The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-12-07

III
ness incident thereto, a very heavy expense
Is entailed upon our people which they are
| lily able to bear; and there is no necessity
| for IL. There ought to be not more thSn
| ore election in each year for State purposes.
congressman are elected every two years
1 ard President every four years, and by
/ law Of Congress the latter election must be
held on The Tuesday after the first Monday
| in November and I am clearly OF the
opinion that 1t is advisable to hold our
congressional elections at the time now
! prescribed by law. But / am very de.
| cidedlv in favor Of go amending the Con-
! stitution az that all State, county, munich
pal. and township elections shall be held
on the fourth Thursday in May. This was
| the time for holding State elections pre-
Scrtbed by our former Constitution, and
| was found BY experience to be the most
convenient time for our people, and by Its
| adoption now we should save the time, eX-
penses, and incidental evils, Of two cleo.
tons except in each alternate year. am
! also In favor OF this change in the Consti-
! tuition for another, and to me, very cogent
| reason | would remove our State cleo
| tons beyond even the pale Of All excuse
for Federal intervention. BY the fourth Sec
ton Of the first article OF the Federal Con-
stitution the Legislatures Of the several
| States are authorized to prescribe the
"timcs, places, and manner of holding
| elections" therein for congressional repre-
+! sentatiyes, but the right to "make or
| alter" such regulations at any time is re-
served TO the Congress. For more than
| three-fourths Of century the authority
thus conferred upon the State Legislatures
had been satisfactorily exercised Dy them
| Twenty-one presidential and tortv-two con-
gressioual elections had been held, some Of
them amid the excitement and confu-
| sion OF foreign war or the throcs of do
mestic revolution, and yet no occa-
SION had arisen, In the opinion of
our wisest statesmen, calling for, or
that could justify, the assertion OF tue re-
served right Of Congress to make or alter
the regulations prescribed by the States.
Not until tho year 1870, period of pro-
found peace and universal prevalence OF
law and order, when The Federal Admin
iStration, two-thrds Of both branches of
Congress, and three fourths Of all the State
Governments, were In the hands of one
political party, did the Congress of the
United States attempt to interfere or regu-
| late the mode or manner Of the election of
its own representatives. In that clause of
the Federal Constitution which prescribes
that "each House shall be the judge of the
election returns and qualifications of its
own members" 1t had heretofore found
an ample safeguard for the protection OF
the rights and interests of its own mem hers
and their constituents. The Forty-F First
Congress, however, undertook directly to
tconirol the election not only of its own
Representatives., but also the election of
State officers held al the same time. By an
act approved May 81, 1870, entitled "an
act to enforce the right Of citizens of the
United States to vote in the several States
of this Union, and for other purposes" and
m amendment thereof, approved February
a29. 1871, the Federal Government, under
! the pretGnce Of protecting the freedom of
the ballot, strikes down the freedom Of the
citizen ; and under the guise of regulating
| the election OF congressman is sought the
Regulation and control of the affairs Of tho
| States.
| In towns Of over 10000 inhabitants the
| polls may be surrounded by horde OF
| petty and irresponsible officials designated
rs supervisors Of elections and special
deputy United States marshals, including,
| at the discretion Of the marshal, every voter
| in the ranks Of his party, all appointed by
Federal officials and paid out OF the Fede.
raj treasury, who, upon any iancied or pre-
| arranged pretext, may not only arrest any
| citizen and prevent hls exercise OF the right
| to vote, but they may also arrest the cleo
| ton officers themselves, and thus break up
and destroy the election altogether. Heavy
penalties are denounced against these Off
| Gals for neglect Of duty, but no redress or
protection is afforded the citizen for the
| unlawful deprivation Of his inalienable
rights. Acts which in themselves were
lawful under the common as well as the
| statute laws OF the land are branded as
| criminal, and heavy punishmcuts pro-
nounced against them, while to the long
| catalogue OF crimes enumerated In our laws
| arc added many others unknown to
our or any other criminal Jurisprudence.
| Already have some Of our most worthy
citizens been dragged from their homes
and subjected to great annoyance
and expense in defending. themselves
| against uuioundcd charges instituted under
tnesc laws. The qualification of partisan
| or personal malevolence has usually been
| the actuatiug motive for these prosecu-
| lions. But extraordinary and unprece-
| dentcd as this legislation was, and uncOn-
l stitutonal az l believe 1t to be, SO far as it
intorferes with State elections, it was but
the precursor of another statute enacted
| by the Forty Second Congress, which moro
| completely compasscs the real purpose for
which they were enacted. This act was
approved on the Goth Of April, 1871, and is
entitled san act to enforce the provisions
| of the fourteenth amendment to the Con-
stitution Of the United States, and for
other purposes" Now, the fourteenth
amendment cngrafted upon the National
| Constitution but four new ideas or prlncl-
1 ples-yiZ.: first, definition of citizenship
| add its rights; second, the basis of repre-
| sentution in Congress ; third, disiranchisc-
mcnt of all prominent men In the southern
States fourth, the inyiolabiity of the na-
| tional debt. 1t clothes neither Congress
nor ANY Of its coBrdinates with any power
I OF function except what may be necessary
to the appropriate execution OF these four
ideas or principles. Can there be found
In these provisions any authority for
the suspension of that great writ
of right. the hdbeds corpus3 or for the
delegation of that authority, with which
Congress alone was clothed by the original
Constitution? Certainly not. And yet that
authority is attempted to be vested in the
President Of the United States by the terms
o: this act under the spccious pretcXt OF
enforcing the PROVISIONS OF the fourteenth
amendment. "The privilege Of the writ
of habeas corpus shall not be suspended
unless when, in cases Of rebellion or inva-
sion. the public safety may require it," IS
the language of the Federal Constitution.
The origin, nature, and history of this
great writ, and the bulwark 1t Interposes
between the freedom Of the citizen and the
open or stealthy entertainments Of tyranny,
we're thoroughly understood and profound
" appreciated BY the trainers of the Con-
stitution. Hence the absolute prohibition
OF it's suspension except in the two extreme
emergencies of foreign invasion or when
re bellion raises itself to such formidable
proportions as to threaten the pubic SAFETY
equally with foreign invasion. But the
Congress, without even the prctence that
either of these eXigences had arisen, pro.
ceeded in the act under consideration not
only to resign to the Executive this careful