The mountain Democrat., 1863-04-04
rEE FOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT.
v..Iasse. sf Citi.sHs Rights.

The reckless and despOtic manner in
which the rights Of citizens Of loyal States
has been outraged by the Federal Admin
;stratiOn has aroused . spirit Of indigna-
tion throughout the whole North. .
To aay that this was . usurpation OF
uowUr. and q subverSiOn Of the supreme
law Of the land, would be simply to state
act that has impressed itself painfully
upon the mind Of every supporter OF the
Union end the Constitution. People. can
not we'll understand how it happens that
an Administration protesting to have the
maintainance OF the Constitution in view
should seek to maintain it by the over
throw or notification ofits most cherished
guarantees. It is generally conceded that
thoNs who derive their authority from
this grand charter Of American liberties,
and Who now pretend to be waging war
for it, very existence, should be careful to
ta,vSA the slightest infractiOn Of the least
of its provisions. And yet, under the
oretext Of preserving the Constitution,
the Administration has been undermining
the principles which give 1t all the vi.
tality it possesses.
New York has 6lready spoken out
against this assumption by the authOri-
ties at Washington Of arbitrary power;
New Jersey has already denounced It
a general movement, actnatcd by the
same feeling, is nov spreading. all over
the North Western States, and this provo
cation, with the general management Of
our National affairs, by the Administra-
ton, threatens the most serious conse-
quences to the integrity Of the Republic.
Il is useless to deny the fact that the dis
content of the people with the policy pur-
sued by the Chief Magistrate and his ad.
visers Is alarmingly on the increase and
the mutterings which occasionally reach
Us here give indications Of crisis that
NAV, ere many months, break down the
Government and throw the States upon
the unrestricted exercise Of their own
Judgment These arbitrary arrests are
the worst experiments that could be
tried upOO Q free people; they have
shown with what ease the supreme law Of
the land can be set aside; they have
taught the fatal lesson that even in q re.
public not only the popular will can be
suppressed, bat the very life-giving pow.
e. OF the nation can be suspended on the
tyFAnt's plea Of necessity.
How can it be expected, when the Of
ficeFs Of the law violate its provisions,
that the people will respect their com
mandsl II It is binding on the people,
it shsUld be equally SO upon those who
derive their authority therefrOm. We
know II has been urged, in justification
Of the course pursued by the Administra-
tion, that the extremity to which the
country was reduced rendered this sus-
pension Of its powers absolutely neces-
sary.
But let Us see to what conclusion
such . defence inevitably leads. In the
first place, the inference is that there
must be no dissent from the action Of the
Government; and in the next place, that
a. long as this necessity exists, there
must De no interference in any way with
the measures and plans devised to meet
that necessity. Therefore, there should
be no elections because the ballot box is
the medium through which the people
express their opinions on certain meas
ures of the Government Therefore,
the liberty Of the press should be sus
pended, if not used exclusively to sustain
the policy Of the Administration. There.
fore, liberty Of speech should not be tol.
Grated, lest it might be employed in crit
iciSing its acts.
This is precisely the way in which =
republic can be merged into despOtism.
Necessity, Il is said, knows no law; but
there never was . more absurd or fatal
maxim employed in justification Of des.
pOtic assumption Of power. How would
il do to spply such reasoning in the moral
world? How would it do to make the
principles that govern society in its
moral relations subordinate to the So
called imperative DEGREES Of necessity !:
Necessity itself can impose no commands
on the man whose conduct is governed
exclusively BY principle and not by the
miserable demorAlizing thing called cx-
pediency.-l Metropolitan Record.
ANOTHER DIsLOTAL SHEET.-ThO Sac
ramento Union publishes story that 4
number Of Union ladies'" Of Newport,
Kentucky, have peti,ioned the President
to suppress the Cincinnati Enquirer, and
adds:
The Cincinnati Enquirer is just such sheet
~ the AAFysville Express, Nspa Echo, MoUx-
VAM DEnOCaAT, or The Sacramento Republican.