Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-03-04

the jackdaW bedecked himself ia the
gay plumage of other birds, and why
not permit Barbour Lewis and an
editor who calumniates Northern
Democrats, votes for Radical carpet
baggers in preference to Democratic
nominees, to dress themselves up as
Democrats and lecture the party as to
what constitutes pure and undefled
Democracy.
There Ut many " accomplished
facts" Grant said; LET US have
peace" and the peace-war is an ac-
complished fact. The members of
Congress swore to support the COnsti-
tuition, which they have defed,
trampled on and broken. This is an
other accomplished fact. The right Of
States to prescribe the qualifications
for exercising the franchise within
their own geographical limits has
been taken away and usurped;
by Congress! 1t is another of the
accomplished facts, whose name is
legion. The last Of the series is the
3" enforcement act " to carry into effect
the Fifteenth Amendment. This
bayOnet law is now also in force, an
accomplished fact, like a million
other wrongs against liberty. Are we
free to resist by the ballot? Or
must the American people, like
sers and slaves, stink away, and
clank their chains hencef0rth under
the lash Of their Congressional mas
ters9 The issue is in a fair way to be
decided. And let the Democrat who is
craven enough to accept the accom-
pIished-fact theory cease to resist, and
lick the hand that smites him, and
whine, as a good slave should do.
Judge Woodland, of Kentucky, viii
not. On the passage Of the Enforce
ment bill, ne said:
The prophetic soul of the President
already discerns the living resem-
blance Of our nascent empire to that
which King William and Bismarck
are building up to bless the Germans,
and very soon, if the people continue
power in the hands that WELD il now,
the resemblance of the two empires
viii become 50 p8lpable that common
and uninspired men viii not only see
but will feel what the President halls
in the future-the blessings Of a mill
tary despOtism. All our legislation
points this way. The bill now before
US is one of thesteps in the downward
road. 1t would be more manly and
fair if it bore its real purpose
upon its lOntlets. Why not call
it a bill TO destroy the Slate
right of regulating suffrage? Or,
bill to prevent white men
from voting? Or, a bill to continue
the Republican party in power?
Why christen it with the grim saT-
casm of a " bill to enforce the right
of vOting?" Its not my purpose to
analyze the details Of the bill. That
has been sufficiently done by those
who have gone before. The effect OF
It viii be to take the control Of the
elections out Of the hands of State Of
icers, acting under State law, and de-
II yHGA 10 AAE~DaAAnNlaE NAA-LaL
supervisors, who are armed with the
power Of the posse cOmHItlts5 Of the
army and navy; Of arrests without
warrant; Of challenging voters, in
specting ballots and supervising re-
turns; and they viii be very awk-
ward agents Of the ruling power if,
with all these appliances, they can
not produce any result that may be
required. True it is, that all this
machinery is limited to elections Tor
Federal offices; but as most States /
elect their officers at the same time |
and place at which Congressman are
elected, the practical working Of the
machinery will give to Federal officers /
the same control over elections for
State officers that they will have ia
he choice Of Presidential Electors and
congressman. And if the State, TO
this intOlerable tyranny, should
tx State elections on other days, and
after the fashion Of former times,
choose their officers UuaWed
~ Federal bayOnets, what would
t avail in the presence of the
and unconstitutional DOW
rs which Congress has al
.eady arrogated to itself? What
State right has not been already de-
lied and shamelessly trampled upOn2
What cares the mad spirit of fanati-
ism for State rights, State protest, or
,tate legislation? With the Supreme
'Ourt packed and gagged, with four
hundred millions of tribute money
.nnUally Wrung from the people, with
n army to collect revenues and con-
rOl elections, with a navy to absorb
millions of money annually for .
ding nothing but to make itself a f,
iughing stock of the world with cor ,
.OratiOns enriched with a public y
oman; with legislative power
tretched to every object which ambi- {
or avarice can COvet, what does a
uthless party, so clothed and in
renched, care for the checks and bal
noes Of the Constitution and the re-
arved rights of the States? What S
7ill they car in the future2
literally nothing now, and moth
lg then. If, therefore, State cleo {
.Ons shall survive the shock Of
his legislation, they will survive to S
o purpose. There is but one remedy
II the evils that are upon US, and the q
and more appalling evils that
lreaten US in the near future, and
nat is to cast out the men who have q
Dused power, and bring back the !
ADMINISTRATION Of the government to ,
S true constitutional basis, an d keep =
there.