Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-10-29

among men. In like manner what |
have to say, falling as it will on unwill-
ing ears, may pass as the idle wind.
Nevertheless, with your permission i
wish to have friendly talk with your
readers as to what regard TO be very
grave and mischieyous political heresles
OF yours
In the first place. l deny in toto that
there ever was any "war between the
States, and your repetition Of the say
ing of Dir. Alexander Stephens. of
Georgia, TO that effect sounds like ridi-
cule in my ears. When and between
what States, as such, was ever war
waged All who have lived in this
country for thirty years have very
VIVID recollection OF war waged be-
tween two very distinct and separate
powers-the United States Government
and the Confederats States Government +;
but no State, as such. was ever known III
the contest. The United States never
ceased for one moment 10 claim lurisdic-
ton over oil the territory of the several
States, and to exercise it whenever and
wherever they could. The power in re-
sistance Was not merely State. but the
Confederate States-a dc JGct0 govern
ment welding for the time being all the
powers of government dc .jurc. And
when this government was overthrow
the war ceased. No State made further
resistance.
NO WAR BETWEEN THE STATES.
Oh, no, my good friend, there never
was any "war between the States.
That was an afterthought Of Mr.. Ste
phens IN the vain hope of relieving
himself OF the destined odium OF his
position. He had proven false to his
own deliberately expressed opinions
opinions expressed in the Georgia Sc
cessiOn Convention, which he never al
forwards found himself able to answer.
And he who has proven false to himself
can to no one else prove true. Under
the Constitution the States have no
right to make war. They are indeed
expressly forbidden to make war. nor
can they nuke peace or form any ALI
ances offensive or defensive. A CON
slant drop will in time wear away rocks.
is 1t hoped that by constant and per-
sistent repetition a mischiovOus dan
gerous, aud disastrous dogma may be
transformed into a righteous cause :?
CASTLES BUILT N AIR.
In the second place, no State ever had
O right to secedc from tie Union. All
castles built on this are castles in the air.
And, contrary to your dictum, | say if
ever any State had the right to secede, it
has that right now. as the Constitution
in that regard has undergone no change
whatever. But no State ever had any
such right. History is made up on this
point and no amount OF doctoring, or at
tempts at evasion, or explaining away,
will ever cure It's defects, if any it have.
1t may be soothing to our pride, and IN
q measure, console our wounded vanity,
to think "what might have been. bat,
Oh how disappointing TO wake up and
find all our pleasant illusions have been
dispclled by the light of the truth as It
is ! But no one will lie hurt by it. It
WAS Tallyrand, / believe. who said
words were invented to conceal ideas.
But no amount of palaver will ever
change the verdict already entered up
in this case. You say secession was
night reserved, expressed, or under
stood. This deny, for to assume that
this is so is to assume that our fathers
did not know what they We're about
when they formed the Constitution (;
that instead OF perpetual government,
they formed mere rope OF sand, a sort
IF free love concern which contained In
itself the elements of its own destruc-
ton. Does any one believe this of that
body of great and patriotic men who
formed the Constitution and set our
Government in motion ? In fact, the
idea that State had right to secede
and retire from the Union at will never
seems to have entered the head of any
one for than twenty years after the
Government went into operation. 1t was
Matched in the odious Hartford Conven-
ton. held about 1912, and soon passed
into ridicule and the contempt it de-
served.
SOME INSTANCE.
might cite the opinion Of very many
Of the fathers on this point to show the
unfounded character of the claim. but
ona or two instances must suffice mere.