The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-31

government created by the federal con-
stitution had contended for the mast
cry in the American mind. The one
rested upon the basic idea that the
states were full and complete sover-
eighties, or nations, that the consti-
tuition was merely a compact or agree
ment between them that could be alb
| fogated at the will of any state; that
whenever one of them became dissat-
| lshed with the conditions under which
it formed a part of the Union then by
virtue of it's inherent and sovereign
power it had right to withdraw there
from and re-establsh it's independent
nationality. This has been popularity
known as the doctrine of state Sover-
eighty"
Dramatically opposed to it was the
view that while each state was SUI
| preme in matters strictly local. it never
thelesS formed part Of one great in
separable nation, and could no more
legally and consttutionally tear itself
from it's sister states than a member
of our planetery system could break
the invisible but all-powerful chain
that holds it forever in it's course
around the sun. This has been de-
nominated the principle of national
unity" Whether we rely solely upon
the text of the constitution, or view the
question in the light of sound state
craft, there can be no doubt that the
great national principle invoked was
the wiser and better doctrine. Ac-
cording to the state sovereignty idea
the American Union was merely an al
lance between nations essentially for
eisn to each other-an alliance that
might be broken at will. The old ar
ticles of confederation, it is true, fully
recognized the sovereignty of the states,
but the weakness and insufficiency of
the government thus established had
nni, f,r1l
FEDERAL constitution was adopted for the
express purpose of forming a more
perfect union" Of the people More
over, a government that is incapable
of maintaining it's own integrity must
OF necessity be too weak to protect its
people, and will be in infinite danger
or breaking down at a critical mo-
ment. Under the doctrine asserted by
South Carolina that state might have
given umbage to some foreign coun-
try and actually been DESTROYED by the
blows Of a more powerful adversary.
While the other states looked idly and
lndlfferently on, holding that as each
was sovereign in itself the troubles of
South Carolina were of no concern 10
them. But. while this is the concens,1s
OF opinion al the present time, and I'M
deniably sound, in 1861 it was an omen
question, and there was nothing that
could finally decide such an issue but
the stern arbitrament of war.
Had these divergent opinions merely
affected individuals scattered with
something OF regularity throughout the
Mnole eNpanse OF the country, it is
quite likely that the controversy wou1d
never have passed beyond the stage Of
academic and theoretical discussion.
BUT unfortunately, the people divided
very largely upon state and sectional
ines lines. Under such conditions war
IKE ciash was inevitab BILE whenever a
luest'oh arose of sufficient Importance
70 provoke It. The first serious premn-
nitlon or the coming storm appeared
IN 1857 when South Carolina attempted
TO MUMMY a revenue law which was
tnousht to embody an obnoxious prin-
clple. The firmness of President lack
son, together with the concessions Of
the Cay compromise" averted a con-
met at that time. But in 1861 tbe
storm could no longer be STAYED The
?roWth of the anti-slavery sentiment
IN the North had eliminated in the
election Of Abraham Lincoln as presi
Gent OF the United States. The insti-
tutlon OF slavery was in no real danger
IN the south, but the people of that
s s, tully believed that it was. They
furthermore believed that this meant
rum to thm both industrially and So
c1aily; Their whole Industrial system
rested upon the institution of African
slavery. 1t was the warp and the woof
OF their social fabric 1t is no answer
to this to say that slavery is absolute
~ wrong and that everybody ought to
nave known 1t. In order to be fair we
must put ourselves in the southern
mans place and view the situation as
IL appeared to him. He was born and
reared in an atmosphere of slavery He
saw the negro only in that condition
ana a he easily imbibed the notion that
the condition was a natural and proper
one. AS child, at his mothers knee
as a man, through the columns Of the
press, and from the sacred pulpit itself
ne was taught that negro slavery was
wise benefcent and even a "divine"
institution. We are all controlled to a
great extent by our environments,
and the belief of the southern people
concerning African slavery was the
natural result of the conditions which
surrounded them.
With calmer and more philosophical
leadership in the South, the election of
Mr.. Lincoln would not have been a
signal for wor. While he believed
slavery to be wrong and had frequent
~ given expression to that belief. he
did not assume to be the keeper of his
brothers conscience No man recop-
mixed more fully than he the SAFE
guards which the constitution threw
around the institutions of the South.
and none had less desire to break those
safeguards down. But the hotspurs
were in the saddle: the conservative
counsels of Lee and Stephens were ig-
nored; state after state passed it's or
dinance of secession; the Southern Con-
federacy was formed, armies were
levied, in April, 1861, their guns were
turned upon the devoted walls of
Sumter and the war begun. As the
election of Mr.. Lincoln had fired the
southern heart, so the first shot that
crashed into the masonry of Sumter
reused the patriotic sentiment of the
North to the highest pitch. The peo-
PIE sprang to arms. and as if by magic,
the country was transformed into two
great military camps. In an i'm
mense, Irregular crescent, stretching
from the Potomac to the Rio Grande,
the armies of the Union and the Con-
federacy faced each other, their bayo-
nets flashing and their campfres
cleaning on every hill For four long
years the continent was shaken by
their ceaSelaSS traf,op poft1as