The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1872-03-07
IH'szEI JOURNAL.
JOHN EM ELR SHAW,
Editor nni Proprietor.
CAMDEN s. C., MARCH Z. 1S52.
The is2yi iii d, ,iccon:Ulis!;cG-

Ehe iscyi iii pa Accomplished
One cf the most singular manifestations OF
the faeilty wiz, which L people are cnsar-
ed, aud the whulc fabric Of society changed
without moving or disturbing Tic grca! badly
of the people, is presented in the condition
of this country ut this moment, and for the
last six yea ), The States are sho:n Of all
the attributes Of sovereignty, and the power
of control o:cr their own pnlicy. The pow
er to rcg,atc the suffrage, the foundation of
all sell government, is taken away. Tire
right to the exclusive administration of ius-
tice Among its own citizens, and the punish
n,ent of offenders against their own laws.
committed upon their own soil, is abridged
at pleasure. Their election Of Senators and
Members Of Congress arc set asida at the
VII of others. Their laws are suspended
and martial law established at the will of the
Federal Executive. The Federal Courts
are packed for political ends and jures &C.
selected for partisan purposes. Tb govern
ments, State and Federal, arc controlled by
cliqucs and c;,blls, and everywhere is mani.
tested the most wrccklcss prohigacy and cor
ruption in the administration of public affairs.
Yet with all this, the people are seemingly
blind to the fate which awaits them, or bow
their nccks, ready for the tyrant's yoke
How neatly The revolution is accomplished,
is indicated by the following paragraphs,
which We copy from eCtemoOrary:
'It is now discovered that one certain c.
fec; of the fourteenth amendment and the
legislation under it is to give this (thc U. ).
Suprcmo) Court the power to control the
State judiciary and to expound State leGlSla-
tion on nearly every subject, and cert linly
on questions never before considered review
able here; and it is strongly suspected that
to accomplish this end was the purpose Of
those oTig giuating the measures, and that
they are but steps Of series toward the ul-
timate Capitalization of the government By
means of constitutional and Legislative
enactment.
The amcndmc It declares that "no State
shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunitics of citi-
zens of the United States" and the second
section of the judiciary act (enacted just af-
ter the adoption of the amendmcnt) provides
an appeal to the Supreme Court from the
highest courts OF the States, in any case
where .:say privilege Or immunity is claimed
under %he Constellation and the decision is
against the privilege Or Immunity" So that
in any suit brought in any State under any
State law, the party has only to plead, whcth-
er traly or uatru(y, that his ''privileges Or
immunitics" as a citizen of the Inited States
are -'abridged' by the statute of the State
and hc can have an appeal to the Supreme
Court Of Unisel States if the decision of the
State Court IL adverse to his plea, and the
Federal court determines whether the citi-
zen is oppressed by tkc laws of his own
State, or whether in any manner his priyil
eyes, &C.. are abridged, and thus the State
judiciary ceases to have final Jurisdiction
under the local constitution and laws, and
the judicial power of the St; t, has ceased to
exist asa.rbunal independent oftte Fc lie: a
power. Nearly every authority or statute of
q State abriJgcs in some form the natural
rights Of the citizen; and whenever this oc-
ours, as it must in almost " ry instance of
the exercise cf State auth y, or Of prose
cution or suit under State law, the Federal
court has appellate jurisdiction and final de-
cisiou. If the prostitute. who walks by night,
the gamHlor who inveiges and destroys the
youths of cities, or the ring which plumbers
corporation, choosc to consider their rights
to do any those things abridged" by the
exercise of State authority to prohibit them,
they Or either Of them may have an appeal
to the Supreme Court of the United States
to adjudicate and determine the question for
the State authorities, and the latter must
submit TO such revision. The result of all
this will be that the Sup"cnc Court will lay
down the law for all the people, as citizens
Of the United States, no longer under the
control authority Of the States in which
they reside, except the Federal Court shall
by chance concur in the decision of tic
State court, and all the Consequences at
Tending upon composite form of govern
mcnt will follow. The law throughout the
country will become uniform, and the dccis-
ions of the different States will no longer be
at variance, because the final detern ination
of all issues Of Importance will be had at the
hands of the same Judges"