If I believed in the premises he assumes, possibly though I do not think probably, I might agree with the conclusion he has reached; but, sir, I cannot believe that these States have ever been out of the Union or that they are now out of the Union.
Blaine argues against the notion that certain states were ever out of the Union during the Civil War.
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But this is a totally different thing from an offensive war to punish the people for the political misdeeds of their State Government, or to enforce an acknowledgment that the Government of the United States is supreme.
The right of the General Government to preserve itself in its whole constitutional vigor by repelling a direct and positive aggression upon its property or its officers cannot be denied.
Is any portion of the people bound to contribute their money or their blood to carry on a contest like that?
Under such circumstances, to send a military force into any State, with orders to act against the people, would be simply making war upon them.
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