New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-05-23
Grant and Greeley.
"a Voice from Howard University- spec eh
ga - - by MIR. C. MacBrids. 2. ~ B.

, fts - rs by Mr.. c. NfacBride. - ~ D.
The following spirited address was de
livered by Mr.. Cornelius MacBride at How
ard University last Thursday evening. MI
MacBride is student of the law department
of the institution, and is very well known
throughout the city as an earnest, logica
debater. He presents in this speech SOM
excellent reasons in favor of a continuation
of the present Administration.
ADDRESS.
Law and politics are sometimes so init
mately related that it is impossible to treat o
: one without referring to the other. There
are at the present time two candidates in the
, field for the Presidency of the United States
each of whom claims to be Republican.
General Grant, the present incumbent O
the Presidential chair, is charged with having
fiagrantly violated constitutional law, which
if true, should prevent his reelection as CHIEF
magistrate of this nation. The men who
make this charge have national regulations
as constitutional lawyers therefore their ac.
cusations are worthy of our most earnest at.
tention. i propose in this short address to
inquire whether or not General Grant has
violated constitutional law.
Trumbull, SchurZ, and others say that the
late Ku-Klux legislation is unwarranted by
the Constitution, and these gentlemen loudly
aver that while they are in favor of suppress
ING the Ku-kluX they are not in favor of vio-
lating the Constitution to attain that end.
the accusation may be met in two ways ::
First, that the law complained of is constitu-
tional; and second, that if it were unconstitu-
tional it is the duty of the President to faith
fully execute the law and not to determine
whether it is constitutional or not. However,
if L prove the first proposition the second be-
comes superfluous.
| Tbf a.,
to the Constitution, which elevated the col
ored people to the dignity of citizenship and
clothed them with the mantle of manhood,
terminate in the following language: "COn-
gress shall have the power to enforce, by APP
propriate legislation, the provisions Of these
articles"
| The Southern whites formed powerful or
ganization with the declared purpose of pre-
venting the newl y-made citizens from cXercis-
ing the great rights these amendments had
conferred upon them. This midnight army,
well disciplined and differed, prowled over
the Southern States, making the organic law
of the land a dead letter. A reign of terror
was inaugurated which beggars description.
State courts confessed themselves powerless
to restrain these armed banditti the loyal
whites and always loyal colored men were at
the mercy of this rebel horde; public senti-
ment was corrupted; men looked with COM
placency upon crimes which devils would
blush to own; where virtue had become a
bye-word justice was nowhere to be found,
and confusion reigned with devilish delight.
Bad men, who had led reckless lives in the
army, were elected to office because they had
the hardihood to proclaim themselves Repub-
licans, and at the same time the dupicity to
pander to the passions and prejudice of the
rebel populace. When these men became
defaulters the Democrats pointed with scorn-
full finger, and said: "Colored men, behold
your friends! Behold your Republican
brothers," when the truth of the matter is,
the rebels had made it impossible in many
instances to elect an honest Radical to office.
And if you will take the trouble to read the
report presented to Congress by the Ku-KluX
committee, you will find this assertion borne
out, in that the Kll-KluX rarely troubled de-
faulting legislators. On the contrary, they
generally wreaked their vengeance upon the
preachers and teachers who were doing the
work which the rebels most feared, namely:
preparing the colored people to legslate for
themselves.
In view of these and other facts to which l
have not time to allude, Congress passed
law giving the United States courts cocni-
zance of political offenses committed by
masked assassins. And here l would re-
mark that never in the history of the world
have blood-thirsty fiends had such eloquent
and sympathiZing defenders defenders who
weep for an imaginary wrong done the Con-
stitutiOn, but have not a tear to shed for the
poor wretches who have suffered so terribly
at the hands of rebel banditti.
The ku-kluX law also gives the President
the power to suspend the "writ of habeas
corpus" in cases of emergency. Now, Sena-
tor Trumbull and his fellow diyinely-ap-
pointed guardians of the Constitution, hold
that Congress has net the power to interfere
with these offenders spoken of above, claim
ing that they are entirely statal in their char
acter. The letter of the law is that "Con-
gress shall have the power to enforce these
amendments
Now, if the word enforce has any meaning
it is that Congress shall have the power by
and with force to remove any and all obsta-
Giles which can impede the due execution of
the law. In the South an armed force stood
sworn to resist the constitutional amend
ments; and Congress did but exercise the
power conferred upon it in instituting judicial
proceedings against body of men who were
determined to make the organic law of the
land dead letter. In my opinion, the word
enforce is so strong that it justiies the sup
preston of the writ of habeas corpus, for, if
there were no other means to suppress law
lessness, then were Congress and the Presi-
dent justified in using this means to put the
supreme law of the land" in operation.
Again, the position taken by Trumbull and
others is weak in another particular for if
Congress has the power to confer a right
upon the people it has also the right-in fact
it becomes duty-to protect them in the eX-
ercise of that right. The converse of this
proposition is likewise true. IfCongress has
not the power to protect the people in the
exercise of right, it has not the power
to confer that right upon the people
The logical and therefore inevitable conclu-
sion from my premises and deductions is:
that in the case of General Grant charged
with violating constitutional law verdict of
not guilty must be entered, and / may fur
Their say that as had nobody to dispute with
the verdict it is a unanimous one.
Permit me, in conclusion, to say a few
words with reference to the Presidential cam
paign and the two candidates of whom have
spoken. Horace Greeleyis self-made man;
but it does not necessarily follow that he had
no father ormother, as has been stated. But
| this is no reason why he should be elected
President. All men in this democratic com-
| try are more or less self-made. General
Grant, frequently spoken of as ''the Galena
tanner" is certainly self-made man.
At the beginning of the war Horace Gree
sic