The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-10-08
NUMBER Al.

people, upon any subject. And he thought ,
senator should pay great respect 10 such action
and should conform his own TO IL, II possible Il
/ do 50 consistently with his oath and conscience
/ But he denied that Legislature has the power
/ 10 issue a mandatory direction to a Senator IL
govern his vote action. Such "A power /.
| inconsistent with the very first clause OF thu
Federal Constitution which SAYS. All Legis
1 latlye powers herein granted shall be vested
/ Ia Congress OF the United States which shall
consist OF Senate and House OF Represents.
tives. Il would destroy the coordinate
character OF the two governments which We
T have in this eountry-the State and Federal
and would make the latter subordinate Il the
former. 4 law enacted by the vote OF "a Sena-
/ LOT IN dlsobedience OF instructions Is just as
NsiIlu a. amy oFleF, winch would not he true III
the State had the constitutional right 10 control
/ his action. So far As the doctrine rests upon
the idea that the Legislature Is the Senator's
. constituency 1t 4 iallacious. There are many
analogles IN our system which prove its absur-
dIty- Some of these Mr.. Lamar cited. He had
read the debates in the Convention which
adopted the Constitution, and no, such right
was there claimed reserved to the States
Tie denied TOO that TINS is or has ever been DenoL
cratic doctrine. He had consulted all the great
nights OF the party-the great big ones he meant
and none OF them countenaHced il. Wash
lnston, who was more Of a Democrat than a
Federalist in his principles, had no patience
with II Jefferson and Madison repuliatcd it,
and ii has never been asserted in any National
Democratic platform from the organization Of
the party 10 the present time.
As 70 Mr.. CalhoCn-if there was ANYTHING
with which he might claim TO be familiar, ii
the views of Mr. Calhoun, and that he had
expressed his hostility to this doctrine in the
most burning and positive language. There
could not be a doubt True he does in one
place aude incidentally To right Of instruction
by State Legislatures" but he puts il with the
rights OF petition and other mere appeals Il
reason-expressly excluding il from his emu
meratlon OF the means provided 10 the States
for exerting influence upon the Federal
Government and preventing Entertainments
upon their reserved powers. The constitutional
but there were others almost ; great. He de
MED that ii would, in the long run. exert a
healthyinfuence upon legislation or the charac-
ter of our institutions. He would not stop to
point out its evil tentencies they would readily
occur TO any thinking mind. But, if now ac-
knowledged, it would be seen how quickly IL
would be used To strike down a Democratic
Senate and put up Republican one in its
place. Before the present era of politics passes
off, he thought the South would be thankful
that it is not an acknowledged feature of our
system of government.
Much more was said by Mr.. Lamar on this as
well as the other heads of his address
Cannon and loud cheers greeted him him As
he assembled and descended his stand and his
frequently and vociferously APP
plauded. As he walked away, a distinguished
Greenbacker was heard To say THAT was the
speech of a statesman; only noble and patri- I
otic man could have made it,"