The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1900-09-21
THE CONSTITUTION AND COLONIES


We are hearing a great deal of talk
this campaign about" the constitution
following the flag" the legal way of
putting it being that "the constitution
extends ex proprio vigore (by its own
force over all territory acquired by
the United States" 1t is upon this
declaration that Mr.. Bryan assumes
to find rank violation of the consti-
tuition in the Republican policy toward
Porto Rico and the Philippines.
Now the truth of history is that this
view of the question was never thought
of during all the early days, while this
Republic was expanding over vast
stretches of territory and when the
men who wrote the constitution were
still alive to construe it. Section 3,
Article of the constitution says:
The congress shall have power to make
all needfu rules and regulations respect.
lug territory and other property belonging
to the United states.
Governor Morris, of New York,
wrote that article and in letter writ
ten to Henry w. Livingstone Dec. 4,
1903, he explained it thus: II always
thought that when we should acquire
Canada and Louisiana we should
govern them AS PROVINCES, and al
low them no voice in our councils. In
wording the third section of the 4tL
article of the constitution | went as
far as circumstances would permit, to
establish the exclusion"
That makes it, very plain that at
least one of the authors of the consti-
tuition looked forward to the time
when the United States might have
colonies. and wrote what he regarded
as a sufficient authorization for their
government as provinces and not as
integral parts of the Nation.
As matter of fact Florida and
Louisiana were governed for years by
the Democratic presidents under whom
they were acquired entirely outside
the constitution. Alaska and the
Aleutian islands have been governed
hat way down to this day without Il
Democratic protest.
The truth is that the present attitude
of the Democratic party on this ques-
ton dates from John G. Calhoun
who invented the idea that 1.-THE con
stitution follows the flag in the inter-
est Of slavery, hoping thereby to over
throwthe Missouri compromise which
his doctrine eventually did.-and force
every state and territory to recognize
slaves rs property, Concerning this
Calhoun convention Thomas Benton,
who was a pretty good Democrat, in
his great book says:
A new dogma was invented to at the
cuse-that Of the trausmigratiou OF the .
constitution uhe sluver3 part of iU into
the territories overriding ana over rum
ming all the ant-slavery which IL found
there ana planting the institution there
under it's own wing ana maintaining IL be-
You'd the power of eradication, either by
congress or the people of the territory.
Before this dogma was proclaimed EFFORTS
were made to get the constitution extend
ed TO these territories by act Of congress;
failing in these attempts, the di1lculty was
leuped over by boldly assuming that the
constitution went of itself-that is to say,
the slavery part of it.
History can not class higher than as
yagary of Il diseased imagination this Inn
puted self-actlng and self-extension OF the
y constitution. The constitution does moth
ing of itsclf-not even the states for which
II was made, Every part OF it requires u
law to put it in operation No part of II
can reach a territory unless impaired to 1t
by act OF congress.
Daniel Webster, who was perhaps
as distinguished constitutional
lawyer in his day as Mr.. Bryan is in
ours, took the same view as Mr..
Benton, declaring Mr.. Calhoun's con-
tention to be utterly untenable, not
supported by either history or reason.
The proposition that the right of trial
by jury, the habeas corpus, and every
principle designed to protect personal
liberty is extended by forceof the con-
stitution itself over every new terri
tory Mr.. Webster declared could not
be maintained at ala but that "these
rights must be conferred by law be-
fore they can be enjoyed by a
territory"
On the theory of probabilities who
would be most likely to properly con-
strue the constitution, the men who
wrote it, or the men who wrote the