The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-02-27
State, and 'sovereigns cannot be reb-

| lSRlhuCS W HIS CGdISS lOl ph0
government was only the agent 0
never surrendered their sovereignty tt
it.
"What, then, is the true nature 0
the federal union? If the fathers in
tended to create and did create ma
ton, then it follows without dispnte
that the Coufederates were both rebels
and traitors, for they certainly die
fail in tho ir allegiance to the fedora
government for four years and theJ
| certainly were rebels against its au
thority.
But if the fathers did not create nol
intend to create Nation but only a
Federation, then the States that seced-
ed only exercised an Inherent right OF
sovereignty>in withdrawing from the
Union they had voluntarily entered
and the only question that remains is
rather a moral than q political one
wero they justified in Withdrawing
Practically, such question can never
be considered, for if q community has
the right to secede, it must also be the
judge of its necessity. The power that
holds the whip by the handle never
does recognize the need of the groans
and kicks that come from the body
that stands at the other end!
Mr.. Davis maintained that the vim
dication of the South rested on these
two consideratiOns-their rightful
power to secede and tho causes that
justified the exercise Of that power.
81 confess that while his argument in
favor of that right seemed to tc ex
ceedingly strong, yet l do not SEQ the
same fNr'.. II his statement of the
Justification "a its exercise, But then,
[ was at ne other end of the whip and
justified John Brown"
Article X, an amendment of tho
Consti' ution, declares that:
Thc powers not delegated to the
Unitcu States by the Constitution nor
prohibited by it to the state are re-
served to the States respectively or the
people.
This amendment WAS one of the
conditions on which tho Constitu-
ton was ratified. 1t clearly shows
that sovereignty remained with the
States"
Tho writer states the Constitution
would not have been ratified by the
maj ority Of the States had it not been
for the assurance that this amendment
would be adopted. The 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 Consti-
tuition was adopted. and subsequent
legislation for sectional advantages
rather than the general welfare, to-
fl,n, ],
lions Of obligations which the states
had assumed in the formation ii the
compact of Union, adding to unc asing
hostility shamefully displayed and cul-
minating in invasion, which treated
the feeling that the fraternity in which
the Union was founded had ce ,sed to
eXist-that the Union was was no long.
er one Of the heart
"Were the Secessionists, then, true
to the faith once delivered to the
State? May be? And yet, right here
| it seems to me, is both their best de-
fense and their weakest point. Nc
live race consents for velY :ong to be
ruled by dead men. EacA Hencration
manages to rule itself-it ,oC by the
letter Of the law or or q :trirt constitu
| ton thel. by amendments 10 cOnstitu-
ton ar. REVISION of creed! never met
any pubic man who lcVcrcnced the
Constitution as Mr.. Davis revereDceG
it.
Lest any foreigner should read this
article let me say for his benefit thar
there are two Jefferson DnVises il
American history-one is consp:rator
o rebel, a traitor, and the 'Fiend O
Andersonville'-he is myth evolved
from the hell-smole of cruel war-a.
purely imaginary parsonage as Me-
phistopheles or the Hebrew Devil
the other was a statesman with clear
hands and pure heart, who served hi
people faithfully from budding man.
hood to hoary age, without thought o
self, with unbending integrity and tt
the best Of his great abilit.'-he was
man OF whom all his countrymen VIII,
knew him personally, without distinc
ton Of creed political, are proud, ant
proud that he was their couutryman.