The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-05-17
GrantImpcralor,

light Of tI.c sctui. imperial invcstiturc
just accorded to the President by con.
grcss. The habit of predicting evils
and adding to the stock of unhappi-
ness Of the present hy making drafts
on the future, is not popular one in
this country, and it is not one to be
encouraged anywhere but we have
no right to close our eyes to ugly
facts that stand right athwart our
vision.
The Republican party has gone
tfrom &one thing to another in the
workEof Disqualification Of the rcpub.
lie, until the logical end is in plain
view before us. The Forty second
congress has just signalizcd the last
day of its special session by comforting
war powers upon the president in a
time; of profound peace and tranquili-
ty and subjecting tho rights Of all
states, and the liberties Of their citi.
xcns to his discrctions. With abso-
Lutte authority to declare a rebellion
Mt his pleasure, when and where he
may please to ito send armies into
any state or district to suspend the
writ of habeas corpus and to arrest,
imprison and punish, at his pleasure !:
and to exercise all tho undcfinablc
powers which provost marshal, or a
department commander assumed to
exercise in l8G2-Plcsidcnt Grant
becomes precisely such u discrction-
ary dictator as his friend Bacz in San
ID omingo, MS Saget may be in Hayti,
as Santa Anna was in mexico. In
its short eleven years reign, tho Re-
publican party has reduced us to the
ignobio condition of tho Spanish
American republics of tho New
World. 1t has declared that the pro-
duct ofits own policy is a state Of
things that calls for tho display of
imperial functions, and it has named
tho imperator for The occasion. 1t
assumes that the United States
have sunk to the condition of
Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia and Mexico,
and it borrows the system Of these
vile states for American imitation.
1t is foolish to disguise tho unpleas-
ant truth by saying that we arc pros
pereus, peaceful and unmcnaced by
the harussipg disorders of these South
American republics ;if We are pros
porous and peaceful, what need have
we for dictator : If, on the eve of
n presidential election we select for
dtctator that successful soldier, who
Is himself tho most ambitious and
Interested aspirant to the presidency,
what assurance have We that our pros
perity aud peace will continue If
without any provocation or danger
whatever, We lay the sword, the purse
and our liberties ut tho feet of the
most powerful man in the country,
what guarantee can wo have that he
will not yield to tho temptation,
tramplc those liberties and grasp the
tremendous powers We offer him The
periodic outbreaks that arc witnessed
IN the Spanish and negro republics
south of us occur, generally on the
eve Of, or Immediately after their
farcical presidential elections, ana
grow out of the attempt Of the iucun-
bent to carry his own reelection by
tmcs. And yet, with this plain warn
ing before it, tho American congress
has armed an American president
with absolute power to rc-clcct him
self, and invited him to use them for
that particular purpose. If President
Grant ntsstouldG not become tie Bacz Of
tho United States, it will not DC because
Mr.. Sumner and the Republican party
have done less than thoy were
able to, to make him such it will be
because, having the right, ho valves
the power.
Thc f"llewins portion Of the fourth
section Of the bill confcrs on the prcsi
dent pll the authority that any ambi,
tiouus despot could ask for:
SEQ. 4. That whenever in any state
or part of a state, an unlawful com
blnatIonlnamcd in the preceding sec
tions of this act shall be organized and
armed, and so numerous and powerful
as to be able by violence to either over
throw or set at defiance the constituted
authorities of such state and the Uni.
ted States within such state, or where
tho constituted authorities arc in
eomplicity with or shall connivo at
the unlawful purposes of such power.
full and armed combinations, and
whenever by reason Of either or, of all
the~causos afforded, Tho conviction Of
sucht offenders and provision for pub
lic safety shall become in such district
impractioablo, in every such case such
combinations shall be doomed u re.
belliop against tho government of tho
United States, and during the con
sinuanco of such rebellion, and within
the limits Of tho district which shall
% ST. tN1ieS sway ,thereof--such lin.
its to DC prescribed by proclamation
'--.it'shall !bo lawful for tho president
Of the5 unitedo States when, in lis |
j"dghienttho public safety shall re.
luire t to suspend the privilege !. Of
tho writ Of ha beas corpus, to the end |
thabi oh rebellion NAV he over