Page:Speeches of Carl Schurz (IA speechesofcarlsc00schu).pdf/302

292 so it is. But there is one thing in the Constitution, which is not founded upon compromise, which does not admit of any compromise, which is, in the very nature of things, absolute and imperative. It is the principle, that, when the will of the majority upon a question constitutionally subject to be decided by the majority, is once expressed and proclaimed in a Constitutional form, the minority is absolutely and unconditionally bound to submit. [Applause.] There is no cavilling about this principle. It is the very foundation of all republican government; without it the whole republican edifice would at once tumble down as a chaotic, shapeless mass. It is the balance-wheel of the whole machinery. The observance of this principle is the fundamental obligation of the citizen. Every measure of policy may be subject to compromise, but this fundamental obligation is not. It can be bound to no conditions, for if it were, it would cease to be absolute.

Apply this to our case. A Constitutional election was held in 1860. All Constitutional reqnirements were strictly fulfilléd. Abraham Lincoln received a Constitutional majority of the votes; he was made President in a strictly Constitutional manner. And because the majority which elected him entertained certain opinions of public policy obnoxious to a minority, that minority rose in rebellion against the Government. You now propose to buy that rebellions minority back by relinquishing some of the principles held by the majority. You do this, because the minority has risen up in arms against the Constitutionally expressed will of the majority, In other words, you, the majority, confess yourselves so far conquered, as you are willing to surrender part of the decision of the ballot-box to the force of arms. And thus far you declare the fundamental obligation of submission to the Constitutional verdict of the majority not binding; the minority, if it