The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1870-03-31
The Military vs.. the civil Power,


The jealousy Of free people toward
the employment of military power for
the enforcement Of tho civil law, is right
and proper in itself The employment
Of the military force, in such a service,
is a feature Of despotism, aud the au-
tlsors or instigators of it, ought to be
held up TO public odium and execration.
The proposed resort to the military arm
in the enforcement of the Fifteenth
Amendment, measure forced upon
unwilling States by the bayouet, is suf-
fcieDt TO kindle afresh the fires Of Sew
euty-Six in every bosom where the spirit
Of our fathers is not wholly extinct.
They rose up, as one man, to repel the
tyranny of George the Third, against
whom 1t was alleged in their eveI.me-
morable declaration, -"He has kept
amongst us 10 times of peace, standing
armies, without the consent Of our leg.
islature. He has affected to render the
military independent Of, and superior
to, the civil power" Have no. our
Congressional tyrants done the same
thing? Aud is the deed any the less
reprehensible whom done by many ty-
rants, than when committed by one ?
Have We not standing army" in time
ofpeaee, throughoutthe Southern States?
And these fifty thousand men are quar-.
tered for their support upon the tax.
paying people Of this tax.burdened
country. Not satisfied with this, it is
now proposed, in Congress, to send
Federal soldiers into every voting pre-
cinct in the country, to enforce that
political iniqui,y known as the Fifteenth
Amendment, which never could have
received the sanction Of three.fourths
Of the States, if left to their own free
volition. No man, with the slightest
regard for the truth, will have the hardi-
hood to deny that the ratification Of
that amendment, in a number of the
States, was obtained through duress or
State Of cOmpulsion; it is therefore of
no more binding force, in law, than if
such pretended ratification had never
been made. Nolawyer or jurist, whose
judgment is not warped by partizan
influences, will affirm that it is. And
If the question could be tried, upon its
merits, before the Supreme Court Of
the United States, Republican as that
Court is, with Chief Justice Chase at
its head, it would be declared inopcra-
tive and void. Yet, it is proposed to
enforce it by the military power, in
fragrant violation Of the organic law Of
the land, aud in violation of the law.
fully obtained consent of the States Ii
chs is not the quintessenee of despo
tism, we know not what is.
Then turn your eyes to Virginia, aud
see the Federal soldiery in the street:
of Richmond, brought into requisitior
BY the military satrap, Gen. Candy
against the protest Of Gov. Walker
under thepretextofmai peace
between the adherents Of rival claimants
Of the city government . Look, also, t.
Tennessee, che camping ground Of Fed
eral soldiers, at the bidding Of heatet
partizan. What do these things por
tend-what is their rationale ,--unles
/ it be that the liberties Of the American
people are passing from civil to militar,
sway?
Again, look to Georgia. sovereign
State, remanded to territorial condition
under the" reconstruction fiasco-read
mittcd to the Union of these States
and again remanded to territorial con
dition, simply because her course wa
not in accordance with the will of th,
" Mountain" dignified as the Congress
of the United States. What does Con
gress propose 70 do in Georgia? Lool
at brakes amendment, authorizing thu
the President to send troops into the
States, (not the Governors to call upnr
the militia) on acquisitions of the Gov
ernors or Legislatures, and providing
that martial lac may be established
(iu time of peace, in the troubled
districts, and s1c,y" made therein
for the payment Of thee of transpor
tation of said troops. Whose life OF
property viii be secure under laws like
these, as infamous as the code of The
bloody Draco. This Drakeonian amend.
ment may not pass into law, but il
serves 10 show the temper of the lead
ers Of the cabal, of whom it has been
said with too much truth, that they
acknowledge no law save that of their
own wills, and that they are become
"a law unto themselvesp VIII not
Che American people protest, in the
name Of liberty aud human rights,
against such Legislation as this Z Let