Newspapers / The North-Carolina Star (Raleigh, … / April 5, 1833, edition 1 / Page 1
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i . . f .,.. .. - r, . .. ,- .. .. '. .'. . : . . . . . . .............. . ?af AorfA ' Curotina Gazette, LAWRENCE & LKMAY. TEKMS. lirTTo, -three ooiiars per annum one ,( I. adva-.ee. ,MMn , ,.orr ""lpeculiaf American liberty to which.. be alioweq 10 rerain in inan lunger i ' . , ,... - f L. mi year.Sndneraoaaresident without tlu fTliaTOay-dVatre-to- beeoroVsTTtatfrilway. ill k t"Ct:j rj" w vt jy ut wooie a jot1 e,M',, subscription m advance. LrrteJ three timet for one dollar, end twea ff!J.eenH lor each eontinusnee. r" . . l d .11. . i . . -i DEBATE l Senate of the United Sutet on tlie bill far j,T to provide for (he collection of iluiics c rijrmtin"ornew rommanitiet. In mo iern Kurope, lie bus, tlwTind eve ry where, charms. fcir me. Vet, sir', it it our own Jiberty, gunr.Ie'1 bj cornti futiuni and Kecured by union; it is that liberty - wlmt is oar nateroil inherit tance, itkbur rttablished, ilearbuusht. L the iUot tf jlklni, Chairmi iti L. I !tle XntmtxA January, 18S3, Mr. rfflan of the Judiciary Inmittee, introduced the bill further hrofide for the collection of duties. 5o the 23d day of the tame month, ' i ' ?n i it j It Calhfluo inommea me louowing Llationi: Retlved. Tht the neonle of- the teeral 14 ojnpoiinj thru Uniled State are united uiiet to a enint'itdtionul ioiQpacI, tn which peoi)le ol each State accede, at a arnaratc reitnl eommunitr, enoli binding Ittelf br iti . . i I .L.. .1 : bieh llie aaid eompact i the boa', ia a union lite the State ratifying the tame. , Raotvea, that the people ot the teverai ml t hue united br the constitutional eompact. jorming that instrument, and in creating a Ge M Government to carry into efTeet the objeeti Inch they were formed, delegated to that Iwnment, for that purpose, certain definite. ren, to ne esereiseii joinur, reserving, at me time, each State to ksell, the reskliurr lit ot power, to be exereited by its own tepa- L fc t,overnmeni anc tnat, whenever the uene Government aitnmet the exerene of power deleeated by the eomnaot. it act are onsu- ftnxed, ana are (H no eneet; and that aie aame Of wiuch 1-0loi msanr ta tie utmost of a j p-J'.vrr, to maiotain and defend. Mr. Pretiilent, if 1 consider the con tilutionil nucation now before u a doubtful a it i imporUnt, and if I sup- poe that thi tlectaion, either in the Senate or by the country, wa likely to fee, in anv IeRr?r. indueaced, by the minner in. which I inieht now dicu U.- tlu would ba. t?l, iue. A momsnt jjf deep solicitude. Such a-moment ha once.exi.fijedi. . JThere has been a time, when, riiinj in thfa-trhrceron the aame nueitmii, J felt, I must confess, that something for ooI er evil to tit e xon atitution nf the country might depend on an etf.irt of mine. Dut circumstan ce are changed. Since that day. sir, the public opinion has become awaken ed to thi great question; it has grasp ed it, it has reasoned upon it, as be comes an intelligent arid patriotic Com munilf, and has settled it, or now seems, in the progress of settling it, by an authority which none can d ""." y the authorilyof the people themsttlves. I shsll not,-Mr. President, follow the gentleman, step by step, through the course of his speech- Much of what he has said, he" has- deemed ne cessary to the just explanation and" tie- fence ot his own political character and conduct. Of) this, I shall oflV no comment. Much, too, has consisted of philosophical remark upon the general Uernment is ot made the final Judge of theJ ,u of poi,ic, liberty, and the his War delegated to it, since that would rak.ef7 . r r .. . ' ,1 . Ij-ereiionTandnot the constitution, the mea-tory of free institutions; and of other diaeretion. and not the constitution, the mea Uot its power) but that, as in all other cases tampaet among sovereign parties, without cammon judge, each has an equal right to je for nser, at wen oi uie miraeuon as oi code ana measure oi reoress. - Rcnlvftl. That the assertion that the pea- el these United State, taken collectively as iiiduala, arc now, or ever have been, united the principle of the aoeial compact, and a ib are cow formed into One nation or people. that they have ever been so united in any one re ot their political existence that the people ee several 8 tales composing the Union have tt member thereof, retained their sove tri that the alleeianee of their citizens ha in transferred' to the General ?ovemmet ttbey have parted wkh the right of punishing toa throogh their respective State Govern lotu sad that they have not the right l judg- ia Uie last retort at to the extent ot the po- reaerved, and of eonsequrooe of those dele- topics, so general in their nature, asio possess, in my opinion, only a remote bearing on the immediate subject of this debate. ' . But the gentleman's speech, made some tlsys ago, upon introducing his resolutions, those resolutions them self es, and parta of the speech now just concluded, may probably be justly regarded as containing the whole South Carolina doctrine. That doctrine it is ,myjurpose now Joeiamine, and to compare it with .the constitution of the United States. I shall ont consent, sir, to make any new. constitution, or to establish another' form of Goyern- edj are not only whhout foundation tu ti-uih,Inent. I will not undertake to ssy are contrary tn the most certain and plain ttirkal.laeta, and the 'clearest deductions of Ismt and that all exercise of power on the rt ot the General Government, or any of its tartmentvalaimio authority frpra such erro iut aasuraptions, must ot eeeasity be uneon Llional rouit tend, directly and inevitably, I subvert the sovereignty of the Htatea, to de ny the federal character of the Uoion, and to tr on it nuns consolidated Government, iheut constitutional check or limitation, and iitti must necessarily terminate iu the lota of lerty UtelL" I On Saturday, the 16th of February, r, Calhoun spoke in opposition to the It. Mr. Webster followed him'. The gentleman from South Carolina, id Mr. Webster, has admonished us be mindful of the pioioos of those ha shall come after us. We must ike sur chance, sir, as to the light in left, posterity will regard us. 1 do t decline its judgment, nor with TJ aivself from its scrutiny. Feel that I am performing my public (" with singleness of heart, and to e best f my ability, I fearlessly uit myself to the country, now aod rafter, and leave both my motives d my 'character to its decision. The gentleman has terminated his tech in a tone tf threat and defiance Iwards this bill, evert should it become IlaV -of the land, tltogether unuul I the halls or Congress. But I shall pt suffer myself, to be excited into artnth, by a his denunciation of the easitre which I support Among the elings which at this moment fill my east, not the least is that of regret at e position in which the gentleman has iced himself. Sir, he, does himself justice. The causa which he has poused finds no basis in the constitu m no succor from public sympathy t-no cheering froma patriotic commu ty, 4 He has no foothold on which to and, while he might display the rmw- talents, fcve feet' is hollow is like a strong struggling in a morass; every ef H to extricate himself, only sinks m. deeper and deeper And I fear p of his acknowledged thinr Senealh , his W trea nrous.11- an resemblance may be carried still rther; 1 fear that no friend can safely rnc to his relief, that no one can an- poach near enough to hold out a help X nand, without danger of , going Own ktiMal ! " uiiutcii, si8u( iiiiw iiiv uukiuuiicaa epthi of this SerboiiBbos;.':.-; The honorable gentleman hat. de lated that on the decision of the noes ,on, now in debate, may depend the ause of liberty itself. I am of the me opinion; but then, air, the liberty fhich I think is staked on the contest, f not political liberty,' in any general lad undefined character, but. oar own, en understood, and long enjoyed A fwrican iioenT." -n - t . . i oir, i jove liberty, no lees ardently. hat a constitution for these United States ought to be. That question the people have decided for themselves, ami Inshall take the Instrument as tbey have established it, and shall endeavor to maintain it, in its plain sense and meaning, against opinions and notions which, in my judgment, threaten its subversion. The resolutions introduced by t'.e gentleman were apparently drawn up with care, and brought forward upon deliberation. I shall not be in danger, therefore, of misunderstanding him, or those who agree with him, if I proceed at once to these resolutions, and con sider them as an authentic statement of those opinions, upon the great con stitutional question by which the re cent proceedings in South Carolina are attempted to be Justified. These resolutions are three in num ber. . .. ; . The third seems intended to enu merate, and t,rt deny, the several opi niona , expressed in the. President's proclamation,! respecting the nature and powers of this Government. Of this third resolution, I propose, at present, to take no particular notice. The two first resolutions of the hon- OTabreTOembeiaffifintheaeBfopoi- tions, viz. -i . -lThat the political system, uhtler which : we )iret and ,undeUjcoM'' gress is now assembled, is a compact, to which the people of the several States, as separate and sovereign com munities, are the parlies. ' 2 That these sovereign parties have a right to judge, each for itself, of any alleged violation of the constitution by Congress? and, in case of such viola tion, to choose, each tor itself, ha own mode and measure of redress. ....It is true, sir,' tharthe honorable member calls this a constitutional" compact; but still he affirm it to bt a compact: ott tcttn -tovtreignStattt?-' What precise meaning, then, does he attach to the term , constitutional?--When applied to compacts between sovereign .States, the term constitution al affixes to that word compact no defi nite idea. Were we to hear of a 'con tliltitional league or treaty between England and France, vr a constitution at convention' between Austria ' and ' Russia, we should not understand what, could be intended by such a league? such a treaty, or such a convention.---ln these connexions, the word is void of all meaning; and yet, air, it is easy, quite easy, to see why the honorable gentleman has used it in these resolu tions.; : He cannot open the-book, aud look tioon our written frame of Govern' ment, without seeing that it is called a ling to him; T It' threatens his whole ihan the' he i may have appeared in the pro,resaJrivaffves,- nullification nml secession. f human history. At exhibited in the with instant confutation. Because, if r'Mter States or antinnitw n kraLin k. ..Vii. n inii.in..hi f i. j w i VBKIIIJ HU III I VW .l.VI. W HIV II i V, ft?. "Jli fJmWnCda tween sovereigns; a, constitution of Go vernment, and a. -compact between sovereign powers,": be.iog; things e sentialljr unlike in their very natures, and incapable of ever being the same.--- Yet the word co'isliiution is on the ve ry front t.f the instrument. He cannot overlook -it. -He -teeks, therefore, to compromise the matter, nd to sink all the Aubtantkr en4 sf the wof J, while he retains a resemblance of its sound. He introduces a new word tf his own, I7.. compact, as importing the princt pal idea, and designed to play the prin cipal part, and degrades constitution into an insignificant, idle epitlieti at tached to compact. The whole then stands as a " constitutional compact!" And in this way lie Jjqries Jo nass ojf a plausi-hie gioss, as satisfying the wonls of t instrument; but Jie will find him self Jisapp lintiid. Jir, r"inutt say to the honorable gentleman, that, in our American politics! grR:;i--aar, cos-titu ,. t:o.V i a noun suijstanfive; it imports a distinct and clear idea, ol itself; anJ it is, not to lose its importance and dig nitr. it is not tu be turned into a poor, ambiguous, senseless, unmeaning ad jective, for the purpose of accomoiodat :ng any new set of polriieal notions. i Sir, we reject his new.. rules of syntax altogether. VVe will not give up our forms of political speecti to the gram marians nif the -school of nullification. By the constitution, we incin not a "constitutional compact,'" ,but, simply and directly, the constitution, the fun damental-law; and if there be ono word in the language, which the. people of the United-States understand,-thi ii that word. We know no more of a constitutional compact between sove reign powers, than we know oj a con stitutional indenture of copirtnership, a constitutional deed of conveyance, or a constitutional bill of exchange- . J2ut, we know what the constitution is; we know what the plainly written funda mental law is; we know what the bond of our Union and the security of our li berties Is; and we mean to maintain tnd to defend it, in its plain sense and unsophisticated meaning. ; The sense of the gentleman's propo sition, therefore, is not at alt affected, one way or the other, by the'use of this word. That proposition still it, that our system of fidvernmentisnuti com pud between the people of separate aqd sovereign States. ; - . Was it.Mirabeau, Mr. President, or what other master of the liuman pas sinns, who has told us that words are things? They are indeed thing's, and things of mighty influence, not only in rested on nothing but plighted faith and cannot existunder the constitution, for its performance, Yetv even then J or agreeably tqi J.hc constitution, but an the States were not strangers to.,iac 'come, into existence only when 'the con other there was a bond of union slreft-i stituiion i is -n'errtirpwn..., This it, lh 3 subsiiitin'sr between the Rti thev werel.reasoti, sir, which fnakesTil nccessary','t' associated, United State: and tbe-ob.tadon the use of cohtilational Ian, J ject ot the coniederation was to make X"ag 'or o-w vocaouiary, ami jo ajtrangtc mi bcUcrJiopl..iiion,?-.! nbtttute, in the place of plain-histojj Their' riresentatives deliberated t.fpr fcTs7a "series of Ssliiiir.dlisTTtjii gether "on tltesii proposed articles ofi' the reason svhy it, is ntcfsary".o confetleratioin and.' being7uthorized' "'-nt-nlTOesi1gf0(-tf by their repective States, finally , Jnnstitutioni nt. as a constitution, "ratified and confirmed: them. 'In- but'M ? rompact, and of, the.ratifica asmuch as they were h'lready in union, ,',on, bJ People, not as ratifieatofls. they did not apeak of accedingto the. Uu' . "'' accession, 0 r ( . new articles of confederatiW, but of' Str 1 ""nl to hold tht- gentleman ratifying and confirming them; and j ,irTnrlUeo "cm-d. In the rtisefts; i B ii'iuoimiuiHi ijurauiMi. I rsti- tod4oimposupff 4flm4hetraints of constitutional language. The people' have ordained i consiftutioti; can Cthey be'hothih!r 'b(it robberv. A ttobbers. of - f course; may be rightfully ldisjfts$essed""' of 'the fruits of IStjir ilagilidns crimes; and, ihereorVfreprisals, iiripolitioris-ort1 the com mVre7T eflier STtates"1 ftfregfi f " alliancesjgiinst th.-m, or open'warj are' " Sll vttotles of redrew jastlj .rpetWtthet ; jointly, and haa carried en the, war trine now contended for is. tht, by jouuiy, .uoin, y. S4ffi .ana tanii; ana nucaf)ittr f crjwwwjjhe obligations mis, noi as aeparatov&tatiees tut,it nnt:authowty or .the Uwvernmcut wy one peiple When,-: therefore, tcj; .lifeiel asule jejectedwithuut rev.!gi formed .that confederation, and adopt,- tionV But tlt as hiC I deny; arid ed its articles as articles, of pcrputuai Twb4t l.ay is, that r.o.mari can, state the union, they did not come tozetherfor. case with historical accuracy, and' in the first titrWf 'dVtherefoyef they'd rdmHtiWaHfB not speak of the States as acceding to : jug that the honjiraU!egentIinans right, jni; for she is to fudge of hr'r town'rlghti, tiifceaniedef aliens. AlthoadtitTr8 a asserted in his conclusion, is a revo-Tand ta seek rAMucttwt league, and nothing but a leajrui?, and i lutionary right merely; that it does pnLt WronjsVoTer own wayT i- nut, sir, a ttr' oiata : is ci onminrr," , not onjj'thit tlieSFl'aws of ; Impost" are' ': tons'.itHtlona'lbnf(1iat U il'the absolute' v' 'latf ConWesi to Mss and fo main jJn s-ichTa w' aU tli'at; bf omitting; a tor p'tss and milntaln them, jtsennstitu v fional oWigatiotarwoold be grossly dis'J , fe2trded: :"She rermnulshed Uhe .. r of jJTlJtrtti 3hi she thijrht;a14egs-and4 - liege truly, herself, ani gave H tap tf Con grwt-v- 4hfvvth h at--Gongrsa4 wnyld exfcrdiss Mt,' If Congress nor r .'fuse td exercise it," Cohgresa does;' as she may insist, break the condition' ;n the rant. and thus, manirestiyviotate f the tfonstifutinfif and 'fsf this' violation 4 of. the constitution. lAe may 'threaten to -secede alto'.M Virginia" tnajr secede; and ' holtl the fortressesv in h Chesapeake, -s t ! The Western States may. aecede, and; tak to their own use the fHiblic lands,-1-' this language was not used mad- vertentl v tee ausej in- the-same - hri strument, peear is u sod in .ita-nn.. per ensM. when?- applied ta.Lanada,, which was altogether a atranger-to the existinz Union. Canada.". saVs the 11th article, u acceding to ttjiis con federation, and jrfinihg irtr mea sui es of the United States, shall be ad mitted intiOhe; Union." ;'ri 'T: Having. thus': used the terms ratifq and confirm, even iii re.triird to the old. confederation," it would nave' been strange, indeed,, if the. petiple -of-the United States, atter its formation, and wheh they came to establish' the present constitution, had spoken of the States, or of the people of the States, as " acceding to" this constitu tion. Such language would have been ill suited to the occasion. It would have implied an existing separation or disunion -amng-.tlve-State9T-JBUch never has existed since 1774. , No, such language, therefore, was used. The language actually employed is, adopt, ratify t ordmny establish.. . ; Tlierefqreairr-sincny State,. be? lore she can prove her right to dissolve ,the Union,-must show- her authority to undo what has been done, no State is at" liberty " "to"accrf, on the groii nd that she and other States have done nothing but accede. She must show that she has a right to reverse .what haa been ordained, to unsettle tn over throw what lias been established, to addresses to the passions and high- sct what the people have adopted, and . .. , , . .- . . L a .1 I I wrought feelings of mankind, but in the discussion of legal and political questions also; because a just conclu sion is often avoided, or a false one reached, by the adroit substitution of ona phrase, or one word,, for another. Of this we have, I think'apotheOt. ample in the resolutions before us. The first resolution declares that the people of the several' Stites acceJe" to the constitution, or to the constitu tional compact, as it is called. This word " uceede," not found either in the constitution itself, or in the ratification of it by 'any one of the States, has been cbosen for use here, doubtless not with out a well considered purpose. The natural converse of accession is secession; and, therefore, whenjt is stated tha the people of the States ac ceded to the Union, it may be more plausibly argued that theyjnay secede i rum it... it, inauopiinj tion, nothing was done to a compact, nothing cessary, in order to break it up; but to secede from the same compact. But lherteTrrrirwhoily-outf jikeer 4 accession, as a word applied to politi cal associations, implies coming into a league, treaty, or confederacy, by one -hitherto a stranger to it; and se cession implies, departing trom such league or confederacy. The people of me united states nave used no sucn form of expression, in establishing the pre?eat Government. , They do not say that they accede to a league,, but they declare that they ordain tnd es lablUh a' tnsTitailtgttithe; very wolsfthe jnstruinent itself; and in all the States, without an ex ception, the language used by their conventions. wasjthaJfeheyIJcrf the constitution;" some ot them em ploying the additional words -.. as sented to1' and adopted,? but all of them . ratifying.' . There is more importance than mayy at first aight, appear, in the introduction of this new word by the honorable mover of these resolutions. Its adoption and use are indispensible to maintain those prem ises, from which his main conclusion is tq be afterwards drawn. But, be fore showing that, atlow me to remark, that this phraseology tends to keep out ofaight the just view of our previous1 poimcai nigtory, as -wen as to suggest wrong ideas as to what was actually done - when the present constitution was agreed to. In 189, and before this . constitution" was' adopted, 4he United; Statei had-already- been in- a Union, more sr less close,' for fifteen year. fvAt least as far ? back. as. the - . ai . . . l . . w , meeting oi me nrsi tvongress, in ni t, they had been, in some measure, and to some national purposes, united to- gethsr. - Befortf tio confederation, of irnlitney bad declared independence to break tip what they-hare ratified ; because these are -. the terms which express the transactions which, have actually taken place. In other words, she must show nef rigtit to make a re volution.- - :- E If.: M r,; President." 1 n" draw in s these resolutions, the honorable member had confined hiorself to the use of constitu tional language, there would have been a wide and a wfut hiatus between his pre mises and his conclusion. Leaving out the two words compact and accession, which are not constitutional modes of expression and stating the : matter pre cisely as the truth is, his first reuolu tion would have affirmed that the people of iheseueraLStates ratified thii consti tution, or form of Government -These ace the very words of South Carolina herself, trt vhef own set of-ratification. Let, then, his first resolution teli the Mr. President, erery min'must se J that thete ?ee-al fuestirths iV which tan ,' arise only :. aicr ; o y fevelititdii. prcsuppote the breaklng up 6f th'':Gv;tf'r;;i' ernmentcf While the onstUatwiUastsL: they-are repi esscd; jHey spring flrtloanSIJ noy and startle us only from its grave 'l'itrnstltitvtt events which must be 'preceded by Jtvj bwndestrnction. BOKsaio", thera fore, sinci i Tt must bring these' tonse-.? ' qu'ences wTtfi "IfT Is" votCTtdsnT.:---4 j ' ..x-zzzl:?:. Trim it rv-r t A oh ytliHBATiot-a ciiuauy 7sii.u TtoyinfrWhit1soiutl6rT Srr, thatt reywtrn,- whicn overturnxt,-: or controls, or succeisrully resists thw e xis ting public ' aS thof i ty tha f whlflt f v properi " ' ' ' ' - i arres'sThe exercise ol the supreme' Other consequences naturally fulloir, power; that whith1 introduces-a' new ' too, from the-main -pror wtri'o:invrii "ftte laairii htVn aneriicTn nnwara lio the Statal Now. nr. this is the nrelse ' ntimitation as ta thJim.of jJl th tion,rand contain nothing making it per-T supersede the' supfemejlegislative iti .- petuai;it subsists" only 'during the good; thority; It arrests the arnV bf the E v s pleasure of the parties, although no vio ecqtive Magutrater Itinfernipfa- the latinn- be -1 opinion of either party, it je the name of an.: nrdi. j -T l.. .t:-.ii-K -mMI i4rt.r iitT,,-iift-WAifVlfk .' . . T . .. ..... ... .1 1 . . IL.: . . I . i sUtinvnr continum treaty. "TK Tg wn'"--r ; w lion a-i i hen! airm, in eflect. that these, twenty-tour United States are held together only by a subsisting treaty,-resting for hi fur filmtmt and eoninu ance o4H)o:4nhrent fiower of its own, but on the"pnghtfd, aith of eacFStaf e; prfin other "wards', that our Union is but a league; and, as a consequecefrom this proposition, thee furtjtejaffirm subiect to no superior power, the States fmttsf dec4dertaTfotlfc-Tnt 1- lezed violation of the league; and if i'such violation be supposeTd-tnniven curred, each may adopt any mode nr measure of redress which it Hall think then, sir, what wilt become of his infer ence in his aecpnd resolution, which is fii these wotdi, vizs "that, as in all other case of eompact among. tovereign parties. 'each has an equal rieitto uaze for itself as well of the infraction as of the mode and measure of redress" It is obiousjgjfjiot, sir, (hat this conclu sion requires for its support quite other premises; - It requires pretnues which tpeak of accession and of compact be tween sovereign powers, and, without such premises, it-i altogether unmean Inn.. ' . ' P"reMiefiQjf ihe hofiorable mem-i ber will, truly state what the people did in forming this constitution, and then state what they must do if they would now. undo jpliattlhejf ' then, did, he wil unavoidably state a case f revolution. Let us see. if it be tint so. lie must state; in the first place, that the people of the several States adopted and rati fied this constitution, or formol Govern ment; and. in . the next place, he must state that they have a right to undo this; tnat is to say, that they have a right to discard the form of Government which they have adopted, and to break up the constitution which (hey have ratified. Now, sir, this is neither more nor less than saying;' that they have a right to make a revolution. 'To reject an eitab lished Government, to break up a polit ical constitution, is revolution. -.1 deny that any man can state, accu rately, what was done by the people, in establishing the present r constitution, ind"thenitateraccoratelyrwhatthe people, or any part of them, must now do to get rid of its obligations) without stating an undeniable case of the over throw tf ..Government. I.-admit, 'of eouise, that the people may, if they choele, eerthrow th- Government. But, then, that is revolution. The doc rejecf u without re established a form of Governmeni.; can form a fiireign alliance,' and uho!d?the they overthrow it without revolution? t hese are the true questions. r . . . "; :n r mouth ofthe Mississippi.' if one State; may seceile, ten mar oft so twenty l, - Allow mo now.-Mr. President, in infmyilTrwt'r kwibr. gn mn; one after sitions containedtn the resolutWH and; anotlier, what irMinstrm:emS;nts;s their necessary consequences. I ted States? - Whose will, be the rnif, .. .Wbef eaovereiga.cmm parnej,JtberA.i'ft"Wita'-di' between a comnactr a tnnrederation.f Who nerrormAbaUlonstitu'tonal-ittiar and a le.igue. . They all equally rest ntijantie? Who gnVern this District an the plighted faith of the sovereign party, th Territories? ' Wnti retain the pub i A league, or confederacy, is but a sub-I lie propeityrki:Hi '-l'jl": tone of its'stinnlation thatit shculd betbetawedinttteffectrwoiMtort will perpetual. Upon this principle, the havty commenced in' boutlt fUarolina.t T Congress of the United Slates, in 1798,jShe will have thrown off the authority - i declared null and void the treaty of at- ! to which her citizens have heretofore ' fiance between the United States indj jbeeOuhject: She will have declared A n .. I . . . i ..!-f 1 I- ... . ..'II i ... ' r ranee, tnougn it proiessea to ue a per- er own upunuu mu nrr nwg wm.i iw; petual alliance. : 'i 1 v ,: ii ; ,; S be above the laws, and above the power ' ; :' - If the violation of the league be.ac- of those who are entrusted i with ; their , tornwariied with-serious trtfuriei. -.-the administratibnfc-llf ; she .makea ' good ,, r; I uffering 'nartr, 'beioe sole fudge own mooe and measure or reuress, , nas'eu. as to ner it is as uisunctiy -ai , . ;.; riant tn indemnify himself bv renrissl rchahffe" of the Sunreme nower. i ihn I"1"" i , . -y . -r.--- -j . eV. ir. xact truthrlet-it atate-the-fact. nre- " the ofenogmemberjjdlLheJej f 1 77oJ Tiiat ;tne """'rciseryisltetis reprisals,- if the circumstances of , revolution did not subvert Uovcrnmenrr but acceding! A e,.,.,;fi;i rMffi forms. It did not subvert; would seem ne- . ' i direct avowed, and nubR'c war. : iJocal laws M i i i iu i ii-ii, ui iui iii im uhi ci iiuii rm, mu i';.'--- - ' . r . v --v--..- -i--. - - . , A,--, . . - 'Hie necessary import of the resold tions. ' therefore, is. that the United States are ''connected only py a league; that it is-in the good pleasure of. "every State to decide, how long she will choose to remain a member of this league; that any State may determine the extent of her own obligations under it, and ac cept or reject what shall be decided by the whole; that she may also determine whether her rights have-been violated, what is the extent of the injury tlooe her, andhat mode and measure of re dress her wrongs may make it "fit and expedient for hter to- adoptpSThe rfcuit of the whole "is,"jhat" cede at pleasure; that any State- may law which she herself may resist a r.iiTtnsp In aav errepiU the nower nf Con gresTTanT she may redress her own grievances, by her own arm, at her own discretion; sue may, make .reprisals,' she may ctUt! against the property .of other members'. of the teaguejf she may authorize cap tures, aod mae open war.;(y vv : , . If, sir, this'be oiirDolitical condition," if ia time the ' people of the. United States understood it. Let us look for a moment to the practical consequent ces of these opinions. One tate, hold ing an embargo law "unconstitutional, may declare her opinion, and withdraw from TM'VTitonT other, forming and expressing the same judgment on a law laying dunes on im ports, may withdraw also.', one secedes. And, as, hi, her .opinion, inoticy- has been taken no tuf-the-pockett nfrher citizens illegally, under pretence of this law, and as he has power to re dresi thijrwrons, she msj 'demand satisfaction; aud, '(refused, she' ifiay take it with a strong hand, ,'rhe gen tleman hat himself pronounced the Col lection of duties, under dialing laws, to tions,' It only threw oft the dominion of a Power, claiming to be superior, . : and tOihatre a right, in,: many iinf poftant respects,' to exercise Jegisfativeiw 4 authoritywi-lTiinlctflg thU anthority tol; have been usurped or abuseil, the.Ame rican" colonies, now the United States, V I bade It defiance, and freed thVinsetvei- from it by "means nf a revolotion,;; Bntv: . that revolution left them with tl.eir own- ' . - ; municipal laws still, and the:, forms of Itwal Government,s"lf- Carolina nowu .? shall effectually resist the laws of Con."V" gress,' if lieihalli bather jownjudgeL;. take her cemejyintrt hrr jawn hands,. " --"4 ; obey-ine' lawsttf thartrhTpin: pleases, and disobey them-r when! she "; y. pleases, sh& will relieyBi.berscIf frerii 'j-- paramouut power as distinctly as rthj " ; in l77o. In other words', she " will acheive, as to herselfVrevoIutiort.-. , : : v'tDut, sir, while practical nullification k ' - I in South Carolina would be. as to fier -. , i self, actual andlistinct revolotion;: its ;, t - necessary tendency must ' also be ; tv ; , i spread resolution, and to break up , tha ; f constitution, as to all the other States. It strikes a deadly blowat' the vital . principle of the whole Union. " To aU" ; low Sute Resistance to the laws of Con'' gress to be rightful and proper, to admit nullification in some States, and yet not; , e spect to seel a dismemberment of the entire Government, appear to me the wildest illusion, and the most -extra va . , - gant folly, . The gentleman seem not conscious of (he direction or the rapiJi. , ty of his own coure. .Th curren t vfhia opinions sweeps him along, he knows not -whither. To begin with nullification, . with the-avowed intent, nevertheless, : not ta"ppcaed to secession, dismember ment, and general retrolotionr is - as f anc were to take the pluoge of Niagara, ";'r: 3- -tr lSc$ 1 4th pdgt,):
The North-Carolina Star (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 5, 1833, edition 1
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