protect itself against the General Government
"every one of the citizens acting under the
authority of the State would be guilty of
treason'?" If there was no power to coerce,
why was it that General Washington put
down the whiskey rebellion in Pennsylvania,
in 1798, by force of arms? If there was no
power to coerce, why was it that General
Jackson registered on High his oath that the
Union should be preserved, and compelled
South Carolina to humble itself in the dust,
and comply with the terms of the compact?
The gentlemen forget that when in Boston
aforetime a fugitive slave was to be re-
claimed, they thought the General Govern-
ment had the power of coercion to compel
the State to comply with the terms of the
compact.
The PRESIDENT. The gentleman's time is
up.
On motion of Mr. JONES, of Somerset, time
was granted to Mr. Thomas to conclude his
remarks.
Mr. THOMAS. I have but a few more re-
marks to make. Allow me to adduce a few
authorities to show that the paramount alle-
giance of every citizen is due to the United
States; I do not intend to read them, but
merely to refer to them so that gentlemen
will examine them. The Constitution of the
United States says so in so many words. The
framers of the Constitution said so. The Su-
preme Court of the United States, for which
gentlemen have such reverence, says so. The
Constitution and the Court of Appeals of our
own State say so. I refer gentlemen to the
case of McCullough vs. State of Maryland, to
be found in 4 Wharton, 400; I Wharton,
825; and 3 Gill's Reports, 13. The case in
Wharton is a most remarkable case. It
goes on to discuss this whole doctrine, the
Supreme Court of the United States saying
in so many words that the Constitution was
not only ordained by the people, but that it
was not a compact; and that every citizen
owes a paramount allegiance to that Consti-
tution, regardless of the Constitution and
laws of any State in the Union.
I would ask gentlemen to whom is alle-
giance due, if not to the government of the
country? if gentlemen will refer to the first
article of the Constitution of Maryland, in
relation to citizenship, they will find a citizen
cannot exercise the right of elective franchise
in the State of Maryland unless he first be a
citizen of the United States. What does that
ill' an? It means that if he is not a citizen
of the United States in the first place, he has
no right of elective franchise in the State of
Maryland. The United States then confers
the right of citizenship. To whom, then, is
allegiance due—to the power that makes the
citizen, or to the power that can neither make
nor unmake a citizen? When the Govern-
ment of the United States makes a man a
citizen, can the Government of the State of
27 |
Maryland decitizenize that citizen? Certainly
not. There is a provision in our code allow-
ing foreigners to hold property in this State;
but a further provision of that law says that
before a foreigner can hold real estate in the
State of Maryland he must at least have de-
clared his intention to become a citizen of the
United States. Still that citizen,, it is said,
owes his first obedience to the State of Mary-
land, and not his paramount allegiance to the
Government of the United States. If that be
so, then I would ask to whom is this para-
mount allegiance or obedience due? To the
power that makes him a citizen, that confers
upon him all the right of citizenship, and
without whose authority he cannot exercise
the rights of a citizen, or to that subordinate
power which can neither make him a citizen
in the first place, or decitizenize him when
once .made a citizen? Is it due to the power
which protects you when abroad, the ample
folds of whose flag spreads from the rising to
the setting of the sun, as a shield to defend
you from all harm, or is it due to a State that
is hardly known beyond the limits of this
country, and to a flag whose escutcheon not
ten men in a hundred could ever recognize?
Is your allegiance due to that government
that was in its origin but thirteen feeble
States, and that has now increased to thirty-
five powerful States, stretching from ocean to
ocean, and which has been the pride, the glory ,
and the hope of the world; or is it due to
that narrow, contracted and feeble power that
would assert the right to destroy the govern-
ment whenever in its whims it might see fit ?
The gentleman from Prince George's (Mr.
Belt) hats said that the country was ruined
and distracted. How has it been ruined, I
would ask him? If the rebel States that are
now waging war against the people of the
United States had hut been true to their alle-
giance, and given paramount obedience to the
General Government rather than to the States,
then there would halve been no war; then
there would have been no occasion for vast
armies, iron-clad navies, and heavy taxes;
then our midnight slumbers would not have
been disturbed by the call to arms; then our
brothers and friends and countrymen Would
not have been slain on the battle-field, nor
the red torch of war have laid waste fields,
once gladdened by the golden sheafs of an
ample harvest, now the sepulchre for the
bleached bones of many a noble patriot.—
Then the nation would not have been called
upon to mourn the loss of so much blood, of
so many noble spirits, whose allegiance to
their country was paramount to life itself. A
country ruined and distracted ! well might
the gentleman say so; but whilst be was de-
scribing the "howling wilderness" between
the Potomac and the Rapidan, why did he not
think to cast his eye to Kentucky, Tennessee
and Missouri? Why did he not think of his
own native State, and wander to South Moun-" |
