Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-03-09

CupEelns OUuTt VI tne OnlUeH lHut
Court affirmed the decision of the State Court
and thus defined the law to be, that United
States officers are amenablc to civil actions in
the State tribunals. The law now remains
as it was then expounded, and so it has al
ways stood since the establishment of the
Constitution itself 1t is wise and benefcent,
because it surrounds tho citizen with a
double safeguard against extortion. oppres-
sion, and every form of injustice committed
by tho authority or in the name of the great
Central Executive Power.
The second question is, What is the ma
ture and extent of the change which you pro-
pose to make by the bill which is under con-
sideration That question is answered in a
word. Whenever tho rights Of citizen are
invaded in any State within the Union, by a
| person holding commission. whether civil
| or military, from the President of the United
States. he shall henceforth have only single
safeguard, instead of that double panoply
which has hitherto shielded him, and he must
| either forego redress or seek it in n tribunal
of the United States, in which justice is ad-
ministered by Judges appointed by the Pre-
sident and tho Senate, and irremovablc, ex-
cept on impeachment by the House of Rep
resentativcs, and, therefore, responsible in
the least possible degree to that wholesome
public opinion which is the guardian Of
public liberty. Every postmaster and his
deputy, every marshal and his deputy, every
mail-contractor, every stage-driver, every
tide waiter, every lieutenant, every ensign,
and even every midshipman, will be indepen-
dent of State authority, and, when prosecu-
ted before Magistrate or Court, in the i'm
mediate vicnage where his offence is COM
mitted, will defy the party aggrieved, and
remove the action commenced against him
into a Federal tribunal, whose terms are
rarely held, and then in remote and practi-
cally inaccessible places. One-half of the
power residing in the States is thus to be
wrested from them at single blow, and they
will henceforth stand shattered monuments
of earlier greatness.
No such change as this was anticipated by
the trainers Of our Federal and State Consti-
tutions. They established the Federal Con-
stitution chiefly for the protection of the
whole country against foreign dangers. They
gave to it a stronger Executive than they
gave to the States, respectively. They estab-
lished the State Constitutions chiefly for the
protection and defence of personal rights.
| They knew that this Central Government
would grow stronger and stronger, and wou ID
ultimately become an imperial power. 1t
has realized that expectation, and has become
even Continental Power. Hitherto, the
citizen has enjoyed his double safeguard.
Why shall one-half of his panoply be now
|
per object of the Federal Government has
failed to be obtained by reason of the excr-
else Of jurisdiction by State authorities over
officers OF the United States, None. Why,
then, shall the ancient law and custom be
changed Is there danger that the citizen
will be too secure under the double protection
of tho State Courts and of the Federal Courts
That was not the doctrine of the earlier days,
and that is not sound doctrine now.
demand, in the third place, a reason for
this innovation. In reply you urge, first, a
precedent. Precedents, in every country,
are the stairway of tyrants. What is this
precedent, II is law which protects the
public Treasury, by withdrawing from the
State Courts certain actions against colec-
tors of the revenue. Who knows, now, with.
out moro examination than yon allow time
for us to make, on what ground, or under
what circumstances, or upon what exigency
that single departure from the ancient sys-
TEN was made, do not know that should
have been in favor of that departure. MOI
con ynu show that the innovation thus made
and which you now plead as a precedent
was necessary Wo aro alwayo wiser in our
judgments in retrospect than in anticipation
| can now see, when the precedent is pleaded
to justify further departure from the an
cient system, abundant reasons to regret tha
the precedent was ever established.
You tell me, in the next place. that there
is danger of Observation-Disclosures thai
the State Government will nuliifv the laws o
the Federal Government. This is always the
ready plea for Federal usurpation. 1t is tn,
same ground which the British Government
assumed towards British subjects in the
American Colonies, when it transported them
beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences
l proclaim in your ears here. and proclaim
before my countrymen, that there is nc
necessity and no shadow of necessity for thi
great and fearful change. From every
tribunal in any State of this Onion which
renders final Judgment that can affect the
rights of any public officer of the United
States, there is an appeal to the Supreme
Court of the United States, reserved to him
by the Constitution and laws of the United
States and that high tribunal can, merel
by its mandate, annul that Judgment, and dis
charge the party from all its consequences.
, This, and this alone, was the security which
your forefathers established to prevent tn,
evils and dangers Of insubordination by thu
State authorities. proclaim, further, tina
: when the Constitution of the United States
!, was submitted to the people in the severa
States, to be adopted by them, the chief OBJ
, lection which was urged against it, the obec
tion which was urged with the most zeal, tn,
most energy, and the most effect was, tha
into jeopardy by the extended power of the
Federal Judiciary. So strenuously was thi
objection urged, that the Constitution wa
not adopted until it was demonstrated, b,
. Hamilton, Jay, and Madison. in the FEEDER
alist, that the State jurisdiction, which yol
. are now about to strike down, was left t
. the States, and could never be wrested fror
: them without an act of Congress. which ther
t was no reason to presume would ever b
t passed.
Q Sir, this is an important transaction.
Q warn you that il is a transaction too impor
= tant to be suddenly projected, and carried ou
s with unusual and unscemly rapidity. 1t is
transaction that will be reviewed freely, bold
a ly, and through long years to come. Yo
If would have done well to have given us week
= or a day, or at least one hour, to prepare ouI
: selves with arguments to dissuade you fror
d your purpose and to stay your hands Suife
y me to say, with all Difference, that you woul
# have done we'll if you had allowed yourselye
a time to consider more deliberately the necc,
= sty for u measure so bold, and the consequer
Z ces which must follow il.
! repeat. Sir, that there is no necessity fo
10 this act. In every case which is intended
IS be reached by it, the mandate of the Suprem
le Court of the United States annuls the judl
n ment of the State Court which has mistake
j. its own powers, or encroached upon the Fec
g eral authority; and the State itself, with a
Of Its dignity and pride, falls humbledand aba
is ed at the foot OF central and imperial powe
sc habitually contemplate everything conne'
ID ted with the developement Of the resource
lc and with the extension and aggrandizemeI
a and glory of this my'country, with an enth'
n siasm which am sure do not always fir
es burning in the hearts of all with whom it
ly my duty TO act in her Councils But, Sir,