The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-19

position to the admission of Louisiana
INTO the Union. In that speech he
said: IF this bill passes. the bonds OF
the Union are virtually dissolved.
The States which compose 1t are free
from their moral obligation. And as
II Is the right Of all, so it
VIII be the duty OF some TO pre-
pare for separation, amicably IL they
can. forcibly If they must Here we
have one Of the foremost statesmen
OF New England asserting on the floor
OF Congress that secession Was the
right of all tho states. Such Lam
guago could not have been used 4
the doctrine had not been an accepted
one.
In 1s2s Daniel webster prosecuted
Theodore Lyman. of Boston. for libel.
Lyman had charged that Webster was
guilty of reasonable conduct because
he had taken part in plot to dis
snlve thu Union. which was begun in
New England in 1907. Lyman was
defended by Samuel Hubbard. who
aftcrward became justice OF the
Supreme Court of Maasachusctts.
Hubbard held that the charge was
not libelous. because "a confedera-
ton of New England States TO confer
with each other on the subject OF
dissolving the Union was not treason.
The several States are independent.
and not dependent Every State has
the right to secede from the Union
This was a distinct assertion of the
right OF secession by an eminent New
England jurist
William Rawle was for many years
chancellor OF the Law Association Of
Philadelphia His book entitled
Views OF the Constitution" is said
10 have been textbook in West
Point Military Academy when many
OF the men who adhered to the South
IN the separation were students in
the institution. Rawlc says: The
Union was formed by the voluntary
agreement OF the States. and in unit
ing together they have not forfeited
their nationality. nor have they been
reduced to one and the same people.
II one of the states chooses to with
draw It's name from the contract il
would be difficult 10 disprove its right
OF doing so: and the Federal govern
IneRt would have no means or main
tanning It's claim. either b. force or
right. II depends on tho State
Itself TO retain or abolish the principle
OF representation, because IL depends
ION itself whether it will continue a
member OF the Union. To denv
this right would be inconsistent with
the principles on which our political
aystcms are founded. The right must
be considered an original ingredient
in the composition of the general gov
eminent. which. though not express
ed. was mutually understood. :. .
The secession OF State from the
Union depends on the will of the peo-
pie OF such state"
These testimonies clearly establish
the fact that the doctrine OF the right
OF secession was held in the begin
ming by both North and South
fourthly. believe the right of the
State to withdraw from the Union was
proved by the course the North pur-
sued toward the southern states after
the war. The North denied that a
State could leave the Union. The war
was fought from start to finish on the
theory that the States were insepara-
BILE parts Of the Union, and that the
Confederatc5 were n lawless combina-
tion within these States in rebellion"
against the government. But when the
war was over, the North abandoned
that ground. conceded the point. re-
versed their position. declared that the
States had gone out OF the Union, and
proceeded 10 "readmit them"
Fifthly, l believe the right OF the
State TO withdraw from the Union was
proved by The failure of the govern
ment to try jefferson Davis | cannot
think this failure was due to any
maEnanimity on the part of the au-
thorities at Washington The treat
ment OF MIR. Davis as q prisoner for
bids the idea Of magnanimity as pos
sible motive in the case They sub
jected him to brutal and cruel indig-
mites: they put him in irons not for
security, but to humiliate and degrade
him; when his little three year old
baby girl asked IL she might write to
papa" they consented. provided what
she wrote was proper for HIM to re-
ceive; she copied the Twenty third
Psalm. but they turned it down as i'm
proper. No, IN the hearts Of the men
then in power, there was no place for
magnanimity. They did not try Mr.
Davis. because they knew that Il trial
would demonstrate tho legal right OF
the Southern States to secede. MIR
Davis had eminent counsel, among them
the celebrated Irish barrister O'Con-
nell, and las trial would have been one
OF international prominence.
Secure In the possession OF the
power OF the sword. the Washington
well enough alone, and too shrewd to
give tho South the opportunity it
coveted to test the question of 'trea
son" before the courts They were
wise. but the failure to try Davis was
II tacit admission of the strength of
Mr.. Davis'S case.
Much more might be said but l
thiii'' 'hiS Is SuHicieh1 TO convince any
fairminded person that the right OF
withdrawal from the Union belonged
to the States in the beginning. When
the Southern States, therefore, with
drew their allegiance from the Federal
Union, they were only exercising their.
legal and constitutional right, and
when they withdrew, tho Legitimate au-
thority Of the. United States over them
ceased. and 1t was not rebellion to
resist It,
In his first inaugural address, Mr..
Lincoln said Of the United States be
not n government proper, but an as
ISOLATION of States in the nature. of
contract merely, can 1t. as a contract,
DO peacoably unmade ty less than all
the parties who made II? Ono party
TO "a contract may violate it-break It,
so to speak: but does 1t not require all
to lawfully rescind it?'