The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-01-29
EST TON.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 90, 1868.
To the Rescue!

| Ile ReDuDllCdu plCoo SAo-SNo
Renublican leaders. Financial distress has
Mt last made the North suspicious of party
Innovations. Not less hostile to liberty
than was Mr.. SEwARD's talisman, "the
little bell" to which the olank3ng chains OF
so many Bastiles responded, are to-day the
sounding brass and tinkling cymbals OF
Congress. Now it has become apparent
that the measures that oppressed portion
of the country, injured all. The cruel cur,
few that quenched the light of hope ana
pride. the household fires of conquered
millions, was ringing the funeral kneil Oh
their conquerors too.
We are now appreciating the wisdom OF
those statesmen, who, like JOHN ADAMS,
nrenared themselves for the framing Of
new government by careful study of all
the political systems of antiquity; who so
clearly foresaw that the great danger IN o
republic was that the executive power
seven with q negative" to quote Mr..
ADAMS strong language, "would not be
able to defend itself, but would be
soon invaded, undermined, attacked, or,
in some way or other, totally ruined and
annihilated by the legislative. We now
see, more clearly than ever. that there must
be checks in government-ths Judiciary
the Executive, the Legislature-each haV-
ing it's own sphere, aud all exercising an
equal and coordinate power; that there
must be checks in the legislative or
aggressive power, by its permanent d'vi-
sion into two houses, of which the one
shall represent the people, the other the
States; and, finally, that these must be
check upon the national government itself
in the maintenance Of the equal Senatorial
renresentation and the reserved rights Of
the States. AS Mr.. ADAMS says, in refer
ring to the old Confederation, "the States in
their separate capacities are the checks"
Such is also their prerogati7e under the
constitution. They are even tae guarantees
of all other checks, and when once their
legitimate sovereignty is repudiated, all
other checks will be swept away. Such is
the lesson which Congress is now teaching
the American people. Flushed by it's con-
quest of States, it is now usurping the
power of every other department of the
government.
There is, therefore, no safety for us un-
less the primary check is restored. There
is no escape from despotism ii the local ad-
ministration shall be surrendered to the
single central power which has seized upon
it, an. now conducts it by force of arms.
In asserting its pretensions to bo the
guardian of social order Congress has dis
organized society. In wrestling the local
sovereignty from the people to whom it con-
stitutionally belongs, it created the ne
cessity for the appointment of proconsuls
and the maintenance of standing armies
In suspending the functions of the Ameri-
can citizen, it has impaired the value
and abased the dignity Of that once hon
ored name. The time has come when the
perversion of republicanism can no longer
be regarded with Indifference; for it mani
festly involves ruin to every section and to
every interest of this broad land.
Among us, the effects o. this congress
sional interference are terrible. We see
society in disorder. We SEQ moral charac-
ter deprecated. We see industry destroyed,
and that not as in other regions, by oppres-
siye taxes only, but by political strikes and
caste favoritism, and even connivance at
crime. Conscience is commonly perjured
in oaths of Office. Such oaths are taken as
forms without moral obligation. Public
spirit is extinguished. Public opinion i'm
poses no restraints. The best interests of
society are committed to incompetent or
dishonest and perjured mer With few e1-
ceptions there is no moral principle in pub
lie stations-not ballast of fcharacter enough
to steady village canoe, much less the ship
of State. If the rogues Of the country
l Wer0 ulNluCQ 1AIO e0hA PoA''t ~ ~ SSoASSAy
an exaggeration to say that nine of them
would consist of officials. We may at any
time see onvention-once the most august
of American assemblies-adjourn to COM
nit murder, and reassemble to vindicate the
deed. When the usher's rod appears we
look for the bayonet When the mild Soon
servative' has gained his end, and can
speak his mind with impunity, we expect
to hear the threats and oaths of the swash-
buckler The legislator Woos Liberty with
impassioned accents and outstretched hands,
and then strikes at her with clenched fists.
The speaker inaugurates order with the
gayel and disorder with the horse-whip.
The time is ripe for change! The con-
stitution must be restored, for anarchy and
ruin are upon US. Powerless ourselves, we
call upon our allied Commonwealth to re-
deem the republic and to save its liberties
from destruction.