Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1867-12-07
not Only 4 f.ll1re hnt a f,and

uiluSi Wv uoihliiIOn OI military masters II
calm ref "ciion shall satisfy majority of ycur
htnt able bodies that the acts referred 10 are
not on!y violation of national faith, but in
direct conflict with the Constitution, dare not
Permit myself to doubt that vnu will immediate e.
~ strike them from the statute book. 10 &c
molSiiae .hH unconstitutional character oi
these acts, | need d more tIan refer t. their
general provisions. 1t must be seen at once
that they ire authoriZ d 10 dictate what al'tra-
liors shall be made in the Constitutions of the
Seyeral,Statrs; to control elections Of Stale leg
isIature and tate Officers, members Cf CUngrc: s
and electors OF President and Vice President,
by arbitrarily declaring who shall vote, and who
sliall hc excluded from thai pIiTilc-G to dis
solve Siate legislatures, to prevent tam from
assembling; 10 dismiss judges and o her civil
iunciCnarits of the STATE, aid appoint o!htrs
without reference to state law; TO organize and
cp rate all polite Il machinery of the s'aIc-; to
regulate the whole administration Of their do
mestic and Local affairs according to the mere
will "f strange ami ire p ,nSibIe agcn's- sent
among IN IN for that purpose. These are pow
erS not gra;!tt TO the federal government, or TO
any one of its branches; not being gran ed We
violate cur trust by assuming them, as palpaDly
us we would by acting in the face oi poSllye
interdct, for the ConSiluti torblds us to do
whatever it docs not afticmaiycly authorize.
either Ivy cX.,rcss words or by clear Implication
The authority we desire to use does not come
to us through the Constitution. We can eXer-
else il only by uSurpati0r, and Esurpa:iOn is the
most dangerous of relilictl crimes BY that
crime enemies Of free government in ali ages
have worked out their designs agai st public
liberty nj private light. 1t le"ds directly and
immediately to the establishment nf al soute
rule, for undeicgaled power is ;lxays unlimited.
Tne unrcstrained acts of Congress in question
are not only Objectionable for their assumpti n
of nneranted powe-, Int many of their provi-
81 ms are in conflict with the direct prohibit N
Of the constitution. The constitution commands
That republican form of government shall be
ulrantped to all the States that no ptrsOn
shall me deprived of lIfr, liberty or property
withouT due rIcesS of law, arrested VI hnut
judicial warn n, punished without fir trial
beft.rc an inn ariial jury, that the privilege of
la1eas corpus shall not he denied IN time OF
pea e, ;.ni that NJ bll of fataind Il shall he pass
ed even against single individual; yet the sys-
TEN at measures established by these acts of
Congress does totally. subyert aud destroy the
form as well as the sub -tances of a repub lean
y vGrnmcnt in Tie ten ST; tcs 10 which they up-
ply. 1t binds them Lard and toot in ans lue
slavery. and Subjects them tn a strange and hos
t l. p w more unlini.e and more Xix TO be
a a1u>ed tian any other now known among civil
lz"d men 1t tramples down all those rights i'll
which the s,ence Of liberty consists, ard which
re- governm,-nT is always most careful to pro-
Tcct Ii d1nies habeas corpus and trial by jury
Personal free lOm. properly ana life, If assal Ell
Jy the pi slon, pref DICE Or incapaciiy of rulers,
have no security whatever. 1t has the effect OF
Il bill of attaindcr, bill OF pains and penalties,
not nn few individuals, but upon lac whole
mass, including millions, who inhabil the sui
j gated States and evun their unborn chillrrn
these wrongs bei. expressly forbidden. can
not be cuEsttu iunaIly inflicted upon amy par
tinn Of our people, ho matter how they may
have come within our jun dictinn. and no mat
ter whether they live il States or Territories or
Districts.
| have no desire 10 slye from the proper and
just con equtnceS If their gr.at c. i'm: those
Wh) eng rye in the reh, Lion against the G V
buf, IFS Il mode of punishment, The
maa urcS under con liberation are the mo un-
casUIaGle tilaI ecu he invented Miny oi
the &c people arc perfectly innocent; many kept
their fidelity To the Union untaintcd 10 the last,
ii. Il many inc .paJle- OF any legal nlle.s,.
A large portion even of the persons al j. to bcal
arms were forced i;to the rebellion against theiI
" IL and Of those who are guilty with their own
comscn', the degrees of guilt are as various as
lie sh-des Of tn il haractcr and temper. But
thc acts of Congress coniOun;l them all to-
scther in o.e common doom. Ind. crmna
vengeance upon Glasses, stcts and p rites, or
upon whole communities for otfenscs commit
led by portion Of hem against the govern
ments TO w!i.h they oTcd .o5"dicn e, wds com
mon in the harbarou' ages of the world, Gn'
and ciyi!iZt,iln have made such
progress thai recourse to Il punishment 50 cruel
lrd unjust would meet with the condemnation
jt all IN TGiudicll aid right minded men. Tne
primitive jus ice Uf this age, and especially OF
This county, does not consist in stripping Nhoc
States ot their iiDcrie~, and reducing Ill their
people. n;'iogt disti@cti2n, 10 thc "s,,;iti"n Of
Il Il Il, IL Il
ii cln::i4cs is2tf 10 tie f r..s # law, ard Tin
licaics it own purity by an impartial ezamii a
ion OF every casr. THIS d 3es not D. isty Ill our
lesires with regard to tie Southern rebeIs, Let
Is cons' le ourselves by rejecting that a fret
Triumphant in war and unbruken
n peace is worth far more TO us ard our child
'ca than the Qualification of any present feeling.
know il is assumed that this system of gov
'lnmPnt for the Southern States is not to be
1t is true this military government
: to be only provisional, but it is through this
emnorary cNl! that Il greater evil is TO ne made
perpetual. If the guarantees of the COnSIitu-
ion Can be broken Professionally tn secur tenn
'orary purpose, and in a part only of the cOun
ry we can dcstroy them everywhere, and for
Ill time. Arbitrary Il. ensures often charge, but
hey change for the wolsg. ii is the curse oi
lc>polism hat il has no halting place The in
eTniiltrd exercise of its power brings no sense
II security to lis subjects, for they can never
Know What more they Will be called 10 endure |
when is rcd right hand is armed to plague them /!
giin, nor is il possible 10 conjecture how. or
Why power unrestraimed by law may SEEK its |
eXt viclin S. States that ae still free may be !
lsllyed al any moment, for ii the Constitution !
nes nOi protect all, it protects none il is negro
uffraCe denounced.
Ii is manifesly and ayowt dly the object of |
hcse laws to confer upon negroes the pfiyiIrge !
4 voting, and to di>iraEcbi>C such number of !
White cuizers rs will give the former clear
Majority at Ill elections in the Southern States
his, 10 the minds of some persons, is SO impor-
ant Il at The violation of the Constitution is JUS
fed as means of bringing it about Morally |
nat always fake, which excuses n wrong be-
auSe it proposes to accomri Ii desirable end.
We are not permitted 10 do evil, that good may
ONE, but il this case the end itself is evil as
eli as the means. The suljugatOn of the
tates 10 negro domination would be worse than
liiitary despotism under which they are now
altering. 1t was believed beforehand that the
cope would endure any amount Of military
ppression for any length of time rather than
agrade themselves by Subsection to the negro
ICE. Therefore they bave been left without
lnicl negro suff aye was established hy act !:
Congress, and military officers were com
anded to superintend the process of clothing
lie negro race with the political privileges to
jyern white mcn. The blacks in the South
e entitled to be we'll and humanely governed
I'd to have The protection ofjnst laws, for all 5
cir rights of person and property. Ii it were /
acticable at this time to give them govern t
ent exclusively their own, under which they {