Year: 1868

State Rights and National Sovereignty.


The doctrine that States have rights ut
that the nation only is sovereign, cannot be
befogged by any popular clamor OF special
pleading. The American people understand
it. The talk about giving States their rights
will not place former traitors in power, or
even those professed Union men who cIung
to the pernicous theories of Calhoun.
"But," say the Calhoun lawyers, 1.-The acting
President, Andrew johnson, has recognized
the Southern States as States, without the
intervention of Congress" Certainly. So
did Jefferson Davis during the war. But
the American people do not recognize the
dictum OF either to be binding upon them.
"Our people pay taxes without representa-
tion' Certainly. Were we put out of Con-
gress or did we go out ourselves? And
when out, if we committed crimes, such as
treason for instance, is that first rate reason
why our property should be exempt from
taxation? Our Calhoun lawyers think so,
but there are men even among us who were
robbed, jeered, and hunted by conscript Of
ficers, who take a different view of that le-
gal proposition.


Congress has no right to establish GOV
emments in theserebel States" say the Cal
houn lawyers. They think court of chan
Gerry can decide all these cases. Perhaps it
can, but there was time when there was
a talk of appealing to the "God of Battles
for a decision, and trial of the last resort, the
sword. There having been a lengthy and
somewhat expensive trial of that kind, the
world at large thought the question settled ;
but it seems that the great beast Secession,
which began with the head of an ass, and
had the body ofa lion, has tapered down to
the tail of dog-a cur at that, and goes
whining about for admission into court
with prayer for relief in equity, saying we
could not secede, and, therefore, did not Sc
cede. We had no right to. Who said you
could Z? Calhoun lawyers, who dragged the
South into war, it was your own act, and
now do not attempt to deprive mankind of
the opportunity to grant some respect for the
cause you fought for, and have some sympa-
thy for misfortunes, even if they were self
imposed, by ending great cause and
war with a bill in chancery. 1t is too
bad 1t is too much like the preten-
tious aspirant to foreign embassy
who was rejected by Jackson, and left the
White House begging for some of the Gen
erals old clothes. The world knows the
case is ended; the loyal American people know
IL Is ended, and we suspect the disloyal
American people know it is ended. We
hope our Calhoun lawyers will find it out in
time. The trasmutation of souls from one
animal to another is an ancient idea. We
never believed it, but a Calhoun lawyers
similitude to certain billy goat almost
raises doubt in our minds The story is in
this wise: A farmer had a pugnacious billy
goat, who became the terror of the honest
farmers family and the neighborhood He
sprung at everybody and at everything with
his ponderous horns and carried dismay to
the young and timid. One day, as the old
farmer was quietly crossing his orchard, the
billy goat attacked him and left some very
strong impressions upon the old mans mind,
not to say elsewhere of the idea of naval
warfare known in latter times as the ram.
While the old man retreated before the fast
recurring blows of the billy goats horns, he
hit upon happy idea to cure the billy of
his bad habit; and going to his house, the
old man procured heavy sledge hammer,
tied a rope to it, and, returning to the orch
ard, suspended it from limb of tree. The
billy sprung at it with all his might, and the
sledge rebounded and came back The bill
ly hit it again, and kept at it as his blood
got hotter and his head and horns grew
smaller, but he kept hitting it until the old
man got tired, and, thinking the billy would
bruise some discretion into his brains
went home and left him. The next
morning happening to think of the billy, he
went out to the orchard, and 10 and behold
the billy goat had worn himself all out but
his tail, but that tail was springing at the
sledge as spitefully as ever.


Thus our Calhoun lawyers claiming to
act as attorneys for the ''lost cause" spring
at manifest destiny with such spiteful vim
that one almost believes that the soul OF
the billy goat, as it fled, lit in its transmuta-
ton upon the head of superanuated teach
er of their class