The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-14
STATE RIGHTS AND TEE COAL
STRIKES.
Al important Subject significantly Ds'
apaaaA ny NR. aaldNln smith.

A important Subject 00u1ncanty nds'
susseA By mp. Gsldwin Suith.
To rnn Ep1ros OF THE suN-Sir' Can
ada b still disquieted BY the fear OF dis
turbAnce In the coal region. Weare storing
our coal In nervous haste. Unpleasant
rurnors como to M. We have seen tho
character Of the men and the relation be-
tween them and their employers. We
know that successful strike is apt TO be
repeated and that upon the heels OF one
labor agitator generally treads another.
We are grateful to President Roosevelt,
but we know that the finding Of his Com
mission has no legal force, but Ia an act OF
mediation rather than OF arbitration in
the proper sense of that term We should
be greatly treasured II we could feel that
the working Of the mines, 30 vital to the in
terests Of the nation, and not only OF the
nation, but of the continent, was under
the direct protection Of the National Gov
eminent
The Commissioners in their report, de-
nounoing the plea that the boycott was
jrstifable as an incident In the war be-
tween capital and labor, say that war be.
tween citizens, il attempted, Ia unlawful
and is to be put down by the sovereign
power Of the State and nation Can there
BIO two sovereign powers, one that OF tho
State, the other that Of the nation? Must
not the sovereign power In all matters OF
national concern reside wholly and solely
in the nation?
do not doubt that the different Colonies
at first went into the Union as sovereign
States, and under the impression that they
retained that character. with it's necessary
adjunct, tho right Of secession In case OF
breach OF contract-such as would have
been the withdrawal Of equal representa-
ton in the Senate-perhaps even without
any such breach; 80 that in exercising the
right OF secession for moral breach OF con-
tract on the subject Of slavery the South
had the original agreement on its side.
But the right Of secession had been tacitly
abrogated by the course Of events, by the
admission OF new States practically on a
national footing, and by geography Itself
for how could central State secede? Would
the Southern Confederacy have allowed
Tennessee or even Alabama the right OF
secession?
The war Of secession, at all events, decided
that the American Republic was no longer
q Confederacy Of sovereign States, like tho
AchRan League or the old Swiss bund' ana
that the National Government was supreme
Soveregnty surely is indivisible. State
administration may be, and no doubt still is.
rendered necessary by the vast extent OF
territory and variety Of circumstance.
But State sovereignty, or the lingering
memory Of 1t, Is but the dead wood OF the
past hanging round the limbs and encum-
boring the action Of the nation. The labor
unions do not respect the old lines Of State
sovereignty, nor does their leader confne
his action to his own State. The nation
La fighting them with Anticipated nanaoles
on its limbs.
1t has been seen how ineffective In the
face OF local influences, political or social,
a State Government may be In oontending
with unionist violence, and how unwise
1t may be, without Constitutional necessity,
to leave entirely In the hands OF such an
authority interests the wreck OF which may
al the nation and the continent with ruin.
TORONTO, juno 10. GOODWIN SMITH.