Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-03-23

N
The decision of the Supreme Court oi
the United States has swept these out Of
existence. II used in Tennessee to de-
nriye any man of the right of voting,
1 it is an outrage which he has the right
70 resist. He is entitled to his action
AGAINST any officer refusing to register
him or permit him to vote unless he will
take such oath. They have found this
out, at last, in Mrssoqfi.
The ST. Louis Repu5lieGn says
+ It's only those so blind they will not
see. who eGntsnd that the recent qeci-
siol of the United States supreme court
in regard to the Missouri test oath does not
cover the whole Of the third section of
our beautiful state constitution. Learned
iqdqes and able lawyers all over the
country eonstrue the decision 10 embrace
the entire oath, for there is no law, ar
lument or reason 10 respect TO The
illegality of the preachers or attorneys
oath which does not equally apply to
tRe oath Of voters, jurors, etc. The oath
In the third section OF the new eonstitUr
tion, except in regard to future acts is q
eomplete and utter nullIty from begin
ming to end. and has no more binding
effect upon the conscience than If it
we're an unmeaning jumble of words in
the Chinese OF ChOoCaW language,
Mr.. w. NJ. BoulwaTe, prosecuting at
torney for the Marion judicial circuit, a
radical in politics, but a good lawyer and
a conscientious officer, has written the
following letter, which We and published
in 3 Palmyra paper:
PAlEr#4, March 4, 1867.
C. c. Ricketts, Esq MeIica:
Nm Fsfend-YOurs or Tn o Ist inStt containing
letter from Bro. Shores, has been received IL
Is not al all necessary tor persons n5lsisu ieF
rnisteneanors under constitutional dlsquaiiti-
cations fsuch as preaching, teaching, etc. With-
out taking oath OF loyalty 70 De present IA
persou i'm order TO the disposal OF their cases.
I'm my v ew the whole third section Is swept
away by decisions OF the supreme court. ana l
expect 10 di-Il:ss all cases based upon il, in
cludlpg those for perjury in false taking lt as
voters In the latter case, IL .nelug Felony, ]
shall require the pefsoal 5f w pEts
At the September term Of the Pike
circuit court, in 1865, about dozen per-
aons were indicted for perjury, committed
in taking the "ironclad oath on voting
on the adoption or rejection OF the new
constitution, on the 9th Of June pre-
ceding. Some days ago, we noticed that
all these indictments had been dismissed
without trial, at the term Of the court
which commenced on the 4th instant.
This was one shot, and q telling one, at
Mr.. brakes ironclad, because 1t was an
evident recognition OF the legal fact that
the oath is null and void, ss well in re-
spect to voters, as to preachers, attorneys
and others.
but this IS net all. We learn from the
Louisiana .ldUTuds Of saturday last tnal
there were a number of indictments
pending against persons for taking the
oath in order to register as voters. These
cases the journal says, were all passed
over Informally, 10 bsiRg The understand
ina CiM judge and attorney, that no fur
hher action l6oUld be had " in reference to
them.
So it goes. The oath is a dead letter
in the courts OF ono of Gov. Fletcher 9
latest appointees, WIS is also one of
the ablest lawyers on the bench In Mis-
souri,
In this connection we may say that a
gentleman of Marion county informs us
that Judge Harrison, at the recent term
of his court at Palmyra, distinctly stated
that he would not exact the oath from
Jurors, and gave it to beunderstood that,
i'm so far as he was concerned ii would
be treated as q nullity,