The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1868-01-03

States, negro equality, negro supremacy,
, and agrarien confscaticn. Is this the
promised Union, the eonsummation Of ali
our hopes? VAST this for which we strug-
gled SO long and sacrificed SO much Fur
which half million brave men laid down
Their lives2 For which SO many tears were
shed, SO many hearts broken, so many
homes made desolate No, sir, no ; it is
the evil scheme of Radicaism run mad
/ it is the dark, dcsoate plunge outside the
! Constitution it is usurpation ; it is law
lessness it is anarchy; it is revolution
olution against the Union, revolution
against the Constitution, revolution against
Republican government, revolution against
American liberty. Ten States, ten sover-
| eign States, have gone down before it;
their governments are all swept away. One
third of the Republic, twelve million peo
pie are without any civil government; their.
constitutions and laws are set aside Or trod-
den down by the heel of military power
their lives, liberties and property are in the
hands of despots.'
Concerning the "outsEde" measures of
which we hear so much now days, Mr..
ELDRIDGE says:
Sir, there are gentlemen in this Con-
gress who were never quite satisfied with
the Union or with the Constitution !; who
have always chafed and fretted under their
restraints. 1t is to avoid these restrictions
and limitations, to give unlimited indulg
cnce to the passions and excitements arous-
ed by the war, and an unrestricted field for
plumber and confscations, that power is
sought for Congress ''outslde the Constltu-
ton" But what is meant by governing
the States and people of this nation out
side the Constitution BY what warrant
By what authority? BY what law
Outside the Constitution y Where Is
''outside the Constitution What are its
boundaries, what it's limitations, what Its
height and depth. its length and breadth e
who governs, and who are the governed;
No department of this Government has
any power except in and by the Constitu-
ton neither the President, the Supreme
| Court, nor Congress. The Constitution Is
| the supreme law to all the members OF the
| National Union-the source of political au-
| thority, of all governmental power. 1t is
| the only source of power Outside of it
you have no President, no Judiciary, no
Congress, no Union, no Government, no
people to be governed Nor has The war
abrogated it or any of its provisions, or re-
leased any department or officer or citizen
from Obligations OF obedience to it, or ad-
ded whit to the powers or privileges it
confers. 1t may have been, it has been
ignored, disregarded, violated but it
stands to day as it did at the beginning
the sole warrant of Federal or national
power, with the full right and express pow
er to vindicate its offended majesty when
ever and wherever it has been disregarded
or cncroached upon. All and every officer
of the Government must act In It's name
and by its authority. 1t is their only war
rant Of power it is their only Shield and
protection. Let the President, the Jude
| larry or Congress go outside of it, exercise
a jurisdiction not granted, control over
! any citizen not conferred, or take from him
| life, liberty or property by any law not
| based upon or authorized by it, it IS crime
no less atrocious than murder or treason.
Outside the Constitution, there is no
| law, no justice, no protection, no safety.
All is confusion, anarchy, oppression, and
tyranny. You hear the 'ti1kle" of that
little bell, and the insolent boast that it
is more potent than the voice of kings and
queens. You hear the clank Of the doors
of forts. prisons, and basti!es as they are
swung to and fro By the cringing tools of
power to receive the victims waved in 81
lence to unpronounced and unknown doom.
You hear the drum beat summoning in
mockery the doomed to martial judgment,
and the click of the spring touched by the
bayonet that launches their souls into eter
nifty. You hear the voice Of arbitrary and
unrelenting power silencing the tongues Of
those who complain, tearing them from
country, from home, from wife, from chill
dren, and sending them irto exile. You
see the Judge on the bench confronted and
execution upon his judgements stayed by
the sword, the public press controlled or
destroyed, the sanctity of homo invaded,
the temples of religion closed, and the voice
of him appointed to administer its consola-
tons silenced. -
We do not touch the legal, historical
and constitutional argument of Mr.. Ell.
BRIDGE against confscation, able as that
is, because we could not take part with
out taking the whole Of it, and because We
prefer to give the spirit of his remarks as
an index to that Of the Northern Democrats.
The time will come, though it has not come
as yet, when the people Of Tennessee will
be called on to act with these Democrats,
When that time comes we hope we shall
have some votes to poll with them. Mean
while, however, it is well to keep our
selves posted, and as we regard Mr.. Ell
BRIDGE as the rising man of the party in
the West, we have referred to bis speech
at more than ordinary length. All that
he says is entitled to thoughtful and crate
full consideration.