Force Bill

“ On this principle the people of the State, acting in their sovereign capacity in convention, precisely as they did in the adoption of their own and the Federal Constitution, have declared, by the ordinance, that the acts of Congress which imposed duties under the authority to lay imposts, are acts, not for revenue, as intended by the Constitution, but for protection, and therefore null and void. The ordinance thus enacted by the people of the State themselves, acting as a sovereign community, is as obligatory on the citizens of the State as any portion of the Constitution. ”

“ I know the Republicans are artfully disclaiming that the force bill is an issue in this campaign. Mr. Harrison himself tries to evade it in his letter of acceptance by an adroitly soft-spoken recommendation of a commission of inquiry. But no well-informed and prudent man will be deceived. The Republican platform substantially endorses the measure. Almost every prominent Republican of influence has been a strenuous advocate of it, among the most strenuous President Harrison himself. ”

“ It is only by this power of interposition that the reserved rights of the States can be peacefully and efficiently protected against the encroachments of the General Government - that the limitations imposed upon its authority can be enforced, and its movements confined to the orbit allotted to it by the Constitution. ”

“ Why, then, confer on the President the extensive and unlimited powers provided in this bill? Why authorize him to use military force to arrest the civil process of the State? But one answer can be given: That, in a contest between the State and the general government, if the resistance be limited on both sides to the civil process, the State, by its inherent sovereignty, standing upon its reserved powers, will prove too powerful in such a controversy, and must triumph over the Federal government, sustained by its delegated and limited authority ”

“ For each district an officer of the Army, not below the rank of a brigadier-general, is to be appointed to rule over the people; and he is to be supported with an efficient military force to enable him to perform his duties and enforce his authority. Those duties and that authority, as defined by the third section of the bill, are "to protect all persons in their rights of person and property, to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, and to punish or cause to be punished all disturbers of the public peace or criminals." ”

“ Nothing can be more certain than that, when a constitution grants power, and imposes limitations on the exercise of that power, whatever interests may obtain possession of the government, will be in favor of extending the power at the expense of the limitation; and that, unless those in whose behalf the limitations were imposed have, in some form or mode, the right of enforcing them, the power will ultimately supersede the limitation, and the government must operate precisely in the same manner as if the will of the majority governed without constitution or limitation of power. ”

“ By the bill which had been passed, to complete the peace establishment, we had authorized the collection of a force of about six thousand men, exclusive of those now in service, which, with the twenty-five thousand provided for by this bill, will give an aggregate of new troops of thirty-one thousand men. Experience in military affairs, has shown, that when any given number of men is authorized to be raised, you must, in counting upon the effective men which it will produce, deduct one fourth or one third for desertion, sickness, and other incidents to which raw troops are peculiarly exposed. ”

“ My fellow citizens, today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal. This ceremony is held in the depth of winter, but by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring. A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America. When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world, and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change. Not change for change sake, but change to preserve America's ideals: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. ”

“ Small businesses employ more than 57 percent of the private U.S. work force, account for 54 percent of all sales, and generate half of the domestic private sector output.
As we move forward in a spirit of renewal and change, there is one constant that must prevail in the economy of the United States. Small business must continue to provide the solid foundation upon which this Nation builds its economic strength and maintains its character. Government, working hand in hand with entrepreneurs, must recognize these contributions and help small business create jobs and increase incomes. ”

“ I call upon Government officials, law enforcement agencies, business and industry leaders, educators, and all the people of the United States to recognize the full value of women's skills and contributions to the labor force. I urge all employers to review their wage-setting practices and to see that their employees, particularly women and people of color, are paid fairly for their work. ”

“ The pioneers in women's history would be proud of today's women pioneers.
As we approach the 21st century, we have reached another significant milestone in our Nation's history: Women have approached an almost equal share in the labor force. Thus, it is more important than ever that we enable women and men to meet their responsibilities at work and at home.
Women continue to break the glass ceiling, changing their status from employee to employer. Today, women-owned businesses are creating one out of every four jobs in the United States. ”

“ The typical cost of accommodating a person with a disability on the job is only $200, and this investment is amply repaid-wage earners with disabilities increase productivity and tax revenue, become consumers of goods and services, and reduce the burden on government welfare and entitlement programs.
Yet despite their many contributions and successes, individuals with disabilities remain underrepresented in our Nation's work force. ”

“ I urge Americans to join efforts in support of maritime revitalization legislation and our ongoing shipbuilding production program. Americans' pioneering spirit has endowed our Nation with the most innovative maritime technologies and the most skilled innovative maritime technologies and the most skilled maritime labor force on Earth. Working together, we can preserve this critical advantage for generations to come. ”

“ The first mistake is, in supposing that the government of the absolute majority is the government of the people - that beau ideal of a perfect government which has been so enthusiastically entertained in every age by the generous and patriotic, where civilization and liberty have made the smallest progress. There can be no greater error: the government of the people is the government of the whole community - of the twenty-four - the self-government of all the parts - too perfect to be reduced to practice in the present, or any past stage of human society. ”

“ If his opinion be sufficient to prove that a citizen of a State may be punished as a traitor when acting under allegiance to the State, it is also sufficient to show that no authority was intended to be given in the Constitution for the protection of manufactures by the General Government, and that the provision in the Constitution permitting a State to lay an impost duty, with the consent of Congress, was intended to reserve the right of protection to the States themselves, and that each State should protect its own industry. ”

“ The contest will, in fact, be a contest between power and liberty, and such I consider the present - a contest in which the weaker section, with its peculiar labor, productions, and institutions, has at stake all that can be dear to freemen. Should we be able to maintain in their full vigor our reserved rights, liberty and prosperity will be our portion; but if we yield, and permit the stronger interest to concentrate within itself all the powers of the Government, then will our fate be more wretched than that of the aborigines whom we have expelled. ”

“ The Government has, however, not been contented with exercising this power as she had a right to do, but has gone a step beyond it, by laying imposts, not for revenue, but protection. This the State considers as an unconstitutional exercise of power - highly injurious and oppressive to her and the other staple States, and has, accordingly, met it with the most determined resistance. I do not intend to enter, at this time, into the argument as to the unconstitutionality of the protective system. It is not necessary. It is sufficient that the power is nowhere granted ”

“ Another radical vice in the old system, which was necessary to be corrected, and which will be understood without a long deduction of reasoning, was, that it legislated on states, instead of individuals; and that its powers could not be executed but by fire or by the sword—by military force, and not by the intervention of the civil magistrate. Every one who is acquainted with the relative situation of the states, and the genius of our citizens, must acknowledge that, if the government was to be carried into effect by military force, the most dreadful consequences would ensue. ”

“ For more than two centuries, our food, agricultural, and natural resource system has been nurtured and sustained by dedicated people committed to providing safe and abundant food and fiber products. About 20 percent of the Nation's work force is engaged in jobs related to agriculture, and annual employment openings in this industry are expected to outpace the supply of trained workers. ”

“ It is the supreme power in a State, and we might just as well speak of half a square, or of half a triangle, as of half a sovereignty. It is a gross error to confound the exercise of sovereign powers with sovereignty itself, or the delegation of such powers with the surrender of them. A sovereign may delegate his powers to be exercised by as many agents as he may think proper, under such conditions and with such limitations as he may impose; but to surrender any portion of his sovereignty to another is to annihilate the whole. ”

“ Disguise it as you may, the controversy is one between power and liberty; and I tell the gentlemen who are opposed to me that, as strong as may be the love of power on their side, the love of liberty is still stronger on ours. ”

“ A peace, by extinguishing the political existence of the State, by awing her into an abandonment of the exercise of every power which constitutes her a sovereign community. It is to South Carolina a question of self-preservation; and I proclaim it, that, should this bill pass, and an attempt be made to enforce it, it will be resisted, at every hazard - even that of death itself. Death is not the greatest calamity: there are others still more terrible to the free and brave, and among them may be placed the loss of liberty and honor. ”

“ No candid man can dispute that I have given a correct description of the constitution-making power: that power which created and organized the Government, which delegated to it, as a common agent, certain powers, in trust for the common good of all the States, and which imposed strict limitations and checks against abuses and usurpations. ”

“ It is this power which has raised the astronomer from being a mere gazer at the stars to the high intellectual eminence of a Newton or a Laplace, and astronomy itself from a mere observation of insulated facts into that noble science which displays to our admiration the system of the universe. And shall this high power of the mind, which has effected such wonders when directed to the laws which control the material world, be forever prohibited, under a senseless cry of metaphysics, from being applied to the high purpose of political science and legislation? ”

“ To maintain the ascendancy of the Constitution over the law making majority is the great and essential point on which the success of the system must depend. Unless that ascendancy can be preserved, the necessary consequence must be that the laws will supersede the Constitution ”

“ But I regard it as worse than savage warfare - as an attempt to take away life under the color of law, without the trial by jury, or any other safeguard which the Constitution has thrown around the life of the citizen. ”

“ As our Nation prepares for a new century and faces the demands of an increasingly global marketplace, this idea is more important than ever. We are called upon to value every citizen's unique gifts and to encourage all people to participate in moving our Nation forward.
America's employees with disabilities have long been a part of this effort, distinguishing themselves in virtually every occupation and profession. Indeed, study after study has shown that workers with disabilities perform as well as, or better than, other members of the labor force on every factor measured. ”

“ I should think that, if there were any object which the general government ought to command, it would be the direction of the national forces. And as the force which lies in militia is most safe, the direction of that part ought to be submitted to, in order to render another force unnecessary. The power objected to is necessary, because it is to be employed for national purposes. It is necessary to be given to every government. ”