The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1871-08-24

ascending as one voice nom the peo-
pie to Him who presides over the des-
TIMES of nations, asking "How long,
o Lord, how long !" The sturdy bar
ons on, the plain of Runnymede
wrested from King John the bill of
rights, and secured for Englishmen
the writ of hGbeas corpus, the great
est shield ever invented for the pro-
lection of the citizen, and without
which republics can not exist. Yet
this Radical party, in the madness of
power, and with serviEty of pur-
pose never equaled, have surrendered
this great prerogative and placed it in
the hands of the Executive, at whose
viii and pleasure the prison-doors of
the entire land may be locked, and
no Judge can release men therefrom
for trial or inquiry into the causes of
their detention.
Nothing in the history of legisla-
ton equals the monstrosity of the So
called Kn-KIux Bill. The laws of
Draco never approached it in atrocity.
He never proposed to rule any one
not guilty of offense, or make con-
structive guilt out of circumstances
which might easily be consistent with
innocence. This bill creates q long
list of new offenses against the UNI
ted States, classed as misdemeanors
and felonies.. Under it q peddler
found on Christmas Eve on the road
dressed as Kris Kringle is liable to be
fined not less than 5000, and i'm
prisoned not less than five years. And
If any person shall be one of crowd,
at night, however large, and which
shall contain any person who shall
threaten to make an assault, each and
every member of the crowd shall be
gnilty of misdemeanor, and pun
ishable in the same way. Why not
re-enact the old Curfew Law at once
This bill empowers the President, at
his own will. to determine when and
where there is an insurrection in the
United States what people are in re-
volt; what State is guilty of disobe-
dience; what community is violating
the law, and when he has so deter
mined, he is authorized and empow-,
cred to draw the sword and make war
at his own pleasure, whenever and
wherever he. pleases. The -Autocrat
of all the Russias is possessed of no
such power. This bill repeals the
Constitution of the United States,
and revolutionizes our whole system
of government; and the. attempt to
enforce it will make Mexico of our
country. The State authorities may,
indeed, call on the President to aid
them in suppressing insurrection.-.
But when he gives this aid, he acts
simply as an auxiliary to the State Ex-
ecutive and in support of the State,
laws, There is not a line in the Com
stitution authorizing the General
Government TO maintain civil order in
the States. The Supreme Court of
the United States has held the limit
of National authority from the begin
ming. 1t says, all those powers which
relate to merely municipal legisla-
ton, or which may properly be called
internal police, are not surrendered
(by the States) or restrained; and,
consequently, relation ~to these, the
authority of State is complete. un-
qualified and exclusive. I'll Peters
5. G. Reports, 1927
This bill is but an incendiary fire.
brand flung into the South, and its
enfefcement win overthrow the Con-
stitution and prove the destruction Of
our free institutions. The law-abid-
ing mind and conscience of every
free citizen would sustain the Consti-
tuition and the principles of Republi-
can Government against all usurpa-
tions. And this new rebellion against
the Union, though expressed in an act
of Congress and sustained by an. Ad-
at Washington, will be
put down by the ballots, as resolute- 4
ly as was the last by the bullets, Of
the people. If we pursue the South
with q licentions, uncivic soldiery,
gloating with anticipations of the /
plunder of private effects; if we force
debasing. and degrading conditions |
upon them, we may be sure that the
special Nemesis which Herodotus |
traced through the early eras of his
tory will haunt the men who instigate |
the men who execute such a fell and
imbecile policy. The only weapon
which wounds the cause of rebellion,
and which can transmute the rebel in
to the patriot, is the enchantment of
friendship. He who could destroy all
part of his own country, as if it were |
alien, has no more love for it than Sa-
turn had for the children of his own |
loins, whom he devoured. War caus-
ed exhaustion, calamities and blood
shed, but it did not produce in the
people the sdenn sententtGna de Re-
publicd that can never be forced. Wei
must advocate and practice principles
Of sympathy, not of hostility of
union, not of separation. The peoplest
of the South can not be subjects and
we be long free. The untrammeled
exercise of local self-goyernment by
the people of the States is the salt |
which preserves our whole SYSTEM
The South erred-and it is human to
srr-but let us, North and South,
East and West, cherish the ties which.
bind us together; let US feel that we
are one people; that our lot is cast to-
gether; that we have one common
destiny that our interests are identi-
cal. There should be no division
among us. We are one people. We
Ill desire to enlarge and beautify our
gorgeous Temple of Liberty. Then
ct US rise above mere party preju-
lice,l abolish sectional hatred, put
lway personal differences, and in the
spirit of true fellowship proclaim
Universal amnesty. ~
The Democratic party denounce the
,rofigate, corrupt and wanton ex-
which now pervades every
department. of the Federal Govern
nent, especially the wicked depriva-
ion of the people of their rightful
heritage in the public lands. The
possession of certain amount of this
worlds goods is absolutely necessary
20 the free, untrammeled exercise of
pure manhood. There is nothing
which so generally strikes the imagi-
nation and engages the affections of
as the right of property, or
hat sole and despotic power which
,ne man claims and exercises over the
things of the world in total
exclusion of the right of any other
Individual in the universe. The gem
sral ownership of the soil by the peo-
pie is Indispensable to the perfect ma
ion of free institutions. Whatever
policy tends to a monopoly of lands
Is the policy of the monarchist. Our
public lands should be preserved for
by the great body of the
people. We%want no feudalism here.
[t builds up the stately palace to
frown down on millions of huts, the