Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1869-03-04

and contemplating before hearing or tIlll that
he should be placed in arrest, held In durance'
and when it became their pleasure to drive
him from place and power IN disgrace.
They have in time Of peace increased 'he
national debt by reckless expenditure OF the
public money, and thus added to the burdens
which already weigh upon the people ihey
have permitted tie nation to suffer the evils OF
deraugcd currency, to the enhancement IN
price of the necessarles OF lie. They have
maintained large standing army Tor the Gu
forcement OF their measures q! oppression. 49,,
They have engaged 10 class legl-atlon' ano
built up and encouraged monopolles, that the
few might be enriched at the expense OF the
many. They have failed to act upon lmpor.
tant treaties, thereby endangerlng our present
peaceful relations with foreign powers.
Their course Of usurpaton has not been
limited to inroads upon the executive depart
ment.
By unconstitutional and oppressive enact
ments, the people Of ten States OF the Union
have been reduced to condition more lntol,
cradle than that hom which the patriots OF
the Revolution rebelIed. Millions OF Amer
lean citizens can now say OF their oppreSsorS,
with more truth than our fathers did OF Brit
ish tyrants, that they have forbidden the
governors to pass laws OF Immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended until
their assent should be obtained; that they
have refused to pass other laws for the
accommodation of large districts OF people
unless those people would rehnqush the
right of representation 10 the Leglsature-a
right inestimable to them and formidable to
tyrauts only" that they have made Judges
dependent upon their will alone for the tenure
OF their offices and the amount and payment
of their salaries !" that they have erected
multitude Of new Offices, and sent hltheTT
swarms Of officers to harass our people, and
eat out their substance - that they have
affected to render the military inderend:
ent of and superior TO the civil power
combined with others to subject US to
jurisdiction iorci On to our Consiltu;;
ton and unacknowledged 10y our law,
chartered large bodies Of a'm,I Troops
among Us" protected lhrm by mock
trial from punishment for anv murders which
thew should commit % the inhabitants oil
thess States, imposed taxes upon us
w;thout our consent" taken away our
charters, excited domestic nsurrect!on
amongst W, abolished our most valuable
laws, altered fundamentally the forms oi
our Government suspended our own Legls,,
latures. and declared themselves invested
with power to egisiate for us in all eases what
soever."
This catalogue Of crimes, long as it Is,
il not vet complete. The Constitution vests
the judicial power OF the United States I'm
one Supreme Court" whose jurisdiction
"shall extend to all cases arising under tins
Constitution and 'the laws Of the United
States" Encouraged by this promise OF
refuge from tyranny, citizen OF the
United States who, by the order OF military
commander, given under the sanction OF a
cruel and deliberate edict OF Congress,
had been denied the constitutional rights oil
liberty OF conscience, freedom OF the press
and OF speech, personal freedom from mill
tory arrest, OF being held to answer tor
crime only upon presentment and indictment,
of trial by jury, OF the writ OF haDeas corpus,
and the protection OF civil and constitutional
government citizen, thus deeply Wronged,
appeals to the Supreme Court Tor the rrotec-
ton guaranteed to him by the organic law
OF the land At once u fierce and excited
majority, by the ruthless hand OF legislative
power, stripped the ermine from the judges,
transferred the sword oil justice TO the gen
eral. and remanded the oppressed citizen to
a degradation and bondage worse than death.
1t will also be recorded as one OF the mar
veis of the times that party claiming for
itself monopoly Of consistency and patriot,
ism, and Boosting too, OF It's unlimited
sway, endcavored, by costly and deliberate
trial, to impeach one who defended the Con
stitution and the Union not only throughout
the war of the rebellion, but during his
whole term OF office as Chief Magistrate ;
but at the same time could lind no warrant
or means at their command to bring to trial
even the chief OF the rebellion. Indeed, the
remar,:a able failures in his case we're so often
repeated, that for propriety's sake II Tor nc
other reason, it became a. last necessary 10
extend to him an unconditional pardon
What more plainly than this illustrates the
extremity of party management and lncon-
sstency on the one hand, and OF faction,
vindictiveness and intolerance on the other
Patriotism will hardly be encouraged when,
in such record, it sees that its instant re-
ward may be the most viruleDt party abuse
aud obloouy, if not attempted disgrace. In
stea 4 of seeking to make treason odiOus, {.
il would in truth seem to have been their
purpose rather to make the defence OF the
Constitution and the Union crime, and to
punish fidelity tc an oath OF office, ii couu er
to pai ty dctatlon, b. all the means at their COM
mand.
Happily for the peace Of the country, the
war has determined against the assumed power
of the States to withdraw at pleasure from the
Union. The institution of slavery also found its
destruction in 4 rebellion commenced in it,
interest. 1t should be borne in mind, however,
that e., war neither impaired nor destroyed
the constitution, but on the contrary preserved
its existence and made apparent its real power
and enduring strength. All the rights granted
to Il = States, or reserved to the people thereof,
remain therefore intact. Among those rights
is that of the people Of each State to declare
the qualifications OF their own State electors.
1t is now assumed that Congress can control
thi, vital right. which can never be taken
away from the States without imralrlng the
fundamental principles Of the Government IT.
self. 1t is necessary to the existence Of the
States, as we'll as to the protection OF the hb'
critics OF the people, for the right TO select the
elector in whom the political power Of a State
sh all be lodged involves the right OF the State
to govern itself When deprived OF this pre-
roCative the States will have no power worth
retaining. All will he gone, and they will be suit
iected to the arbitrary will OF Congress. The
Government will then he Centralized, il not by
the passage Of laws, then by the adoption
through partisan influence OF all amendment
directly in conflict with the original design oil