The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-10-09

situations, of any other State or Territory, or if
any person or persons, with intent, as aforesaid,
I shall counsel, advise, or attemptto procure any
! riot, invasion, unlawful assembly, or combina-
ton, whether such conspiracy, threatening,
counsel, advice, or attempt, shall have the pro-
posed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed
! guilty ola high misdemeanor and upon con-
viction before any Court of the United States,
having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished
bya fine not exceeding e. dollars, or by inn
prisonment, during a term not less than -
years, nor exceeding -years and further,
at the discretion of the Court may be holden to
find security for his good behavior, in such
sum, and for such time as the Court may di-
rect"
This section would cover the conspiracies and
combinations themselves. But Douglas says
that such reasonable things will be repeated
as long as the causes from which they spring
remain in active operation. He, therefore,
wants to crush out the causes which may be
done by section second
SEC. 2 And be it further enacted, That if
any person, inhabtant of any one State or Ter
rltory, shall write, print utter, or publish, or
shall cause or procure to be written, prented ut
tered, or published, or shall knowingly or will
ingly authorize or aid in writing, printing, ut
tering, or publishing any scandalous or mali
| cious writing or writings against the Govern
ment, lnha btants, laws or institutions of other
States or Territories, with intent to defame the
SAID Government, inhabitants, laws, or institu-
! tons, or to excite against them the good people
of any of the States, or to excite any unlawful
combinations by invading, assaiing, or modest.
ing the Government, inhabitants, property, or
institutions of other Srates or Territories, being
thereof convicted before any Court of the Uni
ted States having jurisdiction thereof, he shall
I be punished by fine not exceeding - dol
lars, and by imprisonment not exceeding -
years"
Every candid person will at once admit that
| these two sections, as | have drawn them, con-
tain nothing-not single point not ii single
expression, that is not directly and expressly
suggested by Mr.. Douglass resolution and
speech. 1t SO happens that law like this is
not without precedent in the history of this Re
public. 1t is not quite unknown to our own
Statute Book, for the two sections | laid before
you are embodied with scrupulous accuracy
Mr.. Douglas propositions are the literal com of
lie notorious Sed'tion Law of 1898 ] only put
in g Governments, inha bitants, property, or in
stitutions of other States and Territories" in
stead of g Government of the United States or
! either House Of Congress" The rest is exact
" alike no, let me not SANDER the Sedition
Law. The terms of imprisonment prescribed
! by the Sedltlon Law are moderate, not exceed
ing two and hive years respectively, while Mr.
Douglas insists upon his victims dragging out
in their prison cells their miserable lives,' of
which ten years would evidently not be suffi
cient. Then this Sedition Law was enacted
only for very limited period, after which it was
to expire, while Mr.. Douglas intends the Con
spracy Act to be permanent institution of the
! country. These two features make the Sedl-
ton Law cminently liberal in comparison with
Douglass Conspiracy bill.
There may be some old man among us who |
remembers the time when the Sediton law was !
enacted-hc will tell you that the same act
which was intended to prevent instruction led
people upon the very brink of an instruction
lie will tell you that patriots, Mortified at that
time for the liberties of the people, thought of
the necessity of IA second revolution. The cX-
citement of those days has left its monument in
the history of this country-that monument is /
the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, drawn
by Jefferson and Madison. These resolutions
were the loud cutlery OF patriotic hearts against
the first fragrant attempt at the Capitalization of
Governmental power. The Democratic party
has Endorsed them again. 1t claims jefferson
as its father. What would Jefferson, the author
of the Kentucky resolution, say of his degen-
crate offspring who have nominated man for
the Presidency who attempts TO repeat the most
tyrannlcal and outrageous act of The Fedcraists
in the same outrageous form Would he not
tell them that they must be mistaken in their
ancestry
Let show the consequence of the measure,
and you will understand why its forerunner
created such serious alarm and apprehension I
So far our political parties have been fighting
with arguments The yictors obtained possess /
ion of the constitutional power and admins /
tered the Government, buthad no power to yio .
late the rights and liberties Of those that were
defeated However the contest of parties may
have ended. the peace of the country was new
er materially disturbed, for, the vanquished knew
that their individual security was not impaired /
Such was the uniform result of the fight with !
arguments. But let the political parties once
begin to fight with indictments-put into their
hands the two-edged weapon of persecution
and whatever delusion you may indulge in, the
liberties Of the people will be no more secure in
America than they are in Austria and Naples
CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.