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About The banner of the South. (Augusta, Ga.) 1868-1870 | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1869)
% 4 O&lya:) . 'BJMWMSiiI ... OF" —A- .THE. __ . • ■>' i •■'* REV. A, J. RYAN, Editor AUGI ST A. Ga , MARCH G, 18G9. ■*• ■ wwrm ••»■*» »wmm.-v.'«rwf». vjiawnrii ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS AND 15 IAIN ESS L ETTE liS FO R TIIE “B A N NER OF THE SOUTH” SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE PUBLISHERS - L. T. BLOME & CO. RED X fVIARkr The red X mark is not a Ku-Kluxism, but a sign that your subscription expires wi'li No 52, Vol. 1. Please send your n .( '.V i! at once b\ Express or Postoffice M r y Order. Our subscribers are ea ee.-aly requested to attend to this little in Alter immediately. ONE REDEEMING ACT. \\ c have thought some very hard things and have said some very hard things about the Congress of the United States; and the fact is we did really believe that nothing good could come of it; but really* as hones! historians of the times and candid critics of public men’s actions, we are compelled to admit that that august body has really done one good thing. It has given the “re-Reconstruction of Georgia” the go-by. It has snubbed the Radical advocates of that Radical mea sure, and sent, them snivelling back to their kennels of degradation. Oh! the hapless fellows! the unfortunate traitors! the disappointed knaves! They danced attendance upon the Radical Congrcs ; and, by false assertions, and wicked protestations, sought to put the State back under the yoke of military bondage that they might keep within their grasp the p ttronage and spoils of office. Alas I for all their hopes and plans! Congress has had the courage, and the manliness, and the justice, to do one good act, and disappoint them. Well, that body deserves credit for it; and we really feel a great deal of charity towards it in consequence; in fact, we feel as though we should put on gloves when vve have to hit it any blows hereafter, that we may not strike it so hard in the future as we have done, or desired, to do in the past. Surely, those who have taken part in this wicked but futile attempt to place the State of Georgia agaiu under military rule, must feel some shame at their graceless conduct; but, whether they do or not, it is a consolation to know that they have been defeated, and a glorious thing to hope that their defeat is final ami complete. THE AMENDING POWER- It seems to be almost universally be lieved that in Congress alone resides the power of proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Such is not the case. Two-thirds of the States have concurrent power with Congress in this matter, and, to show by what pro cedure, we quote from the provisions of the Constitutisn in relation to the amend ing power: ‘'Art. V. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deCm it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution ; or, on the application of the Leu '.datures < f two-thirds of the neveral tiiar.cn, nhall calf a Convention for proposing Amendment >*, which, in either easo, shall bo Valid to all Intents and Purposes, os parts of this Constitu- Uuu, when Ratified by the Legislatures of three-lbuiths of the several S ates, or by C'l • ' inventions in three-tourtlis thereof as the one or the other Mode of Ratification nia'V be proposed by,the Congress.” No\v it will here be seen that while the mode of ratification of any proposed amend merit is always the same, yet there is a very important difference in the meihod 01" proposing amendments, and that mode marked out by ihe italicized words in the above extract seems to us to meet the exact exigency of the present day. It is not that the State Legislatmes wilt not ratify such amendments to the Con stitution as would restore the imperilled balance of power in the government and restrain Congress from the further exer rise of usurped and doubtful powers, but that the Congress will not propose such amendments but tho>e only that have a tendency to still further wreck the de sign and impair the efficiency of the Con stitution. Moreover, it is generally thought and asserted that, even if s >me revulsion of popular sentiment North would procure the election of a reasonable and fair minded House of Representatives, the Senate is hopelessly Radical and will so remain for six years, the Senatorial term of service to come. There is undoubted truth in this declaration that the Senate stops the way, but it only stops the Congressional way. It can prevent the submission o l any beneficially restrictive amendment by Congress, but it cannot prevent the pro posing of such amendment or amend merits by a Convention of the States. All that Congress can do when the Leg islature of two-thirds <4’ the States make application for such a convention is to call i, for the language is mandatory “shall call” and the only discretion it has is to say which of the two modes of ratifica tion, by Legislature or Convention, it pre'ers. Whether two-thirds of the States could be induced to make this applica tion is a practical question into which we will not now enter further than to say that, as State elections are mostly bi-en nial, there are three chances for such a concui rence during the six years of the present Senate, but we present the Con stitutional power as most undoubted and as offering sufficient incentive to the efforts necessary to its exercise. Liberty must not be given up, and the only way to preserve it is to have the States to meet in council to confer one with an other, to confirm what in the Constitu tion is now doubt UP, to exclude what is inofficious, to restrict what is excessive, and, in the spirit in winch it was first made, to re-ereefc the Republic on the basis of a common consent Our con temporaries, it is hoped, may deem these views worthy of their consideration and with this we for the present leave them [For the banner of the South.] THE STATE. BY TYRONE POWERS. It is not a little surprising that the use of one capital Utter should have led to one of the bloodiest wars of moderen times. If the name of this republic had been written united States, the Northern mind would have received the correct impression that this was a government of uivers Sovereign States united for certain common purposes under a com mond bond; but uuioriunately, it so hap pened that it was written United States, and the popular sentiment lumped the two tei ms, the noun denoting the thing and the adjective qualifying the noun, into one common form of speech as de noting an indivisibe entirety. Hence it is that we meet the word “nation” so frequently now-a-days, a word which utterly obscures the true nature and or ginal of this government and m< ans the exact opp< site of a republic. Nations are loiabiies ; they have no sovereign divisions ; if they are cut up into com poueut parts at a l those parts are but mere provinces, and accordingly as soon as toe idea that this was a nation was fix< and in the heads of the Northern peo ple it was easy to persuade them that the secess on of the South was an attempt of a part against the whole and uot the recession or certain members of a part nership fri m further business connection with certain other members. Hence was the crusade of the North against the South made possible, aud theiefore is it said that the used one capital letter ltd to the bloodiest war of m dern times Had it been Tieuu t« and States, men won>d have s< en that Iho Siates weie the main thing and the united but a term descriptive ol a relation, whereas iu The Ulined States the trutn was lost ; sophistry was affinded lull scope; and argued us into blood. Rut, Siates being the main thing, let us cousnler what is this puhtical oigau is,n, J he :*tatk, when it was born aud what are its p »weis. On the senleuieut of this country what are now known as the original Slates wi re mere c Jollies, subject to the Brit ish crown under one of three forms ol MBS SB OT 381 ©eras. government; the charter , which allowed considerable latitude, prevalent in Massa chusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecti cut; the royal, or provincial, prevalent in New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia. North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia,’where a Governor and Council, app anted by the K ing, governed in eci.junction with an assem bly chosen by the col »nies; and the proprietary gov raments, extending over Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, where private persons, thereunto author ized bv the crown, held sway. These governments continued in substance and the colonies remained called and calling themselves colonies till the Fourth of July, 17TU, when, having met iuo -nvoli tion, they declared, through Hieir dele gates, that “these united colonie* are, and of right ought to be, free and inde pendent State*.” H re, then, on the 4th Julv, 177(3, Tj States were born; here did the grub, colony, shed its chrysalis and come forth resplendent as The State. Having thus declared them selves States, the next thing was to pro vide “for the «ii,*port of this declara tion,” and to this mid th y united. The union was not to bom- ,1c our consolidated body but “for the support of this declara tion, ” and this dec!.c ation was that the late colonies •’are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states * * * and that as free and independent States, they have fa” power to levy war, Conclude peace, c oier-o- 4 alliances, estab lish commerce, an ito -: i! other acts and things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do.” The tran script here is literal and from the extreme prominence given the declaration that the States were independent, it can be seen that they came into being as pure and absolute sovereignties. Rut, the States being thus born, let us trace their history farther. Up to the Bth day of July 1778, a period of two Real's, they remained in a state of absolute independence, but on that day formed a confederacy under the Articles of Confederation which declare, in the first article ihereof, tiiat “The style of this confederacy shall be ‘The United States of America.’” Hero we see that the idea of the Southern Confederacy was uot anew thing, but that, prior to the very existence ol the present govern ment, there was another Confederacy. But to pass this by, lest any should mis interpret this phraseology, “The United States,” and say it meant a solidarity or nation, great care was taken to say that the articles were articles between the States of New’ Hampshire, Massachusetts Ac., &e., mentioning them each by name, and then, not satisfied even with this, au express article was put in thus : * Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by tnis confederation expressly dele gated to the United States, in Congress assembled.” (Aar II.) So far then, it would seem that none but a madman could deny that the States were severally Independent and Sover eign and united togcthei not as a nation but as a confederation of autonomic re publics. With this organization they fought through the war and emerged at length triumphant in the purple light of victory. Five years after the war, King George having recognized the Stairs severally by name as independent tuey met to revise their bond of union and by convention on the 17th Septem ber, 1787, agreed upon the present Con •tituiion. As the Articles of Confedera tion had been declared “between” the several States, mentioning them by name, so it was provided in the Constitution that “Tue ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution be tween ihe States so ratifying the same.” The dates of the several ratifications are as follows : 1. Delaware December 7, 1787. 2. T'knnsy lvanxa December 12, 1787. 3. New Jersey December 18, 3.787, 4. Georgia January 2, 1788. 6. Connecticut January 9, 1788. 6. Massachusetts February C>, 1783. 7. Maryland April 28, 1788. 8. South Carolina May 23, 1788. 9. New Hampshire June 21, 1788. 10. Virginia Juu« 20, 1788. 11. New York July 20, 1788. 12. North Carolina November 21, 1783. 13. Rhode Island May 29, 1790. Here it will be seen, and, in view of the senseless prating about States being out of the Union, the reminiscence is interesting, that Georgia was in the Union bcio.e Uonucc icut, or Massachu setts ; South Carolina before N» w Hampshire ; Virginia belore New York; and North Carolina before Rhode Island Verily, the )ouuger sisters do rice up and smite the elder boiu ! The Constitution having been adopted, going into operation as will be seen on tbe 21st of June, 1788, that being the date of the ratification ol New Hamp shire the ninth State, it becomes of moment to peiceive wuetlier under the | new form til governin'nr the States are still recognized as distinct en ities or as but almost undistingoishabic parts ol an | indivisible and general whole. The fii>t point of view is that of the very wind ing ot the instrument itself. In no case are the United States recognized, '*r spoken of, as a notion but always in the plural as a composite republie 1 bus wo find ( Art., i, Sec ix, par. 8,) “No title of nobility shall be grunted by the United States; and go person holding any office of profit or trust under them” shall accept foreign rank, gratuity, &c.; and (Art ii, See. i, par. ,) “The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which lie shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any ether emolument from the United States, or any (f them;” ami (Art iii, Sec. iii, par. J) “Treason against the United States filial 1 consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” Now how idle in the lace of these repeated plural forms to say that this is a solidarity, a singularity, a nation. The nation have given them- Helve* more powers than their fundamen tal law gives them! Wiiat bosh it makes of it. Moreover beside these piu a! forms, it will be found that in over two score places the express word ing of this sacred instrument is such as recognizes the severalty of the States in the most varied and unmistakable man ner. I have at one time in my reading been curious enough to reckon up these main acknowledgments of this severally and find that “ each State” occurs seven times ; "any State' and ‘‘‘the several States' also seven times each ; “ one State” read "another State” three times each; and “ that State;” “ the States re spectively”; “particular States' ; “any of the States ”; "two or more State ”; ' every other State”; ‘any other Stale* ; and some lew other modes of denoting indi viduality occur once or twice each. More even than this—for it is said, because the Constitution begins, “We, the People, Ac., Ac., do ordain and constitute,’ that this shows it was meant to make a nation, and that, therefore, the people, in one body, framed the law—it will be found that the language denoting this very point ol how the instrument was framed is found in the closing phrase which de clares that it was “Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States pieseiit” If there be force in human language, it was the States d;d it. And, still further, not only was it “done”— i.e., formed—by the States, but to the States, also, its “establishment” is due, since its very language is “The ratifications of the conventions of nine States shall be suffi cient tor the establishment of this Con stitution between the States so ratifying the same.” When was the tale of the nine States required made up? Not until the 21st day of June, in the year of Our Lord, 1798. The instrument was made on the 17th day of September, 1787 but not till the 21st of the June fol lowing was the breath of life breath and into its body ; uot til! then were the “condi tions sufficient for the establishment” fulfilled. And now who breathed that breath of life if not the States, the nine States of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachu setts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire ? If the “nation” had anything to do in this matter, it was, like the old joke about the tailor, a nation in nine parts ! So far, then, we have watched the birth of The State; we have seen it leap full-armed, into sovereignty, at twelve o’clock, noon, on the Foutth day of July in the year of our Lord 1770. We have seen it pass, conquering aud to conquer, through an eight years’war; and come out, at last, with its sovereignty recog nized, in name and deed, by old Kin* George. NVe have seen it ally itself with other States under articles which premise that their very basis and foun dation stone is t. at “Kach State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independ ence. We have seen that, on meeting to frame a Constitution, the work was “done” by it, and, when done, put into operation by force of that State action which was declared “shall be sufficient for the establishment” thereof. Now let us see if this is all, or, if there yet be the great and crowning glory, the one gem and jewel of sovereignty which has never been surrendered, aud the whole ‘'na tion,” aye ! or the republic, either, to the contrary notwithstanding, can never be taken away. Let us sec if Tut: State be uot the one tiling only taut can never be touched, without its consent, by any amendment of the Constitut on whatso ever. Iu all other things, a two-thirds vote in Congress, or a Convention of the States, may propose, and the Legislatures or Conventions in three-fourths of the States may ratify and make valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the Constitution, any amendment whatso ever; but, says the Constitution, “AT, State, without its con sent, she” - priced of ds equal suffrage ; ti , ( Senate” The Constitution n— amended a< to deprive it of fepr ■ tion in the House; a> to impose thn *•. unjust and unequal taxes upon i* ; to leave it without Federal V m ike it amenable to the daffi ; :I! private citizen, or to take away : • facilities, or d<> any other up . whatsoever; but two-thirds </ { 'om*rv * and three-fourths of the States, no ! », the whole of Congress, nor every „q». , State, but its own lone self pur t, g q* cannot deprive it of its equal su°V> ~, ~ the Senate. That suffi ago, U t , k tW() Senators,are the mark of the s ’ oroA of The State and, by the ■ Vn-ti' U t; M no power under Heaven can » 1 0 sovereignty away. Here. a‘ !> * \,... is no room for doubt or eav ; }>. ~ q ; ambiguity; bore, no cloud--: Tie 8 iat: rises in her native m?»i s-y, he ( -jt„ tion she created does her ho ingv r> ! ;s ] her banded sisters must >n<v ’ >c sacred right Let us read of this power It T ten thus : “article V. “The Cos tig ;v.s>, whence* *wo . both Houses shall deem . shall propose aui ui.ii, e • :< ; tution, or, on the ape io uimi :. , ; latnres of two-thirds <7 .in: m y< ,7 . - 4 shall call a Convention !■ ;• a, ; ._ amendments, which, in ei h- i < • be valid to al intent -and nj part of this Constiruti Oli, ■, ii*:l .' . ( by the Legislatures of tliree-I.nu t: several States, or by Convert' j* three-fourths thereof, as Put on*- or other mode of ratification may u g posed by the Congress; J’rocided, t no amendment which may bt made prim to the year one thousand eight hamnd and eight, shall in any manner alb- tth first and fourth clauses in the ninth » <•- lion of the first article; arul that no Stnh without its consent, shall be de.pnad of its equal suffrage in the Senate.'' Everything else you may amend, hu 1 the Constitution itself must sink into nothingness before you can discrown The State And yet, when heie is but one single one of the united States, even the very least ot them, little Delaware or little Rhode Island, can rise up and confront the whole Congress, ami every single one of the other States, and say thus far, ami ui further, how can we believe for an in stant that this is a nation, and that the nation is everything, and the State D nothing at all ? Hht what is The State ? Is it tint one man shall sit up on high, and call himself Governor, and another shall write himself Judge, and that still others shall hold themsMves out as Legislators, and, under a thing that they style Constitution, promulgate otner things they sec fit to designate laws? No; these things in themselves are as nothing. The State, in its physical embodiment, is those men who can trace their title to govern back without any flaw of illegality or violence to the hour when, on the 4th day 7 o! July, 177 t), The State was born. And, in its unseen essence, The State L the mani festation and exercise of the will of these men who have such title ns above shown. Put these two together, and wc have a State like New York or California; divorce them, aud we have such a S ate is Georgia and Alabama and South Carolina are to-day. La New York, the continuity of the visible and invisible components of the State, of the lawlul voter and his will, has never been broken. In Georgia it is. A strange power has supervened aud rendered this continuity inoperative for the time being, but, though the continuity be broken, Fuk M’ate still lives. Tnere are the nn-n and there is their will, and wheresoever the men and the will are there is In* State; not dead but sleeping when th‘‘ continuity is suspended, hut forth will full activity that very instant the di.- Mirt ing cause is removed. Take away ou> dag the hand of violence, and in ' 7 four hours these buzzards and then* rtin bish would fly b fore the revived vi of 'The State ok Georgia. Ihe prophet, tne usurper, the snriepu ’ State would tlec for its life, and the t» ! - State be brought back with music, v- . laughter, aud tears of joy into her ow 'lhe State dead! Either the S H Georgia, as she was founded by thorpe, aud battled it out, with tC' ( man’s blessing upon her, a- >he F’Ug the tyrant George; m that sense, ■ the more generic sense of the dta the foundation of American instHut oo dead! If so, how comes it that since the war, within this very 7 F year of 1868, that Illinois, when due t. anew great seal lor that cormnon Utan ordered the legend, "State Sore" G to be therein inscribed? How ( ini ' the military g>veniorof MisHv>ip[ '■ . very brevet major general of tn< u States army, who is foisted over tl.
