The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-04-18
THE ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND, April 10, 1899.

ExrREMEs-"N Ills tAe f,rofierty Of ordi-
aary minds fs fly from one ertreme 10 The
oshsr--bus AZ rs the froferfy Of genius, tho
at fiii!, TO rise again though defeated. 10
Persist and though obliged 10 alter and
nodify many Of its conclusions, never to hars
7rith that ctearness Of Shirt, which attend
sd their formation !!!"-Such are the just
and impressive terms in which an eminent
writer describes the grades Of intellect-tho
continued oscillations of the weak, and the
majestic movements of a great mind.
Tried by this test, how many minds would
sink to the ordinary scale of understanding,
How many questions are continually occur
ring to bring them to this test when the
case of OlmStead occurred in Pennsylvania,
it might have been predicted that even some
minds of very powerful capacities, would
be thrown from thcir centcr-upon the most
ridiculous & dangerous extremes.-Circuin-
stances have exactly confirmed this antici-
patton.
BY some, the state sovcreignues are regar
ded almost as eOciy Ming-by others the
federal government is eudued with almost
all the my sterious virtues of Aaron's rod ,as
almost entitled to swallow up the rights and
sovereignty of the states. With the one
party, the sf0feS are represented as the OBJ
lects of Jealousy and envy--while the other
A even ready to abandon the rights of the
thon.
The Philadelphia democratic Press
seems To regret that the egislature of Penn
sylvania, instead of passing their late effete
law for the appropriation of 18,OO0S, did
not at once invest their state judges With au-
thority to issue writs of habcas corf,us to Ii
berate such, as might be subjected to prose-
3cution for a resistance to the federal pro-
ces3.
A writer in the " Aurora under the sig
nature of Lucian, has flown to the other ex-
treme.'-tle seriously enquiries whether &c the
state sovereigntics, like the ancient baronies,
are not dangerous nurseries of DETECTION and
hostility to the national government ?" and
proposes an - amendment" to the constitu-
tien, that " the members of any state legis-
iature declaring officially law of the United
States unconstitutional, and author;sing OPP
position TO it, shall be guilty of High Treason
IN levyins war against the u. States.' &c.
F" Every decision affecting the interest of a
state shall be entitled to an ahhcQl from The
supreme court to the III. of r who shall con-
Se'tute court of appeals questions aris-
ing under laws alledged to be unconstituti
ohal Provided that the house which shall
Try the question shall not be the same which
passed the law"
ihe appointment of tribunal for the de-
cision OF clashing Jurisdictions and laws al
iedged to be Unconstitutional, might in some
Gases be beneficial. The federal courts alrea
dy possess sufficient powers8sit may be DANCE
rous to enlarge these by giving the federal
ccnrts such a scope of influence as must re-
suit from the adjudication of agitated con-
sutntional questions.
As the constitution Do7v stands, the truth
seems to lie in just and guarded medium
between the extremes advocated by the De-
inocTatic Press and Lucian. The state Lee
siSiatures should not possess the power to
arrest federal process by state writs Of Ha-
Deus Corpus. On the other hand, the sovc-
reiguey OF the states should be guarded with
the most Cautious circumspection. The true
doctrine Is this: Let the decisions of the Fee
raj Courts be pa-amount-but as a pledge
sEat these decisions should not entrench up
on the sovereignty Of the states or the pro-
VISIONS OF the constitution, let the judges be
made more responsible-in all impeach-
Insnts, let tho decision be made by mao-
Flsy instead of 2 5rds of the Senate-at all G.
vents, let the phrase " high crimes & mis-
demeanors" in the constitution, be so amen
died. as that the judges may be impeached
Tor those vices and hereses, which Judge
Shase has softened down into "errors of o.
pinion.''