Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-03-06

or the President OBJECTS OF constant al
tack.
They have wrested from the Presiden
his constitutional power Of the suprem
command OF the army and navy the,
have destroyed the strength OF the Ex
ecutive Department by making subordi
nate officers independent OF and able t
defy their Chief Magistrate; they hav'
attempted to place the President unde
the power Of q bold, defiant, and treaeh
erous Cabinet officer they have robbet
the Executive OF the prerOgstlve OF par
don; rendered null and void the acts o
clemency granted to thousands OF per
Sons under the provisions Of the Constr
tuition, and committed gross usurpationi
by legislative attempts to exercise thi
power in favor OF party adherentsi they
have cOnspired to change the system o
our Government by preferring charges
against the President in the form OF srtl
cles ofimpesehment, of and contemplating
before hearing or trial, that he should De
placed under arrest, held in durance
/ and, when it became their pleasure tC
/ pronounce his sentence, driven from
| place and power in di2grace /; they have
| in time of peace increased the national
debt by 3 reckless expenditure OF public
moneys and thus added to the burden
which already weigh upon the people
| they have permitted the nation to suffer
/ the evils Of a dersnged currency to the
| enhancement in price OF all the neeessa-
ries Of life; they have maintained lsTge
standing army for the enforcement OF
their measures Of oppression; they have
engaged in class legislation, built and
encouraged monOpolies, that the few
might be enriched at the expense Of the
mo thar- hur fafllh IN act n
portsnt treaties, endangering our peace
ful relations with foreign powers.
Their course of usurpstion has not
been limited to inroads upon the Exc
eutive Department by unconstitutional
aud oppressive ensctments. The people
of ten States of the Union have been
reduced to condition more intoleTable
than that from which the patriots OF the
II evolution rebelled.
Millions Of American citiZsns can now
say Of their oppressors with more truth
than their fathers did of British tyrants,
that they have forbidden the State
governments to pass laws Of Immediate
and pressing imp0rtancs 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 these people
would reliuquish their right Of repre-
sentstion ia the Legislature, a right
inestimable to them and formidable to
tyrsnts only. That they have made
judges dependent on their will alone for
the tenure Of offices and the amount and
payment Of claims.
That they have erected q multitude of
new offices and sent thither swsrns of
officers to hRrass our people and take cut
Q - -
ed to render the military independent OF
and superior to the civil power. Com
bined with others to subject US 70 ju-
risdictiOn foreign to our Constitution and
uuscknoWledgei by our laws. Quzr-
tered large bodies OF armed troops
among u5 and protected them by MOCK
trial from the punishment OF any muir
ders which they should commit on the
inhabitants, Imposed ta[es on Us with
out our consent, Deprived Us in msny
cases Of trial by jury. Taken away cur
charters; excited domestic iDsuTectiOn
among Us; abolished cur most valuable
laws; altered fundamentally the form OF
our government; suspended cur own
Legislatures. and declared themselves in
vested with power To lesisiate for Us IN
slI cases whatever. Tdi5 catalogue OF
crime, long as it is, 10 not complete.
Toe Constitution vests Judicial power
in one Supreme Court, whose juris-
diction shall extend to all Cases
arising under tia Constitution aad
the laws of the United States. Encour-
aged by this promise, refugee from tyr
amy, citizen Of the United States also,
bv order OF military commander, given
Under sansuen oi = cruel ana deliberate
edict Il Congress, had been denied the
constitutional rights Of liberty of con-
scisnea and freedom Of the press and OF
speech, personal freedom frOta military
arrest, Of being held to sasWeT for crime
only upon presentmen of an indictment,
Of trial bv Jury, OF the writ of habeas cor
pus and Che protection or civil ana con-
stitutiOnal government. A citizen thus
deeply wrOnged appeals to the Supreme
Court for the protection guaranteed him
by the organic law of the land. At once
u fierce and excited msjo'i Y, by the
ruthless hand of legislative power,
stripped the ermine from the } Judges,
transferred the sword of justice to the
General, and Femanded the oppressed
citizen to s degradation and bondage
worse than death.
II will also be recorded as one OF the
msrvels Of the times that party claim
and patriotism, and boasting OF its un-
limited sway, endeRvored by a costly
and deliberate trial to impeaeh one who
detsnded the Constitution aud Union,
not only throughout the war of the re-
bellion, but during the whole term of
office as Chief Magistrate, but at the
same time could find NO warrant or
means at their command to bring to trial
even the chief of the rebellion. Indeed,
the remarkable failures in the case were
SO often repeated that for propriety's
sake, if fog no other reason, it became at
last necessary to extend to him an un-
conditional pardon,
What more plainly than this illustrates
the eXtTemities of party management
and Inconsistencies on the one hand, and
of faction, vindictiveness, and intoler-
ance on the other. Patriotism will hard
ly be encouraged when in such record
it sees that it's instant reward msy be the
most virulent party abuse ana oblCquy,
if not disgrace. Instead of seeking to
make treason Qdio9s, it would in truth
seem to have been their purpose rather
to make the defense of the Constitution
and Union q crime, and TO punish fidel-
ity to an oath OF office. Happily for the
peace Of the eountry, the war has deter
mined against the assumed power of
States to withdraw st pleasure from the
Union.
The inetitut,on Of slavery also found
its DESTRUCTION in rebellion commenced
in its interests. It should be borne in
mind, however, that the war neither i'm.
paired nor destroyed the Constitution,
but on the contrary preserved its
existence ana made apparent its great
power and enduring strength. All the
rights granted TO the States or reserved
to the people are therefore Intact. AhOng
those rights is that Of the people of each
State to DECLARE the qualification of their
own State electors. It is now ASSUMED
that Congress can con troll this vital right
which can never be taken away from the
States without impairing the fundament-
al principle OF the Government itself.
1t is nece ssary to the existence OF the
States as well as to the protection of the
liberties OF the people. For the right to
select the elector in whom the political
power of the State shall be lodged, in
volyeJ the right of the State to govern
ice {. When deprived Of this prerogative
the States will have no power woFth re-
tanning. All will be gone and they will
be subject to the arbitrary will Of Con-
gress. The Government will then be
centralized, if not by the passage of
laws, by the adoption through partisan
Influence Of an amendment directly in
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