The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-26
In Memorial Address Col. Woods Declares
 Time Has Vindicated Confederacy's Cause!

government end liberty regulated by law. at a time when military tyrants were rampant in the Northern States. Indissoluble Union. The case of Texas V. White, which was decided by the United States Supreme Court during the December term, lsoS' brought before that Court the question whether or not Texas was State In the !, Union at the time of filing the bill or at the time of rendering the decision | The decision of this question was neces- sary in order to determine whether or not the Supreme Court had jurisdiction of the csse The Court say: We are very sem sibie of the magnitude and importance Of 1 this question, of the interest It excites, and of the difficulty, not to say impossi- bility, of so disposing of It as to satisfy the conflicting Judgments of men equally enlightened. equally upright. and equally patriotic. But we meet it in the case, and we must determine 1t in the exercise of our best judgment. under the guidance of the Constitution alone"
 The Court proceeds to recite the facts through which the secession of the State | of Texas was sought to be accomplished. They said: Tn all respects so far as the object could be accomplished by ordi- nances of the Convention, by acts of the Legislature, and by votes of the citizens. the relations of Texas to the Union were | broken up, and new relations to new Government were established for them" | The position thus assumed could only l be maintained by arms. and Texas ac- | cordingly took part, with the other Con- | federate States, in the war of the rebel lion. which these events made inevitable"
 The question was then asked: Did I IT. G.. oN nto aan to be- a state? Or, if not, did the State cease to be a member of the Union?" Proceeding to answer these questions the Court say: Tt Is needless to discuss, at length, the question whether the right of a. State to withdraw from the Union for any cause, regarded by herself as sufficient, is consistent with the Consti- tuition of the United States"
 "The Union of the States never was a purely artificial and arbitrary relation. It began among the Colonies. and grew out of common origin, mutual sympa- thies. kindred principles, similar interests and geographical relations. It was con firmed and strengthened by the necessi- ties of war, and receivs1 definite form. and character, and sanction from the Ar ticies of Confederation. By these the Union was solemnly declared to "be per petuai." And when these Articles were | of the country the Constitution was or dained ito form a more perfect Union." It is difficult to convey the idea of in- dissolube unity more clearly than by these words What can be indissoluble if a perpetual Union, made more perfect, Is not?"
 The learned Chief Justice who delivered this opinion, Hon. solomon P. Chase, had been Secretary Of the Treasury dur | tNx th1 oY,d had rad Nnvnr wide reputation as most successful Minister of Finance. One can readily ap- preciate the delicacy of his position when as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 1t became necessary for him in his judi cial capacity to pass upon the validity of laws in the execution of which he had assisted as a leading member of the Chief Executives Cabinet during the existence of .he war. He delivered the opinion of the Court however. in the legal tender cases declaring unconstitution the act of Congress making the United States notes a legal tender in so far as 1t applied to contracts enter ed Into antecedent to its enactment. But when it became his duty to pass upon the most vital question involved in the war between the United States and the Confederate States, he stood with lis section. But in delivering the opinion of tEe Court lat case. he satisfied nim- self with the simple statement that the Union was declared to "be perpetual by the Articles If Colfs iteration, and when these Articles were found to be inadequate to the exigencies of the coun- try, the Constitu.i ,n was ordained to form "a more perfect Union" Upon this premise he bases the conclusion that the Union" was perpetual and indissolubie.
 The exigancy of the situation perhaps
 may have justified the decision. though the premise might not.
 Those who had con.ended that the Union was "perpetldI' and "indisso- luble" based their arguments upon the fact that the preamble to the Constitution showed that the Constitution was ordain- ed by "the people of the United States" in order to form a more perfect Union," which the Articles of Confederation" had declared should be perpetual. It sems to be well settled by the history of the Convention that the delegates un- derstood the language. the people of the United StateA." to mean the people of the several States. as distinguished from their Legislatures. With respect to the omission to declare the Union to be per petual, the natural and reasonable con- clusion would be that the omission show ed that the Convention did not intend to declare 1t to be perpetual except upon the terms and conditions established by the Constitution Besides, the Articles of Confederation show upon their face that they were entersd into by the delegates of the thirteen States "In Congress as- sembled." The instrument was termed Articles of Confederation" The style of the Confectionery was ''the United States of America" and by Article 2 Each State retained its sovereignty, freedom and in- dependence. and every power, jurisdic- ton and right, which was not by the Confederation expressly delegated to the United Statss in Congress assembled. Be- sides. the Articles of Confederation were ratified and proclaimed by the delegates under authority of the Legislatures they respectively represented in Congress
 The constitution. on the other hand
 was ratified. not by the legislature, but by conventions of the States The first draft of the constitution was reported by the committee August 6, 17S7 The pre- amble recited the names of the States as they were recited in the preamble to the Articles of Confederation. On the suc-
 Continued on Page Eighteen.)