The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-28
FLOWERS FOR THE HERO DEAD
Continued from Eighth Page.)

---,n OF caution possessed and cOntroll-
al the states. In the tullness Of their
r-ilmph they did not fear the agrees
Sons Of foreign powers; but they reasoned
mar the time might come when diverg-
i7g interests would array section against
section, state against state. and death
would await the weaker COM
ruouwealths. They accepted as the "
rlrances of patriotic faith the insistent
declarations of its trainers that il could
uot lie within the scope Of the delegated
MOVERS TO affect the inherent sovereignty
6f the contracting states, still each as il
gave its adherence recited the act to be
that Of the sovereign people of the acced-
Inr state and embodied in the assent the
reservation Of every attribute not in terms
conferred upon the general agent We
have Travelled far, my countrymen, from
The hour of American liberty, and night
and storm nave swept from our memo
ries the landmarks which lead to the be-
ginnings Of our Journey We need but
turn and look; they stand with the ma
jesty OF truth, towering above the fOgs
and mists Of politics and greed which
circle about their base.
Ii is the truth of history that Rhode
Island, rejecting upon her small domain
and weak resources, did not accede to
after il had been IN practical operation,
Welding her assent finally upon the dis
tinct declaration, that be the understand
ing what II might, the cons ltutiOn must
recite the fact that what was not in terms
delegated was reserved to the states The
answer came in the language Of the tenth
Of every intelligent mind. The great
leader of the federalist party whose
monarchial tendencies suggest the only
criticism upon his brilliant career, de-
Clared that sovereignty had been re-
served. 1t was the understanding of New
England when in the very throes of the
war Of 1872, waged to protect the dignity
of the United States against the insolent
aggressions of England, her people met
in the Hartford convention and threat
ened secession unless peace was made.
IT in the heart q IL fbp Inns
of Daniel Webster, when, in 1851, he said,
addressing southern men, 4 have not
hes.tated to say, and 1 repeat, that if the
northern states refuse, willfully and de-
lOerately to carry into effect that part
OF the constitution which respects the
restoration of fugitive slaves, and the
congress provide no remedy, the south
would no longer be bound to observe the
compact" II was the cOmmonest princi-
pie of international law governing the
agreements or soVereigns. And beyond
ALL to its minutest details; in the extent
OF its practical operations; TO the limits
of its powers; in the fullness of its pro-
found wisdom, ii is the states which act
and speak under the constitution. There
was no people of the United States in
the sense of a homogeneous political ag-
gregdte, which performed any act or dis
charged any duty under the constitu-
ton, or was ever intended to do so. If
to this Pigment Of the latter day fanatics
the states delegated their sovereignty
(Which was the one thing they We're de-
termined to retain), then is the asJound-
ing conclusion reached that by implica-
ton, where all was designed to be eX-
pressed, the one power conferred upon
1.-THE people of the United States was
the right TO sit in majestic silence, with
folded hands, and be a sovereign.
The brilliant achievements of the revo-
luton, the fascinating experiment of rep
resentative government, unfortunately at
tracted the attention of the rhetorician
and the fancy of the poet, and the truth
Of history has been sacrificed to the gilt
tering phrases of the builders of cpl
grams. The brotherly affection which
peryaded the stirring lines of patriotic
ballads and scintillated in the glowing
periods of patriotic orations had long
since been resolved into a practical and
solicitous regard for the mOneyed and
political interests to be involved in the
partnership under consideration. Subor-
d-nate only TO the interest centering in
he sovereignty of the states was the sub
Ject Of African slavery. This had been a
New England industry. At the time of
| the constitutional convention it had not
occurred to the north that the issue of
morality had anything to do with the dis
cussion of this topic. That section had
already become commercial industrial
and navigating; and the south had become
4 the teachings of 1.-The higher law" sug-
gested to the economical Puritan that the
natural habitat of the slave should be the
kindly acres of the sunny south.
History does not record that the negro
came south through emancipation. With
the purchase price in his pocket the pres
ent risk of the New Highlander in regard
10 the slave was eliminated, but there
was nothing farther from his thoughts
than abolition of the slave trade itself. 1t
was lucrative business in it's time, and
thank God, they were not southern men
who fattened upon its revolving profits.
At the time of the constitutional action,
the slaves had been sold to the south and
constituted its most valuable and aVaila-
bic property. Yet the provision which de-
clared there should be no interference by
the congress with the slave trade until
1908 expressed a compromise forced upon
the south by the interests of the north.
Our record was clear. Virginia had re-
peatedly urged upon the crown the cessa-
ton of slave importation and Georgia had
actually forbidden that traffic. Although
the congress denied its power of Interior
ence until the constitutional limit should
have been reached, by that time every
southern state had legislated against its
continuance.
The right of property in slaves had new
Ter been questioned. 1t was, in fact, the
|only property specifically recognized in
the constitution, not only as a basis of
congressional representation but IN the
protective clause which inhibited a state
lever to pass law depriving a master of
his right TO reclaim slave escaped to its
jurisdiction. The abstract moral question
|Said to be involved in African slavery
but clouds the issues which provoked the
war. The morality of that possession was
never the cause of serious difference; it
was an incident to issues purely political,
rehecting on the one hand the greed of
power and upon the other resistance to
unconstitutional encroachmentS. Ihe re-
luctance with which Rhode Island had
aeceded TO the union primarily sprung
from her apprehension that the aggres-
slons of the stronger states would destroy
Iler individuality. The constitutional bal
ances were meant, so far as human skill
could devise, to maintain equality of rep
lesentation in the legislative department.
AS the developments of the north diff
1erentiated her interests from those of the
south 1t was sought to secure the perma-
hence and increase of the former by the
extension of legislative power. The slow
growth of population would yield scarcely
appreciable results in that direction for
many years, but the opportunity came in
~ when Missouri sought admission as a
state. The Louisiana cession had been
aid for from the common treasure. 1t
became by purchase the property of all
me states, and slavery was one of its
institutions. The right of territory seek
ing admission as a state, to frame its
own organic law was not 4 debatable
question. Yet her admission was permit
leu by a sectional vote, only on the COM
promise that slavery should not exist in
mat part of the common property north
81 a given latitude. The northerner was
Tree to take into it's limits all the prop
|Giy he owned the southerner was for
Ildden TO carry there the most valuable
ne possessed Years afterward the su-
lIefQe court held the Missouri