The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1868-10-07

thence has ceased to be a virtue any
longer, and we will hereafter speak OF
such occurrences as they deserve and
will not wen spare the names of the
dirty things who engage in such raides
We do not presume that the best por.
ton of the republican party endorse
and encourage such indecent demon.
STATIONS. If such things do not meet
their approval, it will be well hereaf
ter for them to use their influence
against their repetition.
Has tho Fourteenth Amend
ment been AdOpted?-thp
Opinion of an able JurIsI.
An eminent lawyer CT Ohio was at
Washington during the impeachment
trial, and his opinion was asked az TO
the probable course of Fessenden,
Grimes and Trumbull. "They will vote
no." sand he, Why he thought so was
then asked. He replied, "Because
they can't vote for conviction and look
the bar of the world in the face after
it." He counted on the pride of pro
f%ession that he knew every great LAWYER
chcrishes as the apple of his eye. He
knew those Senators cherished that
feeling, and would not prove false to it,
while acting in a judicial caLaei y as
members of a Court of Impeachne nt
That pride of profession in lawyers has
given to the world some Of the fines'
proofs of moral heroism ever witnessed,
1t hes withstood fierce popular clamor,
ostracism, the frowns of authority. the
rack, the dungeon, and the trrroIs OF
death. And it has always been con
spicous when the public safety needed
a shield against arbitrary power. Con
s'i;utional liberty owes a great debt to
the members of the legal profession
We are glad to witness evidences, over
The whole country. of an awakening oil
the profession 10 their duty in The pres
ent danger of overthrow. to which the
Constitution of The United States
is subjected by partisan fear and
fury.
We present below a paper which the
crisis has produced from the pen Ct an
, minent lawyer, Ex-Judee Curtis, Of
The Supreme Court cf the Unircd
States. Dir. Curtis was one of the Jus
ricos of that Court at the time Of the
rendition of its decision in the Dred
Scot case, and gave a dissenting opinioD
The great ID lily Of which placed him
among the fo' ennst ~jurisfs of the cou
Try His views 10 re alton to the fnur
eenth amendment Of the Constitution
Of the United Suites will be T ad with
attention, not only by members of the
profession, but by every Intelligent
thinking and patriotic citizen. Mr.
Curtis communicates his article to the
New fvik HorLd. and commences i,
with a reference 70 the action of the
Secret ~ Of State Of the United States
in reference to the said fourteenth
after which he proceeds TO
say:
"When the trainers Of the Cons,iiu
ton provided for lis amendment Ivy TIE |
Legislatures of three. fonrths of The
States, they carefully avoided every
OF coercion in the process o!
reaching the requisite three-fourrhs.-
They thought it enough to make a pro
posed amendment binding on all tn
States after it had been adopted by
three fourths of the States. In the
process ofsecuring its adoption, they
left every State perfectly free to ratifv
or to reject. They provided no mode
by which a Legislature could be pack
81, under the direction or by the in
Of the Congress that had pro
posed an amendment and they added
his power Of proposing amendments
no power OF dictating that a State
should gain or lose any thing in the way
IF its Federal privileges by accrding 70
he wishes OF the Congress in respect
the amendment. 1t would seem,
therefore,, to be a sound general PRO
that when the ratification by a
State has been procured by Congress
onal erection Of a Legislature special
= constructed TO bring about the aGop-
ion of an amendment of the Federal
and when the State has
,een told that until it ratifes that
mendmeDt it shall not be represented
n Congress, a species of force has been
Issd, in fraud of the freedom Of the
state and Of the rights of Other States. I
nd the proceeding can not be valid !,
f this proposition were not true, what
5 to prevent Congress, having the I
over of proposing amendments. from /,
up in any State a new Lrgis.a ,,
ure specially constructed to carry an !.
or from saying to any ex- -,
Legislature that it must adopt {
he amendment or retire from the :
Nothing but a pretext for 're- /
rnsrructing' the State would be need i
nj, and if recent precedents are TO gov .
rn, such pratexts could be easily G
,und. FL
THE process by which these newly :
onstiruted bndies.' as Mr Seward calls {
have become Legislatures of thef 5
everal Southern States, has brent
a forcible interference by Con =
ress, for the pur pose of packing a p
that would ratiiy a certain u
roposed amendment Of the Constitu Ii
on Of tie United States. In support S
I this assertion. let it be remembered {
rat the Fourteenth Amendment was h
roposed by Congress in June, 1856 IA
months before the passage of the p
rst reconstruction act. Before the p
nd of Febcuary, 1867, it was rejected C
y the Legislatures Of all six Southern u
rates whose notifications are now claim t
! for it and as only twenty Of the re a
States had ratified it, ard pub r.
q