Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-07-12

they have abridged the "equal rights"
Of whole masses of white citizens
without the least respect for the right
of universal suffrage, guaranteed by
the XVIII, they have intcrfcred both
forcibly and fraudulently TO prevent
fair elections, and to set them aside
after they were held.
These outrages upon justice, lilerty
and law have been pcrpetratet, not
during The conflict of civil var
not in moments of wild passion, or
heated excitement--but in cold blood,
upon deliberate reflection, in timy> c
profound peace, IN full view of tie
consequcnces-and their authors have
followed out this line of policy, step
by step, with persistency which
shows their fixed determination for
the future, as in the past, to be bound
by no oath and held by no promise.
The two last and most important
of their unconstitutional measures
show more distinctly than others their
settled design to stranglc the liberties
of the nation, and take perpetual
power into their own hanGs. The
force bill authorizes the President, not
only to invade the States at his pleas.
urc, but by declaring martial law, to
subvert all government, except what
consists of his mere will Under the
election law his cannon is planted
directly against the freedom of State
elections. Already the bayonets of
the executive have cleaned around
the polling places of the people 10 the
cities of New York and Philadelphia.
Who can mistake the meaning of these
preparations for the next Presidential
election? Who doubts that warning
and rebuke are needed now to prevent
the administration from carrying out,
its purpose by force If the warning
be not given by the people, or fail Of
its proper effect, can we hope for
peace? 1t seems to us an error to-
suppose the American people tame.
enough to be kicked under the yoke.
Of a despotism, or ignorant enough toI
be iugglcd out of the great inheritance
of free government which their fathers
left them.
RoTrESNEss OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
We complain of our present rulers.
for lawless usurpation of power
Power not delegated is always abused
In this, AS in other cases, usurpation.
has been accompanied and followed
by corruption. Frauds without mum
Der, and almost without limit, have
been committed on the public. Men
of the worst character for common
honesty are permitted to occupy the
highest places Of the money collect
cd from the people, and not stolen
before il reaches the Treasury, Il large
portion is squandered by Congress on
party favoritcs, on corrupt rings, and
on base combinations of public plum.
derers. The heenormouse extent to which !
this financial corruption has been car.
ried will become manifest TO any one
who compares the expenditures of the
government during the six years which
preceded and the six years which fol- 1
lowed the civil war. Both were peri
ods of peace, and there can be no ex-
cuse for more than a small increase
corresponding to the ratio in which
the population has advanced, But
where the ordinary expenditures for
the fiscal year ending June |, 1870,
exclusive OF Indian annuities, pensions
and interest on the public debt, were
sl4S, ,669, ,922 43, for the year ending
juno !, 1860, the expenditures for the
same purposes were but s55, ,9lS, lSS ~. !
Here is shown the difference between
the ordinary cost of carrying on our
government when its agents are hon
est and the cost of the same thing
when its officers are so destitute of
moral principle as to disregard all legal
limitations upon their own authority.
A free, unperverted representative
government is simple in its machinery,
easily maintained, and "dispcnses its
blessings like the dews of Heaven,
unseen and unfelt, save in the beauty
and freshness they contribute to'pro-
duce;" the secure tranquility OF a
regal establishment may sometimes
be compensation for the burdens it
imposes; but rotten republic is at
once the most costly, the most oppres-
sivo, and the most unsteady of all
political structures.
THE RIGHTS OF LABOR.
To support the cxtravagant corrup-
tlons of an administration like the
present, and at the same time pay the
pensions and the interest on the debt,
would require heavy taxation at best.
But the party in power has contrivcd
to make the taxes doubly burdensome
by their mode Of lcvying and collect.
ing them. Great gangs of unnecos-
sary officers are supported and fatten-
cd out of them. They are in many
cases imposed, not with any view to
the supply of the public treasury, but
solely to operate as bountcs for the
benefit of individuals and private cor.
porations. While the mouth Of labor
is thus robbed of the bread it earns,
the fortunes of monopolists and ring
masters are hideously sweled, and
their rapacity inhamcd for still further
aggression upon the rights of the
Industrious masses. The necessity of
revenue reform is admitted on all
hands, and by none more freely than
by candid supporters of the so called