manner as to show
that there was no expectation Of ils ever
belng called in question. 1t bears, how,
ever, upon the high concerns of national
existence, and lay at the foundation of our
introduction into the family of nations.
From this it is clear that no Colony AFRO.
gated TO itself rights which came in con.
tact with the welfare OF the others when
acting in unison; and had such claim
been made and persisted in, it would have
been fatal to any union. In the articles
of confederation which followed, the
principle OF oneness and unity was lost
sight OF. Each State reserved its sovereign
Y, freedom and independence, and, in con
sequence, there was no popular fusion, no
common interest, no common standpoint
in which all were agreed A selfish
struggle ensued to enforce their assumed
rights; just such a selfish struggle as the
Southern States entered upon in the war
OF the rebellion. Such course on
the part of the States, which sep
arately were weak, jcoparlizcd whnt had
been gained by the war for Independence.
The central power of the Confederation
was to weak to last. The Confederation
fell to pieces, and gave place to the Con.
stitution, in which the unity of the people
appears, and the Union is made perpetual.
This beneficial change was peaceful
revolution, and the new GOvernmc WIS
adopted in the course of time by all the
States. Even the old Conftdcracv, which
now is an ill-omened word, had h, III that
State might be cOerced and it was quito
proper that political community, seek
Ing only selfish ends, should be made to
ieel the power of the majority. Under
the Constitution, States rights, except for
local purposes, were obliterated. The
primal functions of sovereignty in that
document were all delegated, and were
absorbed by the Federal Government, and
peace, war, commerce, finance navy,
army, mail, mint, executive, legislative
and Judicial functions dropped out of the
control OF the States, and became the dele.
gated functions of the Federal Govern
ment, aided by Congress- forever
The claim of an - inherent right" of
disatiected State to secede from the Union
is Pigment Of a rebel brain, and to be
found IN no other except in that of rebel
sympathiZerS, which too many of the
leaders of the enslaved Democracy really
are. In the Democratic Southern States
where the greatest clamor exists for State
rights, progressive white illiteracy is
found, because in such clnmor the col.
ored citizen, has no part. There the
Southern white only looks upon the col.
ored people as slaves beyond his reach,
whose unpaid labor he wishes TO secure
TO enrich himself. At the bottom of all
MIR. Hills eloquence is TO be found his
wish for slave Georgia, where black
men and women might again be treated as
cattle, without citizenship, by the plant
ers, and chiyalry resuscitated by once
more lashlng their naked bodies for more
unpaid work. God forbid that any part
OF this free country should lie again en-
slaved. The colored men have tasted of
freedom, and are not in the temper to bow
before their old masters. The yoke OF
the slave now rests upon such men as
Bayard, Cox and Wood, and Tarbox of
Massachusetts, who represent the spirit of
serldom in the free States OF the North.
Such men were not wont to lead in days
which tried mems souls. They had few
people North that would follow such SEN
tlments. That they are now prominent as
Democrats is evidence of the low
estate of the Democratic party, and
that it has passed into slavery in place of
the blacks. The Union was intended to
be one of equal rights, and all the States
were designed to be free; and freedom and
equality to be peaceful must be intelligent.
Such Union with such reasons to sus.
tain the Constitution, out of which have
sprung our free institutions, and which
have nodded the minds and character of
the majority of the people, so as TO OBJ
tain distinct recognition throughout tine
world, the South disregarded and -u9
deavored, in behalf OF State rights, to
break away from at the point of the sword.
What can be said of men in rebellion
beaten in the field and amnestied on their
own allegations that they accepted the
situation, yet who are as disloyal as ever,
and who have done their best to defeat
| those Federal laws, which gave the fran
chise to them and the cOlOred citizens?
Surely there must be some way of reach
ing murderous dscoru, on the surface of
which only white disloyalty floats If the
integrity OF the ballot box has been in
vaded, II cOlored citizens have not voted
because they have been made afraid, why
Shpu'N wv NiiiiO VI "plluSIhS uiC I'SulS
| of the colored man be made to enuTe sole.
ly to the benefit of the white Contedcraief
The enforcement of the law in this case is
an absolute necessity. Southern men who
have but two ideas, viz;-to govern, or,
failing in that, to prevent national union,
are unfit to sit in the House of Represen.
tatives. The South, before the war had
no idea of political liberty; aud in the
Democratic Southern States there is still
no political liberty for the citizen. Here,
then, is the danger which the loyal peo.
pie are called upon to permanently re-
move.-Itepabiie Mdgdzias