The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-04-27

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OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES .s'' ''''
The Progress OF. Consolidation.
step BY step the Federal Government
moves towards the centralization ana con.
soiiiation Of all power In its own hanas'
The southern people have for hSe yes.s
been held In the clasp of the iron hana Of
military despotism. and are therefore area
av accustomed to the despotic rule OF Cons
orpss. The northern people have hitherto
been merely spectators. They have NOT
felt that they were particularly concerned.
They looked on, sympathizing with us
sometimes no doubt, and thanking ooa
that they had not rendered themselves suo.
iect to such treatment, but they haa no
rs.srs that they, too, would soon be captlYes,
hn,,nf, TO the triumphal car OF SUMNER, BUT
TYR. and FoRSEY. They CONSIDERED their
heritage of freedom as safe from the hands
NJ the spoiler, and made no effort to save
that of their southern brethren. They were
like the unsuspecting Britons OF early Eng
lish history whom the Saxons ASSISTED ID
conouering their enemies, but whose coun-
try the same Saxons took possession OF as
reward for their services. The northern
people In like manner invoked the ala
of the Federal Government to deprive the
southern people of the privilege OF sen-
government. That aid was readily granted'
and the seeding States were in the course
OF time subjugated. OF the Federal Govern
ment IL may be said as the old proverb says
of fire-t1it is q good servant but bad
master.' That Government has learned
the extent of its power. 1t has tasted the
sweets Of an undivided rule. 1t has handied
the purse filed by the forced contributions
of slaves. 1t knows that the sword is q
terror to nine-tenths Of mankind, and that
therefore force is sure Of its object if it but
manifest purpose to attain it. $780,.
The northern States are yet to realize
that they have made slaves Of themselves In
enslaying their southern brethren. They
have pulled down all the pillars that sup
ported the temple OF constitutional Liberty,
and of course their own liberties have been
destroyed. Congress has been careful not
to alarm them unnecessarily. 1t mas troo-
den the path that leads to despotism at the
North with a cautious step. But now
il is prepared for the final spring. The
Judiciary Committee Of the Senate, which
is composed of the most conservative, law
abiding members of that body, reported on
Monday, as our Issue ofyesterday informed
the reader, bill to enforce the fifteenth
amendment. That bill, if it become law,
win render the State Governments mere
nullities, and State elections mere farces.
It would in fact be q waste of time for the
voters to 60 through the forms OF an cleo
ton after the passage Of such IN act /; for IL
actually proposes TO allow such miserable,
unprincipled burlesques upon judges as
UNDERWOOD to decide MI cases Of contested
elections for State officers. We have had q
specimen of UNpERwocD's decisions. In
case in which he had no more right to take
jurisdiction than he had to pass upon the
right of Queen VICTORIA to the crown of
England, he actually attempted to turn out
the lawfllly-elected officer and put back
military appointee. The Senate Judiciary
Committee now proposes to giYeto him ana
such as he is that jurisdiction which he had
not when he wickedly and Indignantly, not
to say corruptly, usurped it.
New York city Is, we suspect, the object |
of this bill-not Virginia or any OF the
southern States. That city is immensely
rich. 1t counts its revenue by millions of
dollars. It persistently refuses to allow the
Radicals to have any of its offices or its mo-
ney. 1t controls the State, and may con-
troll Presidential election. How to get
possession Of all those fat Offices and Of that |
wealthy State is the problem which this bill
undertakes to solve. The bill therefore pro-
poses to put it into the power Of the judges
of the district courts of the United States,
Of whom UNDERWOOD is specimen, though |
we would fain hope not fair specimen, to |
give possession of the State offices to what |
ever claimants he may choose to lnstali, |
turning out for that purpose the officers
chosen by the voters and entitled 10
their places under the Constitution anu
laws Of the State. If this bill snall
not enable our northern brethren to seetne
precipice which yawns before them, we
shall give them up as the victims Of judicial
blindness We warned them long ago that
they were in the same boat with ourselves
that the chains which bound us were also
about their limbs and that they could not
expect to be free if they persisted In ensla-
wing us. They may now see for themselves
that we were not false prophets. Let them
20 act az that the authors Of this Infamous
bill shall be buried beneath mountain of
popular indignation. We donot know that
the bill can be passed. We doubt "nether
Congress will dare to 60 30 far. But If such
should be the case, then every northern
State which shall not next fall elect Demo-
cratic delegation to Congress will deserve
worse fate than that of ireland, Poland, or
Hungary. SUMNER ought to taunt them as
the yelled prophet Of Khorassan did hisfol-
lowers .,.
aye would be fools and dupes, and 10, ye are'"
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Tho N;e*rict ATTORNEY and His Assist.