Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-01-14

| AAo We - NhtAVnN
TX view Of the fact that the Democratic
Speaker Of the House has given the Chair.
manship OF twenty-five out Of thirty three
working committees to the late slave or
Southern States, Mr.. Morton's resolutions
upon nationality will be very timely for
the purpose Of defining the views of hon.
orable gentlemen as 10 the nature of the
Government under which we live. A few
years ago many Of the members of the
present Congress were actively engaged
In the effort 10 destroy that Government.
! They denied that they were rebels upon
the ground that the Union was not nation.
al but simple partnership of sovereign
States, any one Of which could withdraw
when and now II pleased and appropriate
all the partnership property that IL could
lay hands on. The war having decided
| against them, and many of them having
| now appeared as members of the Govern
ment, 1t is well to know what kind of
| Government they think it TO be and
whether they have renounced the theory
upon which they took up arms. Prac.
tically and for the present the question
has been SETTLED. So was the Proicnder's
claim in Great Britain settled in 17l5, but
Prince Charles Edward renewed il in
1745.
Tho question of the nature OF the Union
is very practical. 1t is simply whether
the United States are in effect nation or
not. That there are distinct States, with
distinct local governments, with admitted
rights, and that this system, by difTusing
political interests and activities, is expe
dient and admirable, is indisputable. Ii
Is not denied or contested. But the other
question remains; Do the people of the
United States who maintain for the com.
mon welfare the distinct local govern.
ments compose, for all the purposes for
which nations exist, q nation, or is the
citizen Of the United States who lives In
New York or Georgia without nationf
Is tho Government of the United States TO-
day national authority, or is II the agent
for certain purposes Of certain independ.
ent and sovereign communities This Is
plainly a question of fact, and in the light
of tic war there Is but one answer. Yet
the introduction of Mr.. Morton's resou.
tions has led to the presentation of a
counter series by his colleague, Senator
Mcdonald, Of Indiana, the key Of which
Is that the people Of the United States
are nation only in the manner and TO
the extent prescribed by the Constitution.
This proposition has the old evasion and
obscurlty of the Virginia and Kentucky
resolutions of 1913. Mr. Mcdonald con.
cedes that the right of secession was not
reserved to the States. But if they are ir
revocably bound in q Union through
which alone they can deal with other
Governments, which makes peace and
war, coins money and regulates com
merce, the conclusion is irresistible that
the citizens of the United States either
have nationality, belong 10 no nation
whatever, or that the United States is the
nation to which they belong Moreover,
is it or can it be strictly accurate to say
that the people of this country are a ma.
tion only in the manner provided by the
Constitution? Do facts count for moth
ingg Is the sentiment of nationality,
which has grown with the growth and
strengthened with the strength of the
Union, not to be considered? Are the
history and event of the war without
Significance Nationality, like belliger.
ence, is fact not theory Around the
Constitution and within the century there
has grown up a national feeling of which
the trainers of the Constitution had no ex-
periencc, and of which they could have no
foresight This feeling does not change
the letter of the instrument nor magnify
the powers which it confers, but 1t makes
actually and substantially a nation of the
people OF the United States.
What is TO be gained by DENYING this
fact, II does not diminish the rights OF
the States nor the perception of the wis
dom of the local political system. Mr.
Mcdonald and the doctrinaires of his
school should remember that the changes
of 100 years, the marvclously increased
facilities of communication OF every kind,
have very sensibly modified the force OF
State feeling. The Colonies were sepa.
rate communities, in which the inhabitants
were native and stationary. That condi-
tion fingered in the Southern States until
the war, and explained much of their
provincial pride and local jealousy. 1t
was ludicrous TO an intelligent American
twenty years ago to see that a traveller was
prouder of entering his name in foreign
register as from South Carolina rather
than from the United States. Mr.. McDon-
aid takes no account either OF immigra
ton or of the new States. His resolutions
assert that the States at the formation OF
the Constitution were each sovereign, free
and independent. How many of them
were there? There were then thirteen.
There are now tnirty-seven. Have twenty
four of them, in fact and in theory, ever
been sovereign, free and independents
The party skirmishing by Congressional
resolution is not conclusive, but 1t has
certain significance, and we wait with
some interest to see whether the Demo.
cratic majority of the House, of which
the larger part were arrayed against the
Government, propose to declare that the
people of the United States are not of.
fectively nation.-Ha'Der's Weekly.