Page:Contemporary Opinion of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, p1.djvu/11

 being dismissed on their first reading and not suffered to appear in the minutes of the House.

Some New Jersey Republicans were ready to go further; in fact, to accept the resolutions entire. One of these wrote a long article upon the subject for the Genius of Liberty, signing himself "Observor." He was surprised and disappointed that the merits of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were not touched upon in the recent discussion in the House; two points ought to have received attention, (1) whether the Alien and Sedition Laws were constitutional or not; (2) and if they were not, "whether they should adopt the same mode of resolution."

"But perhaps some passive, quiescent member of the house will say, the Legislature of a state have no right to give an opinion, whether a law of Congress is constitutional or not&mdash;let Congress, or the federal supreme court, decide such question (and it is no matter which, if either is to decide), but the objection must fall to the ground on a moment's reflection. The constitution is a solemn compact, made between the individual states, as sovereignties, and the U. States collectively; who, as such, possess inherently no such powers, and Congress have no right, whatever to exercise any power not expressly delegated in that compact, and all other power, not so delegated, remains entire, and belongs to the individual states; and as much so as though no such compact had been made, and as much so as the sovereignty of any state or power in Europe. Now let me ask, when a treaty or compact is made between two sovereign powers, and infracted by one of the parties, shall that party, or its court, decide whether it has itself broken the compact or not? When Congress, in a late act, declared France had broken the treaty with us, and that all obligation, on our part, ceased in consequence thereof, was this the case then? Did we wait, or submit it to them to decide, whether they had infracted the compact or not? Surely not, nor can it be right, in the present case, nor in any case whatever, without totally destroying the idea of sovereignty. If the doctrine of the objector is valid, and the states, individually, have no right to judge when the constitution is violated by Congress, there is an end to all state sovereignty, and state legislation, and we are at once consolidated; and it will be futile to elect and pay a state legislature: besides, in the case of the alien law, and many other cases, the supreme court can have no jurisdiction, the suspicion of the President is all-sufficient to inflict the penalty; how then is the supreme court to judge of the constitutionality of a law which it is not to execute?"

The Federalist newspapers of New York state were, for the most·part, content to copy the comments of the Philadelphia representatives of their faith upon the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, their own additions being few and short. Of real argument there was less in these additional remarks than in the comments of the Philadelphia papers, but the tone was even firmer. The New York Gazette concluded its account of Gerrard's speech thus: "But, thanks to the wisdom of Congress, WE HAVE A SEDITION LAW: