Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1848-02-10

were crlmlnal IN themselves, ana nave been 80
treated and punished, so far as the State Gov
ernment in its discretion, thought proper:
3. Thirdly and lastly, say that there is no
evidence offered, nor has any distinct allega-
ton been made, that there was an actual gov
ernment established and put in operation to
displace the charter government. That is
evident enough. You find the whole embraced
in these two days, the third and fourth of May
The French Revolution was thought to be
somewhat rapid. That took three days. But
this work was accomplished in two. II is all
there, and what is it =! Why, they vote a
Treasurer and Secretary, and Mr.. DOR,
Governor and choose officers of the Supreme
Court. But did ever any man under that authori-
" attempt TO exercise particle Of official power!
Did any man ever bring about a suit Did
ever an officer make an arrest! Did any action
proceed from any member of the government,
or from any agent of it, to touch citizen of
Rhode Island in his safety or his property, so
as to make the party answerable upon an in
dictment or in a civil suit Never. 1t never
performed one single act of government-lt
never did thing in the world All Was
patriotism and all was paper Hnd with patriO-
tism and with paper, it went out on the 4th of
May, admitting itself to be, as all must regard
it, a contemplate sham!
] have now done with the principles involved
in this case.
In regard to the other case / have but few
words to say. And first | think il is to be
regretted that the court below sent up such a
list of points on which it was divided. | shall
not go through them, and shall leave it to the
court to say whether after they shall have dis
posed Of the first case, there is anything left.
! shall only draw attention to the subject of
martial law and in respect to that, instead OF
going back to martial law as it existed IN Eng
land at the time the charter of Rhode Island
was granted, shall merely observe that mar
tial law confers power of arrest, of summary
trial, DC and that when it has been proclaim
ed the land becomes camp, and the law of
the camp is the law of the land. Judge Story
defines martial law to be law of war "a resort
TO military authority in cases where the civil
law is not sufficient; and it confers summary
power,-not 10 be used arbitrarily or for the
qualification of personal feelings of hatred or
revenge, but for the preservation OF order and
of the public peace. The officer clothed with
# is 10 Judge of the degree of force that the
ne,e. .ssity of the case may demand and there
is no lin,it to this except such as is to be found
in the nature and character of the exigency.
I now take leave ofthis case That it is an
interesting incident in the history of our insti-
tu,ions. freely ADMIT. That il has come hlth-
er. is subject of no regret to me. ! might
have said that see nothing to complain OF IN
the proceedings of what is called the Charter
Government of Rhode Island, except that 1t
might have discreetly taken measures al an
earlier period for revising the CONSTITUTION ii
in that delay it erred, it was the err INTO
which prudent and cautious men would fall
As to the enormity of freehold suffrage, how
long is it since Virginia, the parent Of the
States gave up her freehold suffrage! How
long is il since nobody voted for Governor in
New York without freehold qualification -
There are now States in which no man can
vote for members of the upper branch of the
Legislature who does not own fifty acres Of land.
Every State requires more or less of "A property
qualification in its officers and electors and il
is for discreet Legislation to determine what its
amount shall be. Even the Dorr Constitution
had property qualification. According to its
provisions, for officers ofthe State, to be sure.
ANYBODY would vote but its authors remem-
bered that taxation and representation go to-
gether, and therefore they declared that no
man. in any town, should vote to lay a tax for
town purposes, who had not the means to pay
his portion. 1t said to him, you cannot vote
in the town of Providence, to levy tax for
repairing the streets of Providence but you
may vote for Governor and for thirteen repre-
scntatives from the town of Providence, and
send them to the Legislature, and there tax
the people of Rhode Island at their sovereign
will and pleasure.
believe that no harm can come of the Rhode
Island agitation in 1871, but rather good. 1t
will clear the political atmosphere from some
of It's noxious mists, and hope it will clear
mems minds from some uniounded notions and
deusions. hope it will bring them to look
at the regularity, the order with which we car
ry Oh what, if the word were not 50 much
abused, would call, our glorious representa-
tive system of popular government Its prin-
cples will stand the test of this crisis, as they
have stood the test and torture of others
They are exposed always, and they always
will be exposed to dangers. There are dan
gers from the extremes of too much and too
little popular liberty. This always will be the
case. The classical navigator had been told
that he must pass narrow and dangerous
" Dextrum scy liza laus, levum impcate Chary bdis,
Obsdei"---
Forewarned, he was alive to his danger, and
knew, by signs not doubtful, where he was
when he approached its scene
! "Et gemitum ingentem pelagi. pulsathque saxa,
Audimus longe, iractasque nd liitora voces;
] EXsultantque vada atque 9stu insceniur arena.
! .................. Nimirum hec lila Char, bdis :"
The long seeing sagacity OF our fathers ena-
bles us to know where we are when we hear
the voices of tumul,ary assemblies, and see the
turbulence Gre led by numbers meeting and
acting without the restraints of law, and has
most wisely provided constitutional means of
escape and security. The prudence of the
country, the sober wisdom of the people has
thus far enabled us to carry this Constitution,
and all our Constitutions, through the perlls
which have surrounded them, without running
on the rocks on either side. And ! trust that
it will continue, and that our children after us,
will exercise similar prudence and wisdom
and Justice, and that under the Divine blessing
they may continue to go on, with equal pros
perity, to the end of time
III A WESTERN AGRICULTURAL STORY OR
How TO CURE RAMS FROM BUTTING.-The
following story was told at an agriculture
meeting out West Those ofour farmer readers
who believe in the expediency of the plan, can
try it
A farmer having a vicious Ram, so much
oJJ;o,oJ q, tho practicc of buttinu az In render