Wichita eagle., 1888-12-12

gress. He is quoted as lsaying in expla
nation of his bill that, in view of TIL
great length of California and the re
sultant diversity Of interests, it is be
lieved that both the northern and south
ern counties would be benefited by tht
proposed division.
i Without having as vet seen the text O
Mr.. Vandever'S bill, we assume tina
it must contain proyiso making tn;
consent of the state of California a con
dition sine qua non. Otherwise il woulc
bring up at once against pretty seriou:
obstacle. The constitution OF the United
States-which, in spite of all that has
gone and gone. is still the supreme law
of the land-says (l&rticle ". Sec. 3}:-
New states may be admitted bv the
congress into this union: but no new
state shall be formed or erected within
the jurisdiction or any other state; mol
any state be formed by the junction OF
two or more states, or parts of states
without the consent of the legislatures OF
the states concerned as we'll as OF the
congress.
If the legislature of the state of Cali
fornia has passed an act making pro
vision Subject to the consent of congress
for the setting off CT any of Its counties
| as new state, the fact has escaped our
| notice.
We observe with interest that sundry
esteemed Democratic contemporaries.
while calmly discussing the probable
effect of the proposed division on the
| future of California, accept the appear
ance of this bill for the purpose in the
| house of representatives as matter of
course. having nothing extraordinary
about it and not calling for word of
comment.
| Yet congress has no more power of its
own motion to divide California, or any
other state, than it has to blot the state
of Connecticut from the map and
make present OF these eight
counties of Hartford, New Haven,
Middlesex, New London, Fairfield,
Litchfield. Windham and Holland to New
York, or Massachusetts, or Rhode Island
Not particle. 1t cannot with proprietv
take the initiative in project of this
sort. In doing SO it commits trespass
Oh the premises of the state. 1t is for
the state to ask congress- consent to a
division, If the state desires division.
1t Is no part of the business of congress
to propose to state to let itself be di-
vided. That, from the point of view of
the constitution, is an impertinence.
Since the constitution was ratified.
there have been three instances OF the
admission into the Union of states form
ed out OF the territory and population of
existing states-Maine, Kentucky, West
Virginia. In the case OF Maine. the
Massachusetts, legislature first passed
an act submitting the question of
separation to the people of the future
state: then they met in convention at
Portland and adopted state constitu-
ton; then congress passed the act of adj
mission. In the case of Kentucky the
people held their convention, the Nir-
glnla Legislature gave its consent to the
separation, and then congress passed the
act of admission. The case of West Nir-
ginio Is not quotable precedent 1t oc-
Cured under wholly exceptional and ex-
traordinary conditions, at time when
war was fragrant in the land, and when
congress supplemented the exercise of
the powers confided to it by the consti-
tuition with the exercise of what was
known as "the war power" 1t was
case of violent dismemberment
rather than of division. The whole
process of the formation of this state"
says one of the publicistS who have con-
sidered it, lis a difficult problem in
American constitutional law. It was
evidently revolutionary in the main,
but there are many features in it which
go TO support Summers state suicide
theory"
The state of California has not com
mltted suicide certainly, and the first
section of the act of September 9. 1850,
runs as follows: BE 1t enacted, etc,
That the state of California shall be one.
and is hereby declared to be one, of the
United States OF America. and admitted
into the Union on an equal footing with
the original states in all respects what
ever"
If, now or at any future time, Califor-
MIA In the constitutional way informs
congress of its wish to be divided, it will
be for congress to give or withhold its
consent, as IL may deem proper Until /
California does SO, let congress mind its /
own business. There is plenty of it to
mind.
The tendency to look to the general !
government at Washington at every |
moment, TO run to it on every occasion, |
to think of congress as an omnipotent /
American parliament instead of as what /
1t really ia body of strictly defined
powers, hedged in on all sides by consti- /
tutiOnal Gmitations-iS a tendency to
be resisted by every citizen who intelH-
gently loves his country. The states are
not merely party colored patches on the
map, or convenient subdivisions of the
territory and population. They are vital
political organisms-Bo less truly so than
the union itself, and no less sovereign.
and inviolable in the sphere
which the constitution has assigned
them. The very life of the union is
bound up with the life of the states. II
IS the local if-government represented /
and perpetuated by them that makes the
general government possible. Even the
appearance of an encroachment upon
their reserved rights should be jealousy
resented and discounted.
Z