Newspaper Page Text
[COSAM EMIR BARTfcETT— EDITOR]
THE DEMOCRAT, will be published 'every
week in Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia,
at Three Dollars per annum if paid in advance!
or Four Dollars at the end of the year It is
expected that ail application for subscription
from a distance will be accompanied with titc
money,
Advertisements will be inserted at reasonable
fates. Sales of land and negroes, by adminis
trators, executors or guardians, are requited by
law to be held on the first Tuesday in the month,
between the hours of ten o’clock in the forenoon
£ three in the afternoon, at the court house of the
County in which the property is situated: .Notice
of these sales must be given in a public Gazette
sixty days previous to the day of sale.
Notice of the sale of personal property must
fee giver- in a like manner forty days p. evious to
the day of sale
Notice to debtors and creditors of an estate,
mast be published forty days.
Notice that all application will be made 10 the
court of orduiary for leave to sell land must be
published four months.
PROSPECTUS,
For publ thing >/£ Columbus , Gu a Political and
Alts rel, a nevus A'cicspaper, t> be entitled th
DEMOCRAi.
In presuming iu the pu it :ns Pros
pectus f«r anew paper at Coiunurus, thu
subscriber dues uot deem it uecess.tiy or
expedient to gu iato a minute detail of his
political doctrines, or of his particular
views in regard to the various topics which
now engage public attention. He pre
sumes that his character as an editor is 100
well known in Georgia to allow him to
gain credit among any parts, with meie
professions and empty promises. The
public will be apt to look to thu past in tor
ming their estimate of the futuie, and by
that ordeal is he willing to bn tried. In
the numerous political discussions, which
the eveuls of the day have called forth,' Ins
opinions of men and things have been free
ly expressed, and are doubtless familiar
to many of those to whom he now looks lor
patronage and support. Those who have
hitherto approved of his sentiments and
been satisfied with the u,aimer iu which he
has urged them, will, lie trusts, still con
tinue their confidence, without the reuew
nl of pledges, or a formal confession of
faith.
1 In reference however to tho present
State of parties, he begs leave to remark,
that he trusts tho absence of all political
excitement, will prove propitious to the
cause of truth; and that now all par tics, by
whatever names they mey have been dis
tinguished, will be permitted to labor tor
the general welfare, unobstiucied b> ilie
jealousy, or tbe rancor of by-gone feuds.
The undersigned will endeavor to extend
still further this cordiality ot feeling, ami to
allay the occasional symptoms of ex .cerb
otioj to which a warmly contested election
may give rise; and in this, and whatever
else tie may undertake for the purpose of
Bdvanciug tho prosperity of the stale, lie
bill count on the cordial co-operation of
Ivory good citizen, however they may
rave previously differed on points of polit
cal faith.
Attached to the doctrines of the Revolu
tion, and holding iu high veneration the
memory of those heroes aud sages by
whom our liberties were achieved, and our
pr°sent adninable form of government es
tablished, the subscriber will endeavor to
manifest the sincerity of his professions, by
exciting a feeling of attachment to tho
Union, aud encouraging an entire coiifi
deuce in the institutions of our country.
llu will inculcate the doctrins that it is
better to bear a slight and temporary evil,
against which we have a constitutional
remedy, than to hazard all for which our
fathers (ought and so many martyrs labor
ed and bled. He will not in any respect,
overlook or disregard the righis or the in
terests of his own state; yet he must always
view particular rights and interests, as re
latively connected with others, uid he will
never cousent Cos the sacrifice of a greater
for a lesser good.
The subscriber will endeavor to make
The Democrat a vehicle of general intelli
gence, aud an interesting per.o lit I to the
gentleman of literature, the aei
tin? merchant and the mechanic.
C. E. liartlctt.
A NEW MAI* OF GEORGIA.
fBIHE subscribers have now m ;er the
-E h link of the engraver in Now Y >rk,
a complete ami splendid map of die state
of Georgia, the grout* r part compiled from
actu.il survey, with all the districts careful
ly laid down ami numbered, tilt' whole com
pleted with meat labor and exactness r :om
khn latest an I most authentic information,
in i style not inferior to any thing \*t pre
sented to the public, with a table » f distan
ces from the seat of government to eveiy
c*>unty site, or place of importance til ttie
State. The districts in the new pu'chase
and lower counties are all numb* red in the
corners so as to enable a person to ascer
tain the exact situation of any lot of land
and will be painted and finished oft’ in the
neatest manner, a part of them canvassed
varnished and put on rollers, the balance
on thin paper nicely folded in u“> r oceo
covers and will be for sale in Milledgeville
by the Ist of October. Those on rollers
at fivp dollars, and the pocket map of the
same siee, at four dollars. Persons resid
ing at a distance wishing to procure the
map can do so by sending by the members
as a sufli* ient number of them will be kept
in Milledgeville during the session.
Carlton Welbom,
Orange Clrcen.
oct. 1830
AN APPRENTICE,
WILL be taken at this oA
•mint active lad of good moral cha
racter. Nunc other need apply.
P OLITIC A L.
Mr. MADISON'S LETTER.
To the Editor of the North American Review.
Montpelier, Aug. 1330.
Dear Sir; —l have duly received your
I in which you iefer to the “ nullify
tng c oc-rine,’ advocated as a constitutional
right, by some «*f our distinguished fellow
citizens; and to the proceedings of the Vir
ginia L-gisluture , u 98 and ’99. as appeal
ed to m behalf of that doctrine: and you
ex pi ess a wish for my ideas on theso sub
|ects.
I am aware of the delicacy of the task in
some respects, and the difficulty in every
tespect, of doing full justice to it
-Bui, having, iu more than one in
slace, complied with a like request fiom
oilier tiu udly quarters, I do not decline a
sketch of the views winch I have been led
to take of the doctrine iu question, as well
a» some others connected with them ; aud
of the grounds from w hich it appears that
the- proceedings of Virginia have been mis
conceived by tnose who have appealed to
them. In oid* tto understand the true cha
tacter ol the Coostiuiiion of the U. Slates,
the ei ro not u common, must he avoided, of
vi-winy it ihi o’the medium, either of a con
solidated Government, or of a confedera
ted Government, whilst it isueither the one
nor the other; but a mixture of both. And
having, in no model, the similitude and ana
logies applicable to other system of Govern
moui it must mote than any other, be its
own interpieter according to its text, and
ttn facts of the case.
Fiom these it will be seen that the cha
racteristic peculiarities of the Constitution
are, Is., tbe mode of its formation; 2, tbe
divisiou • f ihe supremo powers of Govern
ment between the Slabs in their united ca
pacities, and the Slates in their individual
capa< dies.
1. I was formed, not by the G vern- ;
men - ol the component Suites, as the Fed
eral Government for which it was substitu. '
ted was formed. Nor was it formed by a
majority .of the people of the United States,
as a single community, in tile manner of a
confederated Government.
Ii was formed by tho Slates, that is by
the people in each of me States, acting in
their highest sovereign capacity ; and for
med consequent!'' by me same auibon y
which formed tiie Site costitution.
Biiug thus derived from the same source
as the constitutions of the Stales, it has,
within each S ate, the same authority as tbe j
constitution ut the state ; and is as much a
consiiiutiou, iu the strict sense of the term,
within its prescribed sphere, as tho consti
tutions of the states are, wiiliiu their re
spective sphere'; but with this obvious aud
essential difference, that being a compact a
mong tbe stales in their Highest sovereign ca
pacity, and constituting tuo people thereof
one people foi certain purposes, it canaot
be altered or annulled at the will of the
states individually, as tho constitution of a
state may bo at its individual will.
2. And that it divides the supreme pow
ers u!’the government, between the govern
ment of the United States, and the govern
ment of the mdivioual states, is slampted
on the face of the instrument; the power of
wir and enumerated powers vested iu the
governmeni of the United States, being of
as high and sovereign character as any of
the powers reserved to the state govern
ments.
N »r is the government of the U. States,
created by the constitution, less a govern
ment in the strict sense of the term, within
the sphere of its powers thau the govern
ments created by the constitution of tne
states are, within their several spheres. It
is like them organic and into Legislative, Ex
ecutive and Judicial Departments. It ope- \
rates, like tuent, directly, on persous and J
things. ‘And, like them, it nas at command
a p ysic.it force for txecuin g the powers
committed to it Too concurrent opera
tion in certain cases, is one ot the fuatmes
making the peculiarity of the system.
Between these constitutional governments,
the one operating in all the states, thte others
operating separately in each, with the ag
g eg ite powers of government divided be
tween them, n could not escape attention
that controversies would aiiso concerning
the boundaries of jui isuictron, and that some
pmvisioti ought to bo made for such uccur
t uces. A political system that uoes not
provide for a peaceable and authuritive ter
mination of occuring controversies, would
not be more than the shadow of govern
ment ; the object nud end of a real govern- !
iHuut being me substitution ot law and order
for uncertainty, confusion, and violence
That to have left a final decision, in such
cas* s to eacti of the states, then thirteen,
and already tweiity-foui, could not fail to
in tke tin- constitution *y laws of the United
St ties different in different states, ‘.vas obvi
ous; and not less obvious that tins diversi
ty ot independent decisions must altogether
distract the government ol the Union itself.
A uniform authority of the most important
laws is iu itself a vital piiuciple. Some of
the most important laws could not be par
tially executed. They must be executed in
all tim states, or they c uld be duly executed
iri none An impel', or an excise, for ex
ample, if not in force in some states, would
' e defeated in others. It is well known
that this was among tho lessons of experi
ence, which had a primary influence in
bringing about the existing constitution. A
loss of its general authority would moreover
revive tho exasperating questions between
the.states holding polls for fmeign com
merce, and the adjoining slates without
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 13, 1?30.
them; to which are uow added, all u>« in
md stales, necessaiily carrying on their
foreign commerce through other states.
To have made the decisions under the
authority of the individual states, co-ordi
nate, in all cases, with decisions under the
authority of the United States, would una
voidably produce c.dlisMons incompatible
w ith the peace *>f society, and w ith that re
. ular and efficient administration, winch is of
the essence ot free government. Scenes
could not be avoided, in which a ministerial
officer of the United Slates, and the cor
responding officer of an individual state,
would have rencounters in executing con
flicting decrees, the result of which would
depend on the comparative force of the lo
cal posses attending them ; and that, a cas- j
uaiiy depending on the political opinions
and party feelings in different stales.
To have referred every clashing decision
under the two authorities, for a final decis
ion to the states, as parties to the constitu
tion, would be attended with delays, w.th
inconveniences, &, wiih expences, amount-!
mg to a prohibition of the expedient; not
to meution its tendency to impair the salu-!
tary veneration for a system requiring such
frequent interpositions, nor the delicate
questions which might present themselves,
as to the form of s'atiug the appeal, and as |
to the quorum for deciding it.
To have trusted to negociation for adjust,
it"-' bp,t ’ PPn «he government of tlm I
United Slates and she state governments, as j
between indr pendent and separate sever- j
eignties, would hive lost sight altogeih
a constitution and g. v rtunent for the Un
ion; and opened a direct road fmpi . f j
are of that resort trt the ultima ratio be- j
t«cen nations wholly independent of and
alien to each other. If the id.-» hid iis
oiigin in the procr-s< of adjusting, between
separate branches .f Hie same government,
ihe analogy entirely fails I„ tbe raso of
disputes between tbe independent parts of
the same government, neither part being a
ble to consummate its will, nor the govern,
meet to proceed without the concurrence
of the parts, necessity brings about an ac.
commodation. In disputes between ast oe
government and the government of the U
States, the case is practically as we'l as the.
oreticrlly diff rent; each parly pressing
all tho departments of an organ z and govern,
meet. Legislative, Executive and Judicial;
and having each a physical force to soppon
its. pretentions. Although the issue of nr.
gotiation might some times avoid their ex.
tremity, how* often would if happen, nmoj,
so many slates, that an nnaccommodaline
spirit in some would render that source
unavailing? A contrary supposition would
not accord w'ith a knowledge of human ua
ture, or the evidence of our own political
historv.
“ The constitution, not relying on anv
of the preceding modifications, for its s.f
and successful operation, his expressly de
dared on the one hand - Fust—“ Thai
the constitution, and the laws made in pur
suance thereof, and all treaties made under
the authority of the United States, shall be
the supreme law of the land: 2. That tho
Judges of every state shall be bound there
bv, any thing to the contrary notwithstand
ing : 3. Tbit the Judicial power of the U.
States shail extend to all cases in law and
equity arisine under the constitution, the
laws of th* United States, and treaties made
under their authority, &c.”
Ou the other hand, as a security of the
rights and powers of the states, iu their indi
vidual capacities, igainst an undue prepon
derance of tli 9 powers granted to the Gov
ernment over them in their united rapacity,
the constitution has relied on 1. file re
sponsibility of th>- S unitors and Represen
tatives in th* Legislature of the U. States,'
to the L’gi-I ure* and the people of the!
states. 21. Tho responsibility of the Pre.
sident to the people of tin United States. j
And 3. Toe liability of the Executive and j
judicial functionaries of the United States !
to impeachment by the Representatives of
the people of tho states, in one branch of,
the Legislature of the United States and j
i trial by the Representative* of the states ini
the other branch ; the state functionaries, :
legislative, executive aud judicial, being at j
the same time, iu llmir appointment and re* '
spousibility, altogether independent of tho
agency or authori’y of tho United States.
How fir this structure of the govern
ment of the United S'stes is adequate and
safe for its object, timo alone can absolute.
Iv determioo Experience seems to have
show n, that whatever may grow out of fu
ture stages of *>ur national career, there is
as yet, a Sufficient control, in the popular
will, over the Executive, and Legislative
department of the government. When the
alien and sedition laws were pissed, in cot:,
travention to the opinions and feelings
of the community, the first elections that
ensued put an end to them. And whatev
cr may have been tho character of other
acts, in the judgment of many of us, it is hut
j true, that they havo generally accorded
with the view of a majority of the states,
; and of the people. At the present day it
' seems well understood, that the laws which
It tvu created most disatisfaction, have had
a like sanction within doors; and that whe
ther continued, varied, or repealed, a like
proof will be given of tire sympathy and re
sponsibility of the representative body, to
the constituent body. Indeed, the great
complaint now is, against the resmts of this
sympathy and responsibility in the Legisla
live policy of the nation.
But it is perfectly consistent with the con
cession of this power to the Supremo Court,
in cases falling within the course of its fine
ti*>ns, to maintain that the power has not »l
ways been rightly exercised. Tu J■;
notb.ng of the period, happily a short one,
when judges iu their sea s did „ot abstain
i irom intemperate and party liarrangees, e
q'tally at variance with tiu-ir duty and their
dignity ; there have been occasional decis
siuns from the bench, which luce incurred
serious and extensive disapprobation ; still
it woulJ seem, that, with but few excep
tions, the course of the judiciary has been
Lit her to sustained by the predominant sense
of the naliou.
I Those who have denied or doubted the
supremacy ol the judicial power of the U
States, am. dcuouuce at the same time a
nullifying power in a State, seem not to
have sufficiently adverted to the utter inef
ficiency of a supremacy in a law of the laud,
without a supremacy in the exposition and
execution of the law ; nor lo the des'ruc
lion of all equipoise between the Federal
Government and the Statu Governments,
if the functionaries of the Federal Gov
ernment are directly or indirectly el. cted
by and responsible to the States, and the
functionaries of the States are, iu their ap
pointment and responsibility, wholly inde
pendent of the U. Suites, no constitutional
control of any sort belonged to the United
Slates over the Stales. Under such an or
ganization, it is evident that it would be in
the power of the States individually, to pass
unauthorised laws, aud to carry them into
Complete effect, and any thing in the Con
stitution aud laws of the U. States to the
contrary notwithstanding. Tiiis would bo
power iu its plenary charactei;
and whether it It <d its final effect, through
the Legislature, Executive, or Judiciary
organ of tho State, would be equally fatal to
the constituted relation between the two
Governments.
Should the provision of the Constitution
a* here reviewed* be found not to secure
the government and rights of the St iles,
against usurpations and abuses on the part
of tho U. States, the final resort within the
purview of the Constitution, lies in an a
mendmeut of the Constitution, according
to a process applicable by tile States,
Aud in the eveut of a failure of every
constitutional resort, and an accumulation
of usurpati ms and abuses, rendering pas
sive obedience and non resistance u great
er evil than resistance and revolution, tliere
c m remain but one resort, the last ol'all—
'it appeal from the cancelled obligations of
the,constitutional compact, to original rights
and the law of self-preservation This is
'he ultima ratio under nil governments,
whether consolidated, confererated, or a
compound of both ; and it cannot he doubl
ed, that a single member of the Uni n, in
the extremity supposed, but in that only
would have a right, to matte the appeal.
This brings us to th< (expedient lately
idvaced, which claims for a single State a
light lo appeal against an excerctse of pow
er by the Government of the U. States de
cided by the State to bo unconstitutional,
'o the parties to the constitutional compact;
the derision of the StatP tu have tho effect
of nullifying tho act of tho government of
the U. States unless the decision of the
State be reversed by threo-fourths of the
parties.
The distinguished name and high author
ities which appear to have asserted and
given a practical scope lo this doctrine, en
title it to a respect which it might bodifficult
otherwise to feel for it.
If the doctrines were to bo understand as
requiring tjie three-fourths of the Stales to
sustain, instead of that proportion to re
verse the decision of the appealing state,
the decision to he without effect during the
appeal, it would be sufficient to remark,
that this extra constitutional course might
well give way to that marked out" by the
Constitution which authorises two-thirds
of tho Slates to institute, and three-fourths
to effectuate, an amendment to the Con
stitution, establishing a permanent itiie of
the highest authority, iu place of au irieg
tilar precedent of construction only ; but
it is understood that tho nullifying doctrine
imports that the decision of the State is to
be presumed valid, and , that it overrules
the law of the U Slates unless overruled
by three-fourths of the States,
Can more he necessary to demonstrate the
inadmissibility of such a doctrine, than that
it puts in the power of tin smallest fraction,
over one-fourth of the United States, that
is of seven States out of twen y four, to
give tire law and even the constitution to
seventeen States, each of the seventeen
having, as parties to the constitution, an
equal right with each of the seveu, to ex
pound it, and to insist on the exposition ?
That tho seven bte righlfPlnd the
seventeen wrong is more than possible.
But to establish a positive and permanent
rule giving such a power, to such a miuctr
ity over such a majority, would overturn
the first principles of free Government, and
in practice necessarriy ovetturn the Gov
ernment itself.
It is to be recollected that tho constitu
tion was proposed to the people of the
States as aufhole, and unanimously adopted
hy-this Stiiei as a whole, it being a part of
the Constitution that no less than three
fourths of the Stati s should bo competent to
make any alteration in what had been unan
imously agreed to. So great is the caution
on this point, that in two cases where pe
culiar interests wore at slake, a proportion
even of three-fourths is distrusted, and u
naniniity required to make an alteratii n.
When the Constitution v as adopted as a
whole, it is certain that there were many
nartsf which if separately proposed, w ould
ihvo been promptly rejected. It is tar
rum imposible, that every part of a Conrti
uttui; might bo rejected by a mujoiity, and
el ijkco together us a whole, be utuoiui-
VOLUME FIRST—NUMBER 5
otis y accepted. I 1 ree constitutions will
cutely, if ever; be formed, without recip
i concessions; without articles coudi*
| t'oned on and balancing each oilier, Is
t here a constitution of a single Slate out if
tae twenty four, lint would bear the experi
ment of having its component parts stibmit
j tod to the people and separately decided
i ou \ kr
\V hat the fate of the constitution of tlis
j United Stales would be, »fa small propor
tion of tho States could expunge parts of if,
particularly valued by a large tujorily, can
have but one answer.
Tiie difficulty is not removed by limiting
tho doctrines to cases of construction. How
many cases of that sort, involving cardinal
provisions of the Constitution, have occur
red? How many now exisi? Hpw many
may hereafter spring up? How many might
be ingeniously created, if entitled lo a de
cision iu the mode proposed?
Is it certain that the principle of that
mode would not reach further than is con
templated? If a single State can of right
»< quire tin ee-f.urllis of its co States lo over,
rule its exposition of the Constitution, be
cause that proportion is authorised to amend
it, would the plea be Ibss plausible that, U3
the Constitution was unanimously establish
ed, it ought to bo unanimously expounded?
The reply to all such suggestions seems
to be unavoidable and irresistable, that the
Constitution is a compact; that its text is
to be expounded accotding to the provisions
for expounding it, making a part«f the com
pact and that none of the purtics can right
fully renounce the expounding provision
more than any other part. When such a
right accrues, as may accrue it must grow
out of abuses of the compact releasing the
sufferers from their fealty lo it.
In favor of the nullifying claim for the
states individually, it appears, as you ob
serve, that the procedings of the Legislature
ol Virginia, in ’9B and ’99, against the Al
ien and Sedition Acts are much dwelt upon.
It may often happen, as experience
proves, that erroneous constructions not an
ticipated may not be sufficiently guarded a
gainst, in the language used; and it is due
to the distinguished individuals, who have
nii seonceived the intentions of those pro
ceeding, to suppose that the meaning of tlie
Legislature, though well comprehended at
>hc time may not now be obvious to those
unacquainted with the cotemporary indi
cations and'impiessions.
But it is believed, that by keeping id
view the distinction between the Govern
ments of the States, and the States in fits
sense in which they were parties to the con
stitution; between the rights of the parties
iu the eoucurrent and in their individual ca
pacities; between tbe several modes and
objects of interposition against the abuses
of power, and especially between interpo
sitions wtthiu the purview of the constitu
tion and interpositions appealing from the
Constitution to the rights of nature para
mount to all Constitutions, with an atten
tion always of explanrtory use, to the views
and arguments which were combatted, the
Resolutions of Virginia, as vindicated in
the Report on then), will be found entitled
to an exposition, showing a consistency in
their parts, and an inconsistency of tbe
whole with the doctrine uuder considera
tion.
That the Legislature could not have in
tended to sanction such a doctrine is to be
inferred from the debates in the house of
Delegates, and from the uddress of the two
houses o their eonstittueuts, on the subject
of the resolutions. The tenor of the de«
bates, which wore ab/y conducted, and are
understood to have been revised for tho
press by most, if not all, of the speakers,
discloses no reference whatever to a con
stitutional right in an individual State to ar
rest by force the operate nos a law of tha
United 3'ites. Concert among the Sute*
for redress against the Alien and Sedition
Liws, as acts of usurped pewer was a lead
ing sentiment; and tho attainment of a con
cert, the immediate object of the tourse a
dopted by the Legislature, which was that
of invitng the other Statos “to concur in de
claring the acts to be unconstitutional, and
to co-operate in the necessary & proper
measures in maintaining unimpaired the
authorities, rights and liberties reservrd to
the States respectively, and to the peoplt.*
That by the necessaiy and proper measures
to be concurrently and co operatively taken,
were meant measures known to the C'*nsti*
tutiou, particularly the ordinary control of
the people and Legislatures of the States
over the Government of the United States,
cannot be doubled, and the interposition of
this control, as the evPnt showed, was equal
,to the occasion.
It is worthy of remark and explanatory of
the intentions of the Legislature, that the
words, “not law, but utterly null, and void,
and of no force or eff et,"’ which had fol
lowed in one,of the res* lotions, the word
“unconstitutional 1 * was struck out by com
mon consent, though tin* words wert, m
fact, synonymous with “unconstitutional,'*
yet to guard against a misunderstanding of
this phrase as more than declaratory of opin
ion, the word “unconstitutional*’ alone was
retained, as not liable it* that and nger
The published Address of th* Legislature
to the people, their constituents, affords a
nother conclusive evidence of its views.
The address warns them against the eu
crouching spirit of the General G vern
meuf. argues the unconstitutionally of the
Alien and Sedition Acts points to other in
stances iu which the cons iiution i limits
had been overleaped; dwells upon the dan
gerous mode of deriving power by implica
tion; und in general pi esses the necessity of
watching over the consolidating tendency ot