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jurisdiction.
“The Federal and State governments,” says
Madison, “are but different agents of the people.”
“Sovereignty,” continues he, “resides with the people alone.”
“C” is the
State agency, “D” the
Federal one.
Each acts over the whole ground.
We must predicate agency, and not sovereignty, of these agents, “C” and “D.”
The people alone are sovereign and are represented by “E.”
They have set two servants to work in the same field.
They control both and prevent conflict.
“The house is” not “divided against itself.”
The able writer who said ‘the problem left us by the
Convention is to harmonize National and State sovereignty,’ ‘loses sight of the people’—to use
Madison's expression.
The only sovereignty is theirs.
‘C’ and ‘D’ are always agents subject to it. There was no such problem!
It may be well to say here that
Hon. George F. Edmunds and
Hon. David Dudley Field, as the former shows in the
North American Review, seem to think ‘teetering’ or ‘seesawing’ is going on, as to dominance, between the
General Government and the States, and they call it a principle!
and conclude that the great duty or problem is to keep
equilibrium!
