Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-09-15


HWe commend the following declar-
ations of the man who wrote the original
draft of the Constitution of the United
States, to the servile democracy that now
hold that all human and all Constitutional
rights are subject 10 '.judicial decision Of
an irresponsible and partisan Federal Court.
Thomas Jefferson, in letter to John
Adams in 1904, wrote:
'.The opinion which gives to the Judges
the right to decide what laws are constitu-
tional and what are not, not only for them
selves in their own sphere of action, but
for the Legislative and Executive also, in
their spheres, would make the Judiciary a
despotic branch.
And again in letter from Mr.. Jefferson
to Mr.. Jarvis, Sept 2sth, 1920, he reiter-
ates this warning in still more impressive
language:
"You seem to consider the Judges as the
ultimate arbiters of all Constitutional ques-
tions, very dangerous doctrine, indeed,
and one which would place us under the
despotism of an oligarchy. = = + The
Constitution has created no such single
tribunal, knowing that 10 whatever hands
confded, with the &C rruptions of time and
party IT'S MEMBERS WOULD BE-
CONE DESPOTS."
Has not democracy strikingly fulfilled
this prcphesy? Is not the Supreme Court,
by this democratic doctrine that the consti-
tuition is nothing except by judicial inter-
probation, and all political legislation is
subject to a judicial decision, made des-
potism as absolute as that of Ashantee.
Democrats may say that it has not
abused this power, although they know
better; but they cannot deny that all their
safe guard of a written constitution and
of a government responsible to the people
are destroyed by their monstrous dogma
that all these are at the mercy of a judicial
decision.
We callthis democratic doctrine, because
this is about the only one on which
all the factions harmonic. 1t is not long
since the late democratic Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of Ohio, held in re-
peated cases that the State Courts had CO.
ordinate jurisdiction with the Federal
Courts on the constitutionalily of compress
sional legislation. Nor is it long since
the whole South openly defed the Su-
preme Court of the United State. But
the Dred Scott decision has changed all
that, and now the fre-eaters and fire-wor-
shipers,-popular sovereignty Douglas and
slaye-code jeff Davis, unite in exalting the
supremacy and sanctity of court that-has
shown its willingness to make slavery uni
versal.
Not one of them dare assert that the
people are not bound to submit 10 any sub
version of the constitution by judicial
decision, or any supremacy ii may exercise
over the legislative department; nor that
there is any relief for the people from these
despots for life. Thus the elimination of
our boasted republican institutions, of
government divided into distinct and indie
pendent departments, of Legislative and ex-
ecutive department responsible to the peo-
pie, and of plain written constitution to
define and protect their Inherent rights, is,
by the Intervention of this spawn of DEM
ocracy, arrived at in Council of Nine, ap-
pointed for life-which seems to acquire
most uncommon tenaeity from the atmos-
phere of the place-and with power
more despotic than that of the famous
Venitian Council of Ten; more despotic
than any monarchical despotism in the
world.
This is democracy in its highest devel-
opment. This is what has generated its
newborn zeal for our federal Judiciary. All
its popular fallacies are made for this end.
Its popular sovereignty swindle was espe-
cially contrived to develop Judicial abso-
lutlsm. If democracy is to prevail in this
government, republican institutions will be
bideous mockery. Any hereditary des-
potism would be relief; for there is none
that does not recognize, to some extent,
inherent rights in the people, except this
absolute monster of spurious democratic
growth-a s'judicial decision.n