Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-01-06

CIdtIC SpedNCl VI ttS IlNuSt ustS
given the chairmanship Of twenty
two out of thirty-three working
committees to the late Slave or
Southern States, Mr.. Morton's reso-
lutions upon nationality will be very
timely for the purpose or defining
the views of honorable gentlemen
as to the nature OF the government
under which We live. \ few years
ago many of the members ai the
present Congress were actively en-
gagged i'm the effort to destroy that
government. They denied that they
were rebels, upon the ground that
the Union WAS not national, but u
simple partnership OF sovereign
States, any one of which could with
draw when aud how it pleasei,
and appropriate all the pal tnership
property that 1t could lay hands ou.
The war having decided against
them, and many of them having
now appeared rs members of the
government, IL Is we'll To know
what kind of u government they
think il To be-, and whether they
have renounced the theory upon
which they took up arms. Practic-
ally .aud for the present the qu. stion
ha- been settled. So Was the Preten-
der's claim in Great BIitain settled
In l7i5, but Prince Charles Edward
renewed Ii In l1i5.
The question of the nature of the
Union ls very practical. Ii Is SIM
ply whether the United States arc
In effect Il nation or not. That there
are distinct iocni governments, with
admitted rights, and that this sSs-
tenn, by ditf,,sing political interests
and activities, Is expedient and ad-
mirabie, is iniisputnbie. Ii Is not
denied or contested, But the ether
question remains: Do the people Of
the United States, who maintain for
the common welfare the de-tinct
local government, compose, for all
the purposes for which II nniion
exists nation, or II the citiz"n of
the United States who live IN New
York or Georgia without nstlong
Is the Government eG the United
States to-day national authority, or
IL IL the agent, for certain purposes,
of certain independent md sovereign
communities This IL plainly qaes.
tion of fact, and Ia the light of the
war there Is but one answer. i't
the introduction OF MIR. Morion's
reslutions has led To the presentation
of a counter SERIES by his cnlIrague,
senator Mcdonald, of Indiana, the
key OF which is that the peopIeai ihe
United states are nation ouly III
the manner aud 10 the extent pre-
scribpd by the Constitution.
This proposition has the old eva
sion and ob-curity Of the Virginia
and Kentucky resolutions oi '9S Mr..
Mcdonald conc-des that the right OF
re,pa-iGn WAS not reserved to the
States. But If they ARE irrevocahley
bound In "A Union through WINCH
alone they can deal with other gov
ernments, which makes peace and
war, coins nouey, and reguinfrs
commerce, the conclusion II irfeArt'
ible ,that the citizens Of those states
being nl-o citiUus OF the Duitea
States, either have no nationality,
belong To no nation whichever, or
that the United States h the nation
to which they belong. Moreover, III
II or can Ii be strictly acc'ifat" 10
say that the people Of this country
are n nation only In the manner pro-
vided by the Constitution Do
facts count for nothing? Ii the sen
t!nent Of nationality, which has
grown with the growth and strength
eued with the strength Of thn Uulon,
not to la considered Are the his
tory snd events Of the war without
Significance? Nationality, like bel
ligprepce, is fact not theory.
Around the Constitution and wi,hin
the century there has grown np u
ustioasl feeling Of which the Trainers
Of the Constitution had no expe-
rienoe, and of which they could
have no foresight. This feeling does
not ebauge the letter OF the iDstru-
ueut nor magnify tho powers which
it coDfers, but IL makes actually
aud substantially q nation OF Tho
Uuited States.
What Ia 10 be gained by denying
this fact? Ii does not diminish the
rights Of the States nor the percep.
tion Of the wisdom OF tho local
political systsin. Mr.. Mcdonald ant
the doctrinsires OF hts school should
remember thst the changes of u hun
dred years, the marvel0usly increased
facilities OF communication Of svery
kind, have very sensibIy modified
the force OF State feeling. The colo
nies were separate communities, IN
which the inhsbitants were native
and stationary. That condition I'm.
gered In the Southern States mill
the war, and explained much Of their
provincial pride and local jealousy.
ii was ludicrous 10 All intelligent
American twenty years ago to see
that a traveller was pr0uder OF enter
ing his name IN = foreign register w
from S0Ath Carolinia rather than
from the United States. Mr.. McDon-
aid takes no account either Of iInmi-
grafton or OF tho new States. Lbs
resolutions assert that tho States NJ
the formation OF the Constltuti,n n
were each sovereign, free and intit'~
pendent. How many of them were
there? There were then thirteen.
There are now thirty-ssyep. Have
twenty.four Of them, In fact or ~
theory, ever been sovereign, ffev
and independent?
The party skirnishing by Congres'
a L.. xsE.sKf fsI sskxta