The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-02-26
ertaiplv were rebels against its au

thority.
But if the fathers did not create II
: intend to create a Nation but only
Federation, then tie States that secec
ed only exercised an inherent right {
sovereignty in withdrawing 1rcm tn
Union they had voluntarily entered
and the only question that remains
rather morsl than a political one
were they justified in withdrawing
Practically, such 9 question can move
be considered, for if a community ha
the right to secede, it must also be tn
Judge of its necessity. The power tha
holds the whip by the handle neve'
does recognize the need of the groan;
and kicks that come from the BODY
that stands at the other ens.
"Mr. Davis maintained that the win
dication of the South rested on these
two considerations-their rightfu
power to secede and the causes that
justified the exercise ofthat power.
81 confess that while his argument in
favor Of that right seemed to e ex-
ceedingly strong, yet do novsee the
same force in his statement Of the
Justification 10 its exercise But then,
I was at be other end of the whip and
justified John Brown
Article X, an amendment of the
Constitution, declares that:
The powers NOT delegated to the
United States by the Constitution nor
prohibited by it to the State are re-
served to the States respectively y or the
people.
This amendment WAS one OF the
conditions on which the Cons.itu-
ton was ratified. 1t clearly shows
that sovereignty remained with the
Ststes."
The writer states the Constitution
would not have been ratified by the
m.jority of the States had it not been
for the assurance that this amendment
would be adopted. TIE stand taken
by the Southern leaders is described as
follows:
Mr. Davis submitted as justification
Of the Withdrawal Of the Southern
States in 1856:
The destruction of the balance of
power which existed when the CcDsti-
tuition was adopted, and subsequent
legislation for sectional advantages
rather than the general welfare. to-
gether with gross and persistent viola
Sons Of obligations which the States
had assumed in the formation II the
compact OF Union, adding to unceasing
hostility shamefully displayed and cul-
miDating in invasion, which treated
the feeling that the fraternity il which
the Union was founded h,d ce .sed to
e1ist-that the Union was wss no long
er one of the heart"
'Were the ScceSsionists: then, trHe
to the faith oace delivered to the
Stats? May be? And yet, right here,
il seems to me, is both their bes: de-
fense and their weakest point. N
live race consents for very !ong 10 be
ruled by dead men. Each generation
manages to rule itself-ii not by the
letter Of the law or or strict constitu-
tion then by amendments to constitu-
tion ar, REVISION of creed! Inever met
any pubic mau who 1everenced the
Constitution as M. Davis revereaced
IT,
"Lest any foreigner should resd this
article let me say for his benefit that
there are two Jefferson Davises ia
American history-onei is consp:rator,
a rebel, traitor, and the 'Fiend of
Andersonville'-he is myth evolved
from the hell-smoke OF cruel war-as
purely imaginary a parsonage as Me-
phissopheles or the Hebrew Devil;
the other was statesman with clean
hands and pure heart, who served his
people faithfully from budding man
hood to hoary age, without thought of
self, with unbending integrity and to
the best Of his great abili:y-he was a
man of whom all his counlrymen who
knew him personally, without distinc-
tion Of cresd political, are proud, and
proud that he was their countryman."