The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-06-04

lutte inherent right. The power in case
OF the federal government comes from
God through the people, acting as pol
itical communities.
These political communities or states
are the successors or continuators OF the
English colonies created by the British
crown, or under the sovereignty of Great
Britain, and therefore they are not COM
plete or sovereign states. The indepen-
dence was declared by the united colonies
which by this fact became the United
States. The colonies after throwing off
the hated yoke of England did not be-
come thirteen Independent powers or
sovereignties, but one power, one nation
al sovereignty, called the United States
of America.
The people of the United States, in
forming the federal union, did not form
mere league or confederacy of SOW
ereigns, they formed a governmental
government with limited powers indeed,
but still a government supreme within
it's constitutional limits. They formed a
Union not a confederacy. From this
Union no state had the right to secede.
and why? Because they expressly or
dain that the "Constitution, and the laws
Of the United States which shall be made,
in pursuance thereof, shall be the SUI
preme law of the land" Hence any act
of secession is an act of rebellion.
The Union is constitutional compact,
in which all the parties are bound to
each, and each to all; and therefore the
compact can be dissolved only by the
| unanimous consent of all the contracting
parties; and hence the party remaining
faithful to it has the right to enforce It's
| observance upon any party seeking to
evade its provisions.
From this it follows that the federal
government in making war against the
Southern Confederacy was simply wag-
ing war against traitors and rebels, and
therefore the war for the preservation OF
| the Union was just and necessary war
| deserving of the support Of all loyal sub
jects and good citizens.
The federal government in waging war
against the Southern Confederacy was
simply performing it's imperious and con-
stitutional duty. The war was not war
between the North and South, between
the free and the slave-holding states, for
or against slavery, but was on the part of
the government war against traitors
and rebels to the states of the Union.
The condemnation of the Southern Sc
ceders consists in this: They resisted
the federal government in the exercise of
it's legitimate powers without having a
single act of tyranny to ailege against
it. And they could have no such act
without condemning themselves, for they
controlled the federal administration and
shaped it's policy for more than three
fourths of the time since the organization
of the government.
The blood and treasure which we're so
freely poured out by the loyal states in
defense of the authority of the govern
ment aud the integrity of the nation,
were the earnest and practical protest of
a great and free people against the false
and disintegrating doctrine of absolute
state sovereignty. The war for the pre-
servation Of the Union was justifable in
every respect, and therefore it had the
moral and material support Of every
good citizen. The strength and energy
put forth by the United States, the
mighty armies we collected equipped,
disciplined, and placed in the field, the
large navy we created and placed on our
coasts and rivers, the orderly conduct of
our land and naval forces, astonished the
world and filled our enemies with terror
and dismay.
One of the first duties OF a citizen,
native or adopted, is to defend his country
against externa. and internal foes. Our
citizen soldiers knew this duty, and they
fulfilled it bravely and skillfully with
proper regard for the restrictions of rei
gion and the dictation of humanity, and
therefore they justly occupy an exalted
place in the esteem Of all right minded
men. Their enduring fame, like the
lilies wa place upon their graves, is TN
furnished and unstained.
We admire the valor and self-sacritice
of the Spartan soldier. Yet the Spartans
fought for, and maintained the most de
grading form of slavery. The achieve
ments of the invincible legions OF Alex
ander claim the attention and occupy
the thoughts of every reader of Grecian
history, but these heroic followers OF
Philips son were only the tools Of a
tyrant's will, who waged war for the sake
of war. The Carthagenians fought their
way from the pillars of Hercules to the
gates of Rome, and proved their skill
and bravery on thousand battlefelds,
but they stained their victories with bar