the Government of the United States, but I
want her as a Government, to do her duty
to the people of her own State. I object to
this article because it is susceptible of miscon-
struction. Gentlemen may contend that it
cannot be construed into a direct surrender
of State sovereignty.
But I have already occupied the floor too
long, and will give way to my friend from
Kent, (Mr. Chambers.)
Mr. CHAMBERS. O! no sir; your remarks
are better than mine could be.
Mr. BRISCOE. I better yield, because that
may be ironically spoken.
Mr. CHAMBERS. O ! no, my friend, do not
say that; take that back.
Mr. BRISCOE. Well, I will say but little
more. In some remarks which I made when
I offered this amendment to strike out the
word ''paramount," I referred to some doc-
trines which Mr. Pinckney, of this State held,
and which I think have been held by good
men on all sides. He tells you what were
the purposes of the Union as made by the
States originally. It seems to me we are
here about to make a new Union, if we adopt
this article. We are about to enter, as Mr.
Pinckney says, into this company of full-
blown States with a different mark upon our
brow, not as equal, but as unequal. Now
what docs he say is the true theory of this
Federal Government of ours, and how do the
States stand under it?
"What is this Union? a confederation of
States equal in sovereignty, capable of every-
thing which the Constitution does not forbid
or authorize Congress to forbid. It is an
equal union between parties equally sove-
reign. It is not a State in the general—but
a State as you find it in the Constitution."
He says further, if a State should be in this
Union in any other view, "crippled and dis-
paraged beyond the other States, it is not
with the original Union. For it is a different
sort of Union." "How is the Union formed?
By equal contributions of power. Make one
member sacrifice more than another and it
becomes unequal. The compact is of two
parts: 1. The thing obtained—Federal rights.
2. The price paid—local sovereignty. You
may disturb the balance of the Union either
by diminishing the thing acquired or increas-
ing the sacrifice paid. What were the pur-
poses of coming into the Union among the
original States? The States were originally
sovereign without limit, as to foreign and do-
mestic concerns. But being incapable of pro-
tecting themselves singly they entered the
Union to defend themselves against foreign
violence. The domestic concerns of the peo-
ple of the States were not in general to be
acted on by it. The security of the power of
managing this by domestic legislation is one
of the great objects of the Union."
Now, I do not pretend to deny that in your
sovereign capacity here you have the power to |
tear from the brow of the old State of Mary-
land, the wreath of her free institutions.—
You can surrender to the General Govern-
ment her powers of domestic legislation.
But is it wise? is it prudent for us to do so?
Mr. Pinckney upon that very subject says :
" The free spirit of our Constitution and of
our people is no assurance against the pro-
pension of unbridled power to abuse, when it
acts on colonial dependants rather than our-
selves. Free States as well as despots have
oppressed those whom they were bound to fos-
ter, and it is the nature of man that it should
be so. The love of power, and the desire to
display it when it can be done with impunity,
is inherent In the human heart. Turn it out
at the door and it will in again at the win-
dow. Humanity too sometimes plays fantas-
tic tricks with power. Time however is
fruitful in temptations to convert discretion-
ary power to all sorts of purposes.' ' Time
will only demonstrate that if you adopt this
article these prophetic warnings will be made
the truth of history, and Maryland, by trans-
ferring the protective powers of her State
Government as now existing, will be made
the victim of oppression.
Now, I am unwilling to gratify these gen-
tlemen in what I believe to be their objects.
Some of them have been open and bold
enough to avow that their object is to carry
the powers of the State Government to Wash-
ington, and lay them down at the feet of the
General Government, to be disposed of by it
at will. For one I am unwilling by any
possibility of misconstruing this article to
give any apology or encouragement for the
exercise of any such power. It will be used
to infringe upon the rights of the State of
Maryland. Unlike gentlemen in that respect,
I have seen nothing in the past few years
that should at all encourage us to enter upon
this new career of reform, and indeed re-or-
ganization of the Government. It may come;
fear it will come but too soon. But for one,
1 declare before high Heaven, I never will by
any vote or aid of mine, give any furtherance
to this thing, by any possibility of miscon-
struction of this or any other article that
may lead to it.
Mr. CHAMBERS. Mr. President, it is not
without serious embarrassment, certainly not
without regret, that am on the floor at this
moment to address this body upon the sub-
ject which has been under discussion for some
days. But my position on the committee,
and the estimation of my friends, have made
it my duty to give the views which I enter-
tain upon this subject: they probably assum-
ing, but mistakably, that its discussion in the
committee room has enabled me, and my
most. respected colleague (Mr. Belt) who bag
heretofore addressed the house, to obtain a
knowledge of some of the views entertained
by those who have introduced this proposi-
tion here. That opinion, if they entertain |
