Page:John P. Branch Historical Papers - Volume 2.djvu/300

 ON THE LOTTERY DECISION.

To the People of the United States:

In order to elude the force of the eleventh amendment to the constitution, fellow-citizens, the court is pleased to advert to what it terms a “part of our history.” That history does not justify the assertion that “all the states were greatly indebted” at the time of adopting that amendment. If some states were debtors, others must probably have been their creditors, and had a contrary interest as to the amendment in question. Possibly, however, the court meant that the citizens of those states, rather than the states themselves, were indebted. If so, they only, and not the states, would be sued, and that case did not call for this amendment; nor “could the fear of these suits being prosecuted” in the federal courts, form “a very serious objection to the adoption of the constitution.” Notwithstanding this amendment did take place these citizens have been sued, and these debts all recovered against them.

At the time of the amendment being adopted only three of the states had been sued in the federal court—Massachusetts, Georgia and Virginia. As for Virginia, that suit was not brought for any “debt," due by her. It was for a land claim upon her by the Indiana Company which had been formerly decided in her favor, and this decision was pleaded in bar . It is, therefore, a libel upon her to say