Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1867-01-30
THE SUPREME CURT,


zet:e, when the enemies of popular insti
tutions in this country first conspired to
overthrow the national government, and
establish on its ruins another and differ
ent one, having its roots in prescl ption
and caste, they obtained powerful and
persistent help from the Supreme Court.
Indeed, it may, without exaggeration, be
affirmed that the bench kept steadily in
advance Of the conspirators, finding pre-
ccdents and making decisions to cover
and for;liy every position they took in
the preparatory work q! demolition.-
This was the more easy, as neither the
Constitution nor an act of Congress made
itobligatory on the federal courts TO re
cognize and respect the Common Law, as
measure of personal rights. The Con-
stitution aud the statutes at large thcv
found no difficulty in constituting to suit
the main purpose they had in view As
the movement against the government,
still vague and indefinite, acquired mo-
mentum, new and Increasingly pernicious
claims were framed and make TIE founda
ton of still more obnoxious decisions un-
til the Court marched boldly up to the in
famous point of declaring that there we're
nearly four millions of men, women and
children living within the boundaries of
the republic none Of whose rights the
other portions of the population were
bound to respect. No exceptions or limi-
tations were made to this sweeping and
terrible disfranchisement. Under il as
saul. and battery, robbery, arson, rape,
manslaughter and murder were terms
without meaning, as applied to actions by
white people towards black ones. 1t was
virtually to tske all protection of law away
from four. millions Of people aad give
them up as victims to the cupidity, lust
and violence of the other twenty eight
millions. Gratefully 10 we acknowledge
and affirm that the masses of the white
people were not SO thoroughly debauched
and demonized as the judges The dicta
lnterjected into the Dred Scott decision
was SO abhorent 10 tie moral conscious
ness and religious sentiments of even the
most rutfianl J Of the conspirators or their
tools that it was fully reduced to practice
by probably single individual. The
most unmitigated villain in the nation was
better in practice than the Judges were
In theory.
Take this Dred Scot dic;a; analyze it
reduce it to its elements and it will be
found that it allows and sanctions all con.
ceiva5le and inconccivable crimes against
the members of the black race nay, that
actions performed BY whites toward blacks
SO abOminaEle that all but devils must re.
volt at them, are not crimes, but the laud-
able assertion Of undoubted rights and
privileges. Search all tie nraco9ian en-
actments and decisions that have disgraced
the most barbarous nations, in which the
dominion Of law has been decent,v est,h
lished, and no parallel 20 this epormi,v
can be discovered.
Recently, the Supreme Court recover.
ing from the shcck administered TO II hv
that mighty uprising which saved the ma
tion, has gone craftily at work to see how
many Of the fruits of the old and bafled
conspiracy it can save, and carry over to &
period when .be contest may be re-opened
either in the halls of national legislation
or upon tie battle field. This is the
meaning of that list OF predetermined
opinions upon which it has entered. Du-
ring the war The Judges did not dare to
afFront the loyalty Of the nation as they
are now studiously affrontipg it. They
did not then dare maintain that the priu.
elplcs and measures absolutely essential to
put down the rebellion and sa7e the gov.
ernment were unconstitutional and void
Had they Sc adjadgel they would have
been accounted as public enemies and
treated as such. There is, there can be
no question, but in time Of imminent peril
whatever Is necessary for thspublic safety
is lawful aud tight. Upon no other by,
pothesis can nation be rescued when it,