The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-01-03

people thcreof arc part OF the American
nation and that nj attempts. from what
over source or from whatever pretext,
10 dissolve said Union or to sever SAID
nation, nre unauthorized and ought TO be
resisted with tho whole power Of tho
State
Alabama went even n ster, further. It's
( Constitution, adopted In 1868, provided that
every person before registering should DC
required to tnho nh oath to support the
constitution and laws Of tho United
States, and that no would never counte-
nance or aid In the secession Of the State.
We now como to tho main point In the
discussion, our contention That under the
Constitution Of tho United States. as
amended the right OF secession has pass
cd away. The fourteenth amendment
provides that "all persons born or nntur-
allied In tho United States, and subject
to tho jurisdiction thereof are citizens OF
tho United States and Of tho State where
in they reside. No State shall make or
enforce any law which shtlll nbridgo the
privilege or immunities Of citizens of the
United States: nor shall any State de-
prlve any person OF life, liberty, or prop
crty, Without duo process Of law, nor
deny to any person within It's jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws"
Then and there came into being the
5"citlzen Of tho Uniluu States No silcl
definition was previously found In tho
Constitution says Justice Miller III
the famous Slaughter House cases
from Louisiana, = nor had any ut
tempt been made to define 1T by
net sof Congress-. And Justice Field
said that the fourteenth amendment re-
cognizes In express terms, II It does not
create citizens Of the United States and
makes their citizenship dependent upon
the place Of their birth or tho fact of
their adoption, and not upon the constl-
tuition or laws Of any State" Justice
Bradley went so far as TO say that every
citizen is primarily q citizen Of the United
States, and secondarly, n citizen Of
the State In which he resides.
That is what the fourteenth amend
ment did for us. and that is how the
right Of secession under the Constitution
was taken away. In these same Slaugh-
ter House cases counsel for the plaintiffs
in error thus argued:
1t had been maintained from the origin
OF the Constitution, by one political
party that the state was the highest po-
ll!ical organization In tho United States;
that through the consent OF the separate
States the Union had been formed for
limited purposes; that there was no So
cial union except by and through the
States. and that in extreme cases tho
several States might cancel the oblga-
tons to the Federal government and re-
claim tho allegiance ana fidelity Of Its
members. Such We're the doctrines of
Mr.. Calhoun, and Of others; both those
who preceded and those who have fol-
lowed him. 1t is nowhere declared In
the Constitution what a citizen Is or
what constitutes citizenship; and what
ideas were entertained Of citizenship by
one class in our country may be seen
In the South Carolina case of Hunt vs..
The State. where Judge Harper, referring
to the arguments of counsel who wcroS
opposing qualifications, says:
at has been admitted in argument by
all counsel except ono that In case Of a
secession of a State from the Union, the
citizen and constituted authorities would
be bound to obey and give effect TO the
act"
But the fourteenth amendment does
define citizenship, and tho relations or
citizens to the State and Federal gov
ernment The doctrine of the States
Rights party, led by Mr.. Calhoun, was
that there was no citizenship in
the United States except sub modo and
by the permission of the States. Ac-
cording to their theory, the United States
lad no integral existenc except as an
incomplete combination among several
integers The fourteenth amendment
struck at and forever destroyed all such
doctrines. 1t seems to have been made
under an apprehension Of destructive
faculty of the State governments. 1t
consolidated the several integers into
consistent whole. But the national prin-
ciple has received an indefinite enlarge
ment. The tie between the United States
and every citizen In every part of It's
owlt jurisdiction has been made Intimate
and familiar. TO the same extent the
Confederate features Of the government
have been obitcrnted. The States IN
their closest connection with the members
of the State have boon placed under
tho oversight and restraining and en-
forcing hand of Congress. The purpose
whole Jurisdiction of the United States,
one people, and that every member of tho
Empire shall understand and appreciate
tho fact that his privileges and immuni-t
ties cannot be abridged by the State au-
thority
To many of us that was n bitter pill
to swallow but It Is the pill We had to
swallow and there Is no use In sugar
coating it. Under the fourteenth amend
mcnt we arc citizens primarily OF the
United States and. therefore, our first
allegiance Is, under tho Constitution, to
tho Federal government, That being tho
case, citizens of a state have no right TO
secnde; and the citizens arc the state,
The States have the same right of rev.
olution that they always had, and each
State may attempt secession when it
chooses to do SO, but no State now has
the constitutional right to secedc.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Governor Carter's Inaugural.
| Nc have received beautiful copy OF
| tLc beautiful innugtlrnl address OF the