=_59._= NECESSITY OF AMENDMENT BEFORE ADOPTION.
I exhort gentlemen to think seriously, before they ratify this
constitution, and to indulge a salutary doubt of their being able to
succeed in any effort they may make to get amendments after adoption.
With respect to that part of the proposal, which says that every power
not specially granted to Congress remains with the people; it must be
previous to adoption, or it will involve this country in inevitable
destruction. To talk of it, as a thing to be subsequently obtained,
and not as one of your unalienable rights, is leaving it to the casual
opinion of the Congress who shall take up the consideration of that most
important right. They will not reason with you about the effect of
this constitution. They will not take the opinion of this committee
concerning its operation. They will construe it even as they please.
If you place it subsequently, let me ask the consequences? Among ten
thousand implied powers which they may assume, their may, if we be
engaged in war, liberate every one of your slaves if they please. And
this must and will be done by men, a majority of whom have not a common
interest with you. They will, therefore, have no feeling for _your_
interests.... Is it not worth while to turn your eyes for a moment from
subsequent amendments, to the real situation of your country? You may
have a union, but can you have a lasting union in these circumstances?
It will be in vain to expect it.
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