Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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. . ~ * < > , C .J lr ^ 3 ' '* ? % * ? ?????? ???? ??? ?- ????? , _ lewis m. geist, Proprietor.} An Independent Journal: For the Promotion of the Political, Social, Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the South. {?2 pee aiurcrir n? advahce. ? J i ^ dtr ?y "VOL. 6. YORKYILLE, S. C.? THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, I860. NO. 50., : ? ? ? - " ' PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: Throughout the year since our last meeting the country has been eminently prosperous in all its material interests. The general health has been excellent, our harvests have been abundant, and plenty smiles throughout the land. Our commerce and manufactures have been prosecuted with energy and industry, and have yielded fair and ample returns. In short, no nation in the tide of time has ever presented a spectacle of greater material prosperity than we have done until within a very rpftnnt neriod. r Why is it, then, that discontent now so extensively prevails, and the Union of the States, which is the source of all these blessings is threatend with destruction ? The long-continued and intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States, has at length produced its natural effects. The different sections of the Union are now arrayed against each other, and the time has arrived, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country, when hostile geographical parties have been formed. I have long fore seen and often forwarned my countrymen of the now impending danger. This does not proceed solely from the claim on the part of Congress or the Territorial Legislatures to exclude slavery from the Territories, nor from the efforts of different States to defeat the execution of the Fugitive Slave law. All or any of these evils might have been endured by the South without danger to the Union, (as others have been,) in the hope that time and reflection might apply the remedy. The immediate peril arises not so much from these causes as from the fact that the incessant ana violent agnation of the slavery question throughout the North for the last quarter of a century, has at length produced its malign influence on the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions of freedom. Hence a sense of security no longer exists around the family altar. The feeling of peace at home has given place to apprehensions of servile insurrection. Many a matron throughout the South retires at night in dread of what may befall herself and her children before the morning Should this apprehension of domestic danger, whether real or imaginary, extend and intensify itself until it shall pervade the masses of the Southern people, then disun ion will become inevitable. Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and has been implanted in the heart of man by his Creafor for the wisest purpose; and no political Union, however fraught with blessings and benefits in all other respects, can long continue, if the necessary consequence be to render the homes and the firesides of nearly half the parties to it, habitually and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or later the bonds of such a Union must be severed. It is my conviction that this fatal period has not yet arrived; and my prayer to God is that He would preserve the Constitution and the Union throughout all generations. But let us take warning in time, and remove the cause of danger. It cannot be denied that, for five and twenty years, the agitation at the North against slavery in the South has been incessant. In 1825 pictorial hand-bills, and inflammatory ap peals, were circulated extensively throughout the South, of a character to excite the passions of the slaves; and, in the language of General Jackson, "to stimulate them to insurrection, and produce all the horrors of a servile war." This agitation, has ever since been continued by the public press, by the proceedings of State and County Conventions, and by abolition sermons and lectures. The time of Congress has been occupied in violent speeches on this never-ending subject; and appeals iu pamphlet and other forms, endorsed by distinguished names, have been sent forth from this central point, and spread broadoast over the Union. How easy would it be for the American people to settle the slavery question forever, and to restore peace and harmony to this distracted country. TKow and ttipp nlonp. nan dn it. All J 1 that is necessary to accomplish the object, and all for which the Slave States have ever contended, is to be let alone, and permitted to manage their domestic institutions in their own way. As sovereign States, they,and they alone, are responsible before God and the world for the slavery existing among them. For this, the people of the North are not more responsible, and have no more right to interfere, than with similar institutions in Russia or in Brazil. Upon their good sense and patriotic forbearance I confess I still greatly rely. Without the:r aid, it is beyond the power of any President, no matter what maybe his own political proclivities, to restore peace and harmony among the States. Wisely limited and restrained as is his power, under our Constitution and laws, he alone can accomplish but little, for good or for evil, on such a momentous question. And this brings me to observe that the election of any one of our fellow-citizens to the office of President does not of itself afford just cause for dissolving the Union.? This is more especially true if his election has been effected by a mors plurality, and not a majority of the people, and has resulted from transientand temporary causes, which may probably never again occur. In order to justify a resort to revolutionary resistance, the Federal Government must be guilty of "a deliberate, palpable and dangerous exercise" of powers not granted by the Constitution. The late Presidential election, however, has been held in strict conformity with its express provisions.? How, then, can the result justify a revolution to destroy this very Constitution ? Reason, justice, a regard for the Constitution, all require that we shall wait for some overt and dangerous act on the part of the President elect before resorting to such remedy. It i3 said, however, that the antecedents of the President elect have been sufficient to justify the fears of the South that he will ( attempt to invade their constitutional rights. But are such apprehensions of contingent danger in the future sufficient to justify the immediate destruction of the noblest system of government ever devised by mortals ?? From the very nature of his office, and its high responsibilities, he must necessarily be conservative. The stern duty of administering the vast and complicated concerns of this Government affords in itself a guar antee that he will not attempt any violation of a clear constitutional right. After all, he is no more than the chief executive officer of the Government. His province is not to make, but to exeoute the laws; and it is a remarkable fact in our history, that, notwithstanding the repeated efforts of the anti-slavevy party, no single Act has ever passed Congress, unless we may possibly except the Missouri Compromise, impairing, in the slightest degree, the rights of the South to their property in slaves. And it may also be observed, judging from present indications, that no probability exists of the passage of such an Act,.by a majority of both Houses, either in the present or ' rt o 1_ J il , nexi congress. oureiy, uuuer tucoo ?u- j camstances, we ought to be restrained from ( present action by the precept of Him who t spake as never man spoke, that "sufficient t unto the day is the evil thereof." The day i of evil may never come, unless we shall i briDg it upon ourselves. \ It is alleged as one cause for immediate ? secession that the Southern States are denied equal rights with the other States in the 1 common Territories. But by what authority 1 are these denied ? Not by Congress, which ? has never passed, and I believe uever will < pass, any act to exclude slavery from these 1 Territories; and certainly not by the Su- ? preme Court, which has solemnly decided I that slaves are property, and, like all other < property, their owners have a right to take I them into the common Territories, and hold i them there under the protection of the Con- < stitution. i So far, then, as Congress is concerned, 1 the objection is not to anything they have r? 1 ?An rT /) A*\A knf f A mlinf fit An mOTT 1 axxcauj uuucj uui tu rruat tutj muv ? hereafter. It will surely be admitted that 1 this apprehension of future danger is no 1 good reason for an immediate dissolution s of the Union. It is true that the Territo- t rial Legislature of Kansas, on the 23d of < February, 1860, passed in great haste an : Act, over the veto of the Governor, declar < ing that slavery "is, and shall be forever prohibited in this Territory." Such an i Act, however, plainly violating the rights i of property secured by the Constitution, will < surely be declared void by the judiciary 1 whenever itshall be presented in legal form, i Only three days after my inauguration < the Supreme Court of the United States 1 solemnly adjudged that this power did not i exist in a Territorial Legislature. Yet such 1 has been the factious temper of the times that the correctness of this decision has been ' extensively impugned before the public, I and the question has given rise to angry I political conflicts throughout the country. < Those who have appealed from this judg- ] ment of our highest constitutional tribunal to popular assemblies would, if they could, i invest a Territorial Legislature with power ' to annul the sacred rights of property.? This power Congress is expressly forbidden 1 by the Federal Constitution to exercise.? i Every State Legislature in the Union is forbidden by its own Constitution to exercise it. It cannot be exercised in any State, '< except by the people in their highest sover eign capacity when framing or amending their State Constitution. In like manner, '< it can only be exercised by the people of a 1 Territory represented in a Convention of ; Delegates for the purpose of framing a Con- i stitution preparatory to admission as a State into the Union. Then, and not until then, are they invested with power to decide the question whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits. This is an act of sovereign authority, and not of subordiaateTerritorial legislation. Were it otherwise, then, indeed, would the equality of i the States in the Territories be destroyed, and the rights of property in slaves would depend, not upon the guarantees of the Constitution, but upon the shifting majorities of an irresponsible Territorial Legislature. Such a doctrine, from its intrinsic unsoundness, cannot long influence any considerable portion of our people, much less can it afford a good reason for a dissolution of the Union. The most palpable violations of constitutional duty which have yet been committed consist in the acts of the different State Legislatures to defeat the execution of the Fugitive Slave law. It ought to be remembered, however, that for these Acts, neither Congress nor any President can justly be held responsible. Having been passed ! in vioalation of the Federal Constitution, j they are therefore null and void. All the Courts, both State and national, before whom the question has arisen, have from I the beginning declared the Fugitive Slave !i?? v. Tkn jiavr LU Ut WUOinuuuuai. JL 11C OIU^IU CJACCpj tion is that of a State Court in Wisconsin ; . .and this has not only been reverted by the j proper appellate tribunal, but has met with [such universal reprobation that there can I be no danger from it as a precedent. The | validity of this law has been established! j over and again by the Supreme Court of the j I United States with perfect unanimity. It i is founded upon an express provision of [the Constitution, requiring that Fugitive [Slaves who escape from service in one State to another shall be "delivered up" to their j masters. Without this provision it is a well-known historical fact that the Constitution itself could never have been adopted by the Convention. In one form or other under the Acts of 1793 and 1S50, both being substantially the same, the Fugitive Slave law has been [the law of the land from the days of Washington until the present moment. Here, then, a clear case is presented, in which it will be the duty of the next President, as it has been my own, to act with vigor in i executing this surpreme law against the jonflicting enactments of State Legislatures. Should he fail in the performance of this ligh duty, he will then have manifested i disregard of the Constitution and laws, to he great injury of the people of nearly onelalf of the States of the Union. But are ve to presume in advance that he will hus violate his duty ? This would be at var with every principle of justice and of Christian Charity. Let us wait for the >vert act. The Fugitive Slave law has )een carried into execution in every conested case since the commencement of the jresent Administration?though often, it s to be regretted, with great loss and in:onvenience to the master, and with conliderable expense to the government. Let is trust that the State Legislatures will releal their unconstitutional and obnoxious mactments. Unless this shall be done without unnecessary delay, it is impossible "or any human power to save the Union. The Southern States, standing on the )asis of the Constitution, have aright to denand this act of justice from the States of ;he North. Should it be refused, then the Constitution, to which all the States are jarties, will have been wilfully violated by >ne portion of thetn in a provision essential o the domestic security and happiness of ;he remainder. In ihat event, the injured States, after having first used all peaceful tnd constitutional means to obtain redress, vould be justified in revolutionary resistince to the government of the Union. I have purposely confined my remarks to evolutionary resistance, because it has jeen claimed within the last few year$ that iny State, whenever this shall be its sovereign will and pleasure, may secede from the Union, in accordance with the Constitution, ind without any violation of the constitu;ional rights of the other members of the Confederacy. That as each became parties :o the Union by the vote of its own people issembled in Convention, so any one of jf them may retire from the Union in a similar manner, by the vote of such a Conrention. In order to justify secession as a constitutional remedy it must be on the principle ;hat the Federal Government is a mere voluntary association of States, to be dissolved at pleasure by any one of the contracting parties. If this be so, the Confedjracy is a rope of sand, to be penetrated md dissolved by the first adverse wave t)f public opinion in any of the States.? [u this manner our thirty three States may resolve themselves into as many petty, jarring, aud hostile Republics each one retiring from the Union, without reponsibility, vhenever any sudden excitement might mpel them to such a course. By this process a Union might be entirely broken into tragments in a few weeks, which cost our t'orefathers many years of toil, privation, and Dlood to establish. Such a principle is wholly inconsistent with the history as well as the character of the Federal Constitution. After it was framed with the greatest deliberation and care it was submitted to Conventions of the people of the several States, for ratification. Its provisions were discussed at length, in these bodies, composed of the frst men of the country. Its opponents contended that it conferred powers upon the Federal Government, dangerous to the rights of the States, whilst its advocates maintained that under a fair construction of the instrument there was no foundation for such apprehension. In that mighty struggle between the first intellects of this or any other country, it never occurred to any individual, either among its opponents or advocates, to assert, or even to intimate, that their efforts were all vain labor, because the moment that any State felt herself aggrieved she might secede from the Union. > > HUt ct ui cUi^UlUtUL VYUUIU tuio have proved against those who dreaded that the rights of the States would be endangered by the Constitution. The truth is, that it was not until many years after the origin of the Federal Government, that such a proposition was first advanced. It was then met and refuted by the conclusive arguments of General Jackson, who in his message of 16th January, 1833, transmitting the nullifying Ordinance of South Carolina to Congress, employs the following language : "The right of the people of a single State to absolve themselves at will, and without the consent of the othcrStat.es from their most solemn obligations, and hazard the liberty and happiness of the millions composing this Union, cannot be acknowledged. Such authority is believed to be utterly repugnant both to the principles upon which the General Government is constituted, and to the objects which it was expressly formed to attain." It is not pretended that any clause in the Constitution gives countenance to such theory. It is altogether founded upon inference, not from auy language contained in the instrument itself, but from the sovereign character of the several States by which it was ratified. But is it beyond the power of a State, like an individual, to yield a portion of its sovereigu rights to secure the remainder? In the language of Mr. Madison, who has been called the father of the Constitution : "It was formed I by the States?that is, by the people in each of the States, acting in their highest sovereign capacity; and formed consequently by the same authority which formed the State Constitutions." "Nor is the Government of the U. States created by the Constitution, less a Government in the strict sense of the term, within the sphere of its powers, than the governments created by the Constitutions of the States are, withiu their several spheres.? It is, like them, orgauized into legislative, executive and judiciary departments. It operates, like them, directly on persons and things J cinQ ilKtf IUUUJ, it liuo lu uuiuuiuuu a physical force for executing the powers committed to it." It was intended to be perpetual and not to be annulled at the pleasure of any one of the contracting parties. The old articles of confederation were entitled "Arti cle8 of Confederation and Perpetual Union c between the States;" and by the 13th ar- c ticle it is expressly declared that "the ar- 1 tides of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and that the t Union shall be perpetual." The preamble i to the Constitution of the United States, ? having express reference to the articles of i Confederation, recites that it was establish- g ed "in order to form a more perfect union." c And yet it is contended that this "more c perfect union," does not include the essen- J tial attribute of perpetuity. < But that the Union was designed to be ? perpetual appears conclusively from the na- i ture and exteDt of the powers conferred by i the Constitution on the Federal Govern- J ment. These powers embrace the very t highest attributes of national sovereignty, e They place both the sword and purse under ? its control. Congress has power to make s war, and to make peace; to raise and sup- d port armies and navies, and to conclude t treaties with foreign Governments. It is c I rrtWV. ?Vi/? nAnro? nn!n mftDOTI and Q 1UVUOICU VYiLU IUC J/V TTU1 WU Wtuuivuvjj to regulate the value thereof, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and b among the several States. It is not neces- I sary to enumerate the other high powers a which have been conferred upon the Fed- b eral Government. In order to carry the g enumerated powers into effect, Congress j possesses the exclusive right to lay and cal- t lect duties on imports, and in common with 6 the States to lay and collect all other taxes, b But the Constitution has not only con- a ferred these high powers upon Congress, c but it has adopted effectual means to re- t strain the Stales from interfering with their a exercise. For that purpose it has, in str*-^ 1 prohibitory language, expressly declared 1 that "no State shall enter into any treaty, \ alliance or confederation ; grant letters of i marque and reprisal; coin money; emit } bills of credit: make anything but gold t and silver coir a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts." Moreover, "without the consent of Congress no State shall lay any imposts or duties on any imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ;," and, if they exceed this amount, the excess shall belong to the U. States. And "no State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage; keep troops, or ships of war, in time of peace; enter into any agreement or compact with anoiher State, or with a foreign power; or erigage in war, unless actually . invaded, or in snch imminent danger as will 1 not admit of delay." 1 In order still further to secure the unin- 1 terrupted exercise of these high powers a- < gainst interposition, it is provided "that i this Constitution and the laws of the Uni- i ted States whien shall be made in pursu- i ance thereof, and all treaties made, or which ; shall be made, under tho authority of the I United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State i shall bo bound thereby, anything in the < Constitution or laws of any State to the ( contrary notwithstanding." The solemn sanction of religion has been i superadded to the obligations of official ; duty, and all Senators and Representatives < of the United States, all members of State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial ' officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution." i In order to carry into effect these power's, i the Constitution has established a perfect i Government in all its forms, Legislative, i Executive, aid Judicial; and this Govern- : monf fr? fVin nrfnnf ,\f ifa rtrkurorQ apfQ rll rectly upon the individual citizens of every State, and executes its own decrees by the agency of its own officers. In this resp?*t it differs entirely from the Government under the old Confederation, which was confined to making requisitions on the States in their sovereign character. This left in the dia- < cretion of each whether to obey or to refuse, and they often declined to comply | with such requisitions. It thus became necessary, for the purpose of removing this barrier, and "in order to form a more perfect. Union," to establish a Government which could act directly upon the people, 1 and execute its own laws without the inter- 1 mediate agency of ihe States. This has < been accomplished by the Constitution of the United States. In short, the Government created by the Constitution, and deriving its authority from the sovereign, people of each of the several States, has precisely the same right to exercise its power over the people of all these States, in the enumerated cases, that each one of them possesses over subjects not delegated to the United States, but "reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people." To the extent of the delegated powers the Constitution of the United States is as much a part of the Constitution of each State, and is as binding upon its people, as though it had been textually inserted therein. This Government, therefore, is a great and powerful Government, invested with all the attributes of sovereignty over the Special snhippts hn wliinh its authority ftxtfinds. Its frarucrs never intended to implant in its bosom the seeds of its own destruction, nor were they at its creation guilty 'of the absurdity of providing for its own dissolution. It was not intended by its fraraers to be the baseless fabric of a vision which, at the touch of the enchanter, would vanish into thin air, but a substantial and mighty fabric, capable of resisting the slow decay of time and of defying the storms of ages.? Indeed, well may the jealous patriots of i that day have indulged fears that a Government of such high powers might violate the reserved rights of the States, and wisely did they adopt the rule of a strict construction of those powers to prevent the danger ! But they did not fear, nor had they any reason to imagine, that the Constitution would ever be so interpreted as to enable any State, by her own act, and with mt the consent of her sister States, to disibarge her people from all or any of their federal obligations. It may be asked, then, are the people of he States without redress against the tyanny and oppression of the Federal Govsrnment? By no means. The right of esistance on the part of the governed a;ainet the oppression of their governments ;annot be denied. It exists independently jf all Constitutions, and has been exercised it all periods of the world's history. Unler it old governments have been destroyed, ind new ones have taken their dace. It s embodied in strong and express language n oir own Declaration of Independence. But the distinction must ever be observed, bat this is revolution against an establishsd Government, and not a voluntary secesiion from it by virtue of an inherent Condtutional right. In shore, let us look the langer fairly in the face : Secession is neiher more nor less than revolution. It may ir it may not be justifiable revolution, but till it is revolution. What, in the meantime, is the responsilility and true position of the Executive? le is bound by his solemn oath before God ,nd the country "to take care that the laws le faithfully executed," and from this obli;ation he cannot be absolved by any human lower. But what if the performance of his duty, in whole or part, has been renlered impracticable by events over whioh le could have exercised no control. Suoh t the present moment, is the ease through, iut the State of South Carolina, so far as he laws of the United States, to secure the ,dministratioD of justice by means of the federal Judiciary, are concerned. All the federal officers within its limits, through vhosc agency alone these laws can be cariod into execution, have already resigned. iVe no longer have a district Judge, a disrict attorney, or a marshal, in South Caroina. In fact the whole machinery of the federal Government, necessary for the disxibution of remedial justice among the jeople, has been demolished, and it would 3e difficult, if not impossible, to replace it. The only Acts of Congress on the stat ite book, bearing upon this subject, are ;bose of the 28th February, 1795, and 3rd March, 1807. These authorize the Presi3ent, after he shall have ascertained that ;he marshal with his posse comitatus is unible to execute civil or criminal process in iny particular case, to call forth the militia ind employ the army and navy to aid him n performing this service, having first by Proclamation commanded the insurgents ;'to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within a limited time." rhis duty cannot by possibility be performed in a State where no judicial authority exists to issue process, and where there is no marshal to execute it, and where, even if f-.hpi-A were such an offieer. the entire population would constitute one solid combination to resist him. The bare enumeration of these provisions proves how inadequate they are without further legislation to overcome a united opposition in a single State, not to speak ol the States who may place themselves in a similar attitude. Congress alone has the power to decide whether the prrsent laws can or cannot be amended so as to carry out more effectually the objects of the Constitution. The same insuperable obstaoles do not lie ' "? * !-? ~ nrnw ovonnfinrr f Vi a lama fnv fVlf IU LUC VTOJ Ul uuu iwnu av> ?u? collection of the customs. The revenue still continues to be collected, as heretofore, at the Custom House in Charleston ; and should the Collector unfortunately resign, a successor may be appointed to perform this duty. Then in regard to the property of the United States in South Carolina. This has been purchased for a fair equivalent, "bj the consent of the Legislature of the State," "for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals," &c., and over these the authority "tc exercise exclusive legislation" has been expressly granted by the Constitution to ConTl - 1- U.K. J iU.J. gresa. -it is uut ucucycu tuai txuy ttttcLupt will be made to expel the United States from this property by force ; but if in this I should prove to be mistaken, the officer in command of the forts has received orders to act strictly on the defensive. In such a contingency, the responsibility for consequences would rightfully rest upon the heads of the assailants. Apart from the execution of the laws, sc far as this may be practicable, the Execu tive has no authority to decide what shall be the relation between the Federal Gov ernment and South Carolina. He has beet invested with no such discretion. He poss esse9 no power to change the relations here tofore existing between them, much less tc acknowledge the independence of thai State. This would be to invest a mere Executive officer with the power of recognizing the dissolution of the Confederacy among our thirty-three sovereign States.? It bears no resemblance to the recognition < - r _ 7 / .j. x ; i 01 a toreign at jacw government,, luvuiviug no such responsibility. Any attempt to dc this would, on his part, be a naked act ol usurpation. It is, therefore, my duty to submit to Congress the whole question in all its bearings. The course of events is so rapidly hastening forward, that the emergency may soon arise, when you may be called upon to decide the momentous question whether you possess the power, by force of arms, to compel a State.to remain in the Union. I should feel myself recreant tc my duty, wore I not to express an opinion on this important subject. The question fairly stated is : Has the Constitution delegated to Congress the powei to coerce a State into submission which is attempting to withdraw or has actually withdrawn from the Confederacy ? If answered in the affirmative, it must be on the prin ciple that the power has been conferred upon Congress to declare and to make war against a State. After much serious reflection, I have arrived at the conclusion thai no suoh power has been delegated to Congress, or to any other department of the Federal Government. It is manifest, upon an inspection of the Constitution, that this is not among the specific and enumerated powers granted to Congress; and it is equally apparent that its exercise is not "necessary and proper forcarrying into execution" any one of these powers. So far from this power having been delegated to Congress, it was expressly refused by the Convention which framed the Constitution. It appears, from the proceedings of that body, that on the 31st May, 1787, the clause "authorizing an exertion of the force of the whole against a delinquent State," came up for consideration. Mr. Madison opposed it in a brief but powerful speech, from which I shall extract but a single sentence. He observed : "The use of force against a State would look more like a declaration of war than an infliction of punishment; and would probably be considered bv the nartv attacked as a dis solution of all previous compacts by which it might be bound." Upon his motion the clause was unanimously postponed, and was never, I believe, again presented.? Soon afterwards, on the 8th June, 1787, when incidently adverting to the subject, he said : Any Government for the United States, formed on the supposed practicability of using force against the unconstitutional proceedings of tie States, would prove as visionary and fallacious as the government of Congress," evidently ipeaning the then existing Congress of the old Confederation. Without descending to particulars, it may be safely asserted, that the power to make war against a State is at variance with the whole spirit and intent of the Constitution. Suppose such a war should result in the conquest of a State, how are we to govern it afterwards ? Shall we hold _ ! J !? 1. J a* it as a province, ana govern it dj acspouc power ? In the nature of things we could not, by physical force, control the will of the people, and compel them to elect Senators and Representatives to Congress, aDd to perform all the other duties depending upon their own volition, and required from the free citizens of a free State as a constituent member of the Confederacy. But, if we possessed this power, would we be wise to exercise it under existing circumstances ? The object would doubtless be to preserve the Unior. War would not only present the most effectual means of destroying it, but would banish all hope of , its peaceable reconstruction. Besides, in the fraternal conflict, a vast amount of ii i l i 11 1 ii Diooa ana treasure wouia De expenaea, i rendering future reconciliation between the States impossible- In the meantime, who can foretell what would be the sufferings and privations of the people during its existence ? i The fact is, that our Union rests upon public opinion, and can never be cemented i by the blood of its citizens shed in civil war. If it cannot live in the affections of the people, it raust one day perish. Con gresr pes esses many means of preserving it by .'rt iliation ; but the sword was not placed in their hand to preserve it by force. : But may I be permitted solemnly to ini voke my countrymen to pause and delibe UliA f h ATT ^A^AWrVMn A ^A /J Afl^KAn PllO ' laLC UClUiQ LUUJ UCIC1UUUC LV UCOUlUjr lUiOj i the grandest temple which has ever been ; dedicated to human freedom since the world began ? It has been consecrated by the blood of our fathers, by the glories of j tin past and by the hopes of tho future.? ( The Union has already made us the most ! prosperous and, ere long, will, if preserved, , render us the most powerful nation on the i face of the earth. In every foreign region of the globe the title of American citizens i is held in the highest respect, and when pronounced in a foreign land it causes the i hearts of our countrymen to swell with i honest pride. Surely, when we rdach the r brink of the yawning abyss, we shall re1 coil with horror from the last fatal plunge. By such a dread catastrophe the hopes of i the friends of freedom throughout the world would be destroyed, and a long night n i i 1 1 _1 1 "1 A. or leaden despotism wouio ensnrouo me , nations. Our example for more than eighi ty years would not only be lost, but it would i be quoted as a conclusive proof that man 1 is unfit for self-government. It is not every wrong?nay, it is not eve1 ry grievous wrong?which can justify a resort to such a fearful alternative. This ' ought to be the last desperate remedy of a despairing people, after every other coni stitutional means of conciliation has been exhausted. We should reflect that under 1 this free Government there is an incessant ebb and flow in publio opinion. The slai verv question, like everything human, will have its day. I firmly believe that it has - already reached and passed the culmina? ting point. But if, in the midst of the t existing excitement, the Union shall peri ish, the evil may then become irreparable. Congress can contribute much to avert it r by proposing and recommending to the legislatures of the several States the remedy for existing evils, which the Constitu; tion has itself provided for its own preseri vation. This has been tried at different critical 1 periods of our history, and always with eminent success. It is to be found in the 5th article providing for its own amend' ment. Under this article amendments ! korrn Koon nrnnnsprJ hv (-wn.t.hirrtfl nf hnf.h ' Houses of Congress, and havo been "rati1 fied by the Legislature of three-fourths of ! the several States," and have oonsequent1 ly become parts of the Constitution. To 1 this process the country is indebted for the clause prohibiting Congress from passing s any law respecting an establishment of re ligion, or abridging the freedom of speech i or of the press, or of the right of petition. To this we are, also, indebted for the Bill of Rights, which secures the people against any abuse of power by the Federal Govern ment. Such were the apprehensions juat ly entertained by the friends of State Rights at that period as to have rendered I it extremely doubtful whether the Consti tution could have long survived without > these amendments. i Again, the Constitution was amended by the same process after the election of President Jefferson by the House of Representatives, in Fedruary, 1803. This amendment was rendered necessary to prevent a recurrence of the dangers which had seriously threatened the existence of the Government during the pendancy of that election. The article for its own amendment was intended to secure the amicable adjustment of conflicting constitutional questions like the present, which might arise between ! the governments of the States and that of the United States. This appears from contemporaneous history. In this connection, I shall uierely call attention to a few sentences in Mr. Madison's justly celebrated report, in 1799, to the Legislature of Virginia. In this he ably and conclusively 1 < 1 1 .1 a ii aerenaea cne resolutions ui tue potccuiug Legislature against the strictures of several other States. These were mainly founded upon the protest of the Virginia Legislature against the "Alien and Sendition Acts," as "palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution." In pointing out the peaceful and constitutional remedies, and he referred to none other, to which the States were authorized to resort, on such occasions, he concludes by saying, "that the legislatures of the States might have made a direct representation to Congress with a view to obtain a rescinding of the two offensive acts, or they might have represented to their respective Senators in Congress their wish that two-thirds thereof would propose an explanatory amendment to the Constitution, or two-thirds of themselves, if such had been their opinion, might by an application to Congress, have obtained a Convention for the same object." This is the very course which I earnestly recommend in order to obtain an "explanatory amendment" of the Constitution nn fho snhiopf. rtf nlnvppv This mipht originate with Congress or the State Legislatures as may be deemed most advisable to attain the object. The explanatory amendment might be confined to the final settlement of the true construction of the Constitution on three special points : 1. An express recognition of the right of property in slaves in tho States where it now exists or may hereafter exist. 2. The dnty of protecting this right in all the common Territories throughout their territorial existence, and until they shall ' be admitted as States into the Union, with or without slavery, as their Constitutions may presoribe. i 3. A like recognition of the right of the i master to have his slave, who has escaped from one State to another, restored and "delivered up" to him, and of the validity of the fugitive slave law enacted for this purnnse. together with a declaration that all r 1 ?o State laws impairing or defeating this right are violations of the Constitution, and are consequently null and void. It may be objected that this construction , of the Constitution has already been settled by the Supreme Court of the United States, and what more ought to be required. The answer is, that a very large proportion of the people ot the United States still contest the correctness of this decision, and never will cease from agitation and admit its binding force until clearly established by ' the people of the several States in their sovereign character. Such an explanatory amendment would, it is Deuevea, lorever terminate the existing dissensions and restore peace and harmony among the States. It ought not to be doubted that such an appeal to the arbitrament established by the Constitution itself would be received with favor by all the States of the Confederacy. In any event it ought to be tried in a spirit of conciliation before any of these States shall separate themselves from the Union. When I entered upon the duties of the Presidential office, the aspect neither of our foreign nor domestic affairs was at all satisfactory. We were involved in dangerous complications with several nations, and two of our Territories were in a state of revolution against the Government. A restoration of the African slave trade had numerous and powerful advocates. Unlawful military expeditions were countenanced by many of our citizens, and were suffered, in defiance of the efforts of the Government, to escape from oar shores, for the purpose of making war upon the unoffending peo. pie of neighboring Republics with whom we were at peace. In addition to these and other difficulties, we experienced a revulsion in monetary affairs, soon after my advent to power, of unexampled severity and of ruinous consequences to all the great interests of the country. When we take a retrospect of what was then our condition and contrast this with ita material prosperity at the time of the late Presidential election, we have abundant reason to return our grate/ i .1 i__ .I.. :A.I T> :j IU1 tnanas 10 mat mercuui nuviucuuc which has never forsaken us as a nation in all our past trials. From the Southern Guardian. AN APPEAL TO THE SOUTH. NO. VI. The Southern States should leave the Union, because it costs them infinitely more than it is worth to them. What is the Union worth to the slaveholder? Will some honest, intelligent, candid man answer this question ? It is usually answered by rhapsodies and florid declamation; but these are times for something graver. I grant that it is a great and glorious Republic to the people of the North, and they cannot say too much in its favor; but to the South, it has been but , a torment and blood-sucker for forty years. Do you say that you can go over all its vast surface, and be under laws of your i own making ? In all that time, you have ever been ablo to make a single law, but by sufferance of the North. Whenever her , representatives chose to unite against you, yours were impotent; and they have never ' failed to unite, when the higher local in terests of the two sections came in conflict. Oar straggle, for most of that time, has been to secare the election of men at the North who wonld protect as from oppression and extortion. As to receiving at ^ their hands any great boon that would cost the North a dollar, we long ago ceased to look for sach a thing. If we coald get a President who wonld veto South-devouring measures, and give our politicians, and through them our people, office, why we gloried as though we had all Yankeedom under our thumb. But so far is it from being true that you can travel over the United States with all your home-born privileges, the truth is, that there is not a civil- ? izod country on the face of the earth, in which you may not travel with greater priy-t " ileges than you have in the Northern States.;, of this Union. A few years ago, a man&H was traveling with his slave in rrussia.? An attempt was made to emancipate the ^ . slave; and a Prussian judge decided, that according to the law of nations, the relation of master and slave could not be dissolved by the mere temporary sojourn of the two in that country. So all Europe would decide. Hardly a year has ' * oiled over our heads, in the last thirty, in which some tourist in the Northern States has not had his slave taken from him and set free. Many years ago the brig Enterprite left Alexandria with sixty or seventy, slaves on board, bound for Charleston. Shd was driven by stress of weather into Bermuda, and the authorities of that Island set all y the negroes free. Our government demanded reparation of the British government for the injury done to the owner ; and the British government made reparation. A few years ago, some eightr or ten slavlt were shipped from some port in [Virginia, for New Orleans. The vessel for some cause touched at New York, but the feet of the slaves did not touch the soil of New York. They were taken from the vessel and set free. As this case did not-come within the pale of the "personal liberty ^ law" of that State, the courts condescended, to hear the master's plea for his slaves.?v They decided against him of coarse, upon the principle, I suppose, that the Constitution superseded the law of nations, find' they superseded the Constitution. The liberty of conscience is as boldly invaded, as the right of property in those States.? In every church where majorities rule, they have usurped papal power, without Observing papal clemency to Southern christians. With all power?civil and ecclesiastical?in their hands, what is to become of us l, The * Union has nothing in it to endear it to the people of the South. How much has it cost the South ? I will not answer in round numbers, because you would not believe me; and cannot answer it fully, without wearying or bewildering the reader with figures. I will endeavor, by a few limple facts and illustrations, to open the eyes of . the honest yeomanry and youth of 4be P country, for whose benefit mainly I am writing, to the tremendous extortion to which they have been subjected for four and forty years by the things called tariffs. Suppose, plain farmer of North Carolina, you should go to Kentucky and boy one hundred bead of horses, at one hundred dollars a piece, for sale in South Carolina; and that when you came to the line, an - ? officer should meet you and demand of you how much your horses cost you. You tell b . him the price. "That won't do," says fie; "show your bills of sale." You do it.? "All right," says he; "hand me over $2,500, and you may bring your horses into the State?otherwise you can't." "Why, what does this mean ?" say you. "Well," says the officer, "the Legislature has passed a law that every man who brings horses ' into the State, shall pay into the Treasury twenty-five dollars on every hundred dollars' worth?in other words, $25 upon their cost, or value; or, in common parlance, had laid an ad valorem duty (or tax) upon all horses brought into the State." "And what is all this for ?" you inquire. To ?D- ii 1? Q?n?1--_? ? euauie tuc ?icupic ui uuuiu vaiuuua uv uu a profitable business in horse raising, or, as it is deceptively called, to "protectV South Carolina's "home industry." They cannot raise such horses as yours and sell them for less than 8115, to make a profit on them; but if every hundred dollar horse that is brought into the State can be made to cost S125, then the South Carolina raiser can do a splendid business?he can put his price up to @124, and sell for a dollar a head less than the importer's horses cost him. But South Carolina, we suppose, ^ cannot supply a tenth part of North Carolina's demand for horses; how now ? Why hundred-dollar horses in Kentuoky are worth 8150 in North Carolina. Now, the drovers begin to import again?pay the State 825 per head, and make 825 per horse still. But the South Carolinian, without any buying at all, mages tnirty-nve or forty dollars per head; for we have seen that without protection, he could have sold at 8115. In the mean time all the farmers are buying horses, simply saying, "why horses have run up mightlyj" and having no idea that it is the law of their State that has run them up. Nevertheless, though they do not know it, they are paying 850 more for every horse they buy than they ought to pay. In the meantime the treasury is filling up with useless money, which must be spent. Suppose the Legislature orders eight dollars spent in South Caroli na for every one spent in North Carolina j the effect mast be that South Carolina must grow rich apace, while North Carolina is at a stand-still, insensibly sinking or imperceptibly rising. Now, this is precisely the game which has been played by the North upon the South forty-four years, except that the protection is not to your neighbors just over the line, bat to strangers a thousand miles off?not to friends, but to enemies j not on one article, but upon every article you eat, drink, wear or use that comes from abroad. Not a duty of 25 per cent., but 30, 40, 50, and even 100 per cent, on some articles. "Why," say you, "it must amount to millions upon millions."