Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-07-03
PROTEST.
Of the Democratic Members of Congress
Against the Admission. OF the Arkansa s
Members.


Against the Admission OF the Arkansas
| Members.
Mr.. Brooks Dem. J. Of New York, in be-
half of the Democrats of the House, Pre-
scented the following protest against the
admission Of the so-calied members of
Congress from the State Of Arkansas:
The recognized presence Of three per-
sons on the floor Of this House from the
State Of Arkansas, sent here by military
iorce acting under brigadier general of
he army, but nevertheless claiming to be
members If this Congress, aud to share
with Us, the Keprese natives from free
States III the irl position Of taxes and Gus
'oms and other laws upon our people,
makes 1t our imperative duty III this, the
nrat ease, to remOnslrute most Soiemnly,
AID to protest SolemnlV, against this
perilous aud destructive innovation upou
the DrlnciQi- and practice of our hitherto
| constitutional seif-Cuvernmrnt. The So
, called reconstruction acts which created the
military eovcrunt ant IN ARKANSAS, and like
governments in other SUH'heru States to
sn ire with us III tne Legislative power Of
the Northern and Western free people, We
! have every reason o believe, have been
held to be uu constitutional by he Supreme
| Court of the Unit. q States, the public de-
ciaratlOn OF y Inch tart was ,vo'dtd only
| by the extraordinary Hn,i Strange device Of
tbs Congress- IN Snat>hlug JurIs fiction
! from the court in tie NlcArdlU case when
S ich public decision was about to be
made OF ;he three great branches of the
| government, 1t seems, then, that after the
Executive vetoed these acts H. uncUnstitu-
uonal, the Judiciary adjudicated them to
! be so, while Il Con1reS3-tle creation OF
bnt twenty seven OF the Thirty seven States
| Of the UnlOn-OverrIue these equal and
coordinate branches Of that government,
first, by voting down the vetOts next, by
nulhfS Ing the judgment of the court. liz
all era # Profound peace, when not an
armed man rises adjust tie government,
from the Potomac tothe Rio GIaudc, there,
| in ten States, our American historical way
OF creating the organic law has been utterly
subverted by the Oayonet. Ever since the
! Declaration of Independence, with scarcely
All exception, and even amid the battles OF
! the Rev.lutlOn, cunveI tons have been
! convokei through ard constitutions crea-
It'd by the electors OF the States the
only Authorized repositories Of the save-
reign power of every State, without exterior
dctatlon, as under the existing Federal
Cons itu ion, the ha d and harshest test
oath required from I776 t. the peace of
1893 was an abinration oath OF allegiance
to George the Third while some OF the
now so-cailed bayOuet made constitutions
from III" Sonth propose absurd and cruel
tt sts-absurd, rs III Arkansas where is in
ter" oven IN the organic law mere party
test between the Radical reconstructionists
and ji,&- - nlOcr;.tlc Conservatives, such as
would exc u from ting. if living there,
the thousands and tens OF thousands and
| hundreds Of thousands of Democrats in the
| free SidteS, (artlcle eight, section 4 J or
cruel, as IL Ala bama, where 10 white man
cun vote who will not forever forswear his
own race and color, and periure himself by
swearing, In defeuce of the law OF God,
thaf the negro is his equal, and forever to
! be his eQ ,al at the baI!ot-box in the jury
box, with the cartouch box, in the school,
IN the college, i'll house and home, and by
the Gteside; IN short, in every way, every
where. (Art. 7, sec. 4. Now, IN these
and the other Southern States in tie midst
of war, President Lincoln, in his proclaim
ton, December s, 1868, offered amnesty
and pardon TO rebels then III arms if they
would lay down their arms and take an oath
Oh fidelity while now, not a union man
! III Arkansas or Alabama can vote, unless,
III the hIst place, he swears allegiance to
the maj esty OF this Congress, and, IN the
next, swears off Lis Amencanism and Afri-
can yes himself. Hitherto constitutions
with Us have been the outgrowth of popu
lar life, springing from the exuberance of
our ent; rprise and energy i'll the settle
ment OF the forests or prairlGS OF our com
try but here before us EOW we have nine
constitutions, with one, if not three, more
yet to cine from Texas, which have ali
been imposed upon the people by five mill
tary satraps, or penta'chs, III q manner
never before known under our law, but
borrowed, at best, from imperial Roman
cOlonlZttlOn. or from the worst precedeLts
Of the French Revolution. France Is theU
recorded 10 have had tive constitutions III
three years, SO frequently made and So
Frequently changed that they were
ironically cla>sed by the French PEG
pie with the periodical literature
of the day, Louisiana, a colOuy of France,
has had four constitutions in four years, |
aud a con>1iutioa there has low become
periodical literature, IS in FIauce in the |
agoules and thrues Of the great h vOlutiOn
Laws, mere statute laws, which can never
be created by constitutions, are appended. |
more or less, TO all constitutions; aud thaSt
bayonet-created one branch governments,
with no Executive. nO Senate, no House o.
representatives. no Judiciary, have or |
dained irrepeaIable, irreyGr,iOlc laws IL
the very organ cation Of the STATE, snch rs
cannot thus be created by the Executive, |
the Senate, and the House of Representa- |
tiVes OF legitimate governments, when |
acting in uulsnn and all combined. All |
this has been done without regard to pre-
ceding constitutions "r precedent, or to the
common law of the States, or the law OF
Nations. The military, Whiuh, under light
innate institutions, can only be used in
times of peace to conserve or preserve tn,
State, have here been us ed to destroy
States. The General Of the army, who
represents the swold, and only the sword,
of the Republic, has been uxal.ed by acts
of Cong ress above the constitutional Com
mander-ln-Chief OF the army and navy, III
order to execute those military DEGREES,
aid as a surer way to root oat every vest
ige of constitutional law Or liberty. The
sane Genera! OF the army, in order to pro-
long and peEpetuate this military domIua-
ton, n orth and West, as well as South,
has been selected in party convention at
Chicago to head the electoral vote for the
Presidency in ten of our States, which are
as much under his feet as Turkey is under
the Sultan, or Poland under the Gar of
Russia. But, as if only to add insult to the
in Jury of this military outrage upon the
popular government in these ten States,