Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-01-10
The Louisiana Appeal.

The long.talked of address to the peo.
pie Of the United States by the Warmoth
Committee of Louisiana Is at last made
public. We shall take occasion hereafter
to examine this statement at length. just
nov. the pertinent question seems to be,
What has the public to do with the inter.
nal affairs Of louisiana We believe the
cry from these men has been that they
wanted no interference IRON the outside
world. What do they hope to gain, then,
by this appealp Their principal griev-
'ance seems TO be that the courts Of their
own State, having all decided against
them, and the Supreme Court having dis.
missed their proceedings for review, the
President will not interfere with his soli-
,tary power and bring these judicial rul.
ings to naught.
If the politics of Warmoth and Kellogg
were reversed, the former being an Ad-
miRistration man and the latter opposed
TO the party in power, who imagines that
we should hear any denunciations OF the
President for his course in this matterP
Suppose that Kellogg and his friends,
being Democrats, had sought to restrain
the Republican Warmoth from what they
deemed an Illegal act, and had appealed to
he,AState and Federal Courts, both of
which had decided against him; and sup.
pose, IN spite of this the President had
recognized Warmoth, and refused to give
aid or countenance to the decision of the
courtsP What howl of righteous indig-
nation would have gone up from the
'"Liberal" press at this open dis
regard of judicial authority of the
land. And yet this is precisely what
they desire done in the case
before the country. Let 1t be understood
that for his plain discharge of q constitu
tionM duty the President is recklessly as
sailed and viIified by these men. The
New York World, in referring to the
Presidents action in Louisiana, cites the
following decision of the Supreme Court
in'the case growing out of the Dorr rebel
lion in Rhode Island, where there were,
as in Louisiana, two governments claim
ing Federal protection. The opinion was
announced by ChiefJustice Taney, who
oughtto be good authority with those
whoare now assailing the President;
BY this act (the law of 1799 the power Of decid
ingrwhether the exigencv has arisen upon which
the Government Of the United States is bound to
interfere Is QiUetl 10 Tie President He is to act
,npon the application of the Legislature or OF the
Exeeutive (of the Statel, and consequently he musi
determine 'ehat BODY Of men constitute me Leg;
The fact that both parties claim tho right to the
government cannot alter the case, for both cannot
be entitled to 1t. II 1t Is armed conflict, like
ftne one Oh WHICH we are speaking, IL lS y ChSt VI
domestic violence, and one Of the parties must be
in insurrectlon against the lawful government
And The President must, of necessity, decide 1htch
Is The Government and which party Is unlawfully
arrayed against It, before he can perform the duty
imposed upon him by the act of Congress-"
If there had been no action of the
courts in Louisiana it might have been 8
delicate matter for the President to de-
eide which was the rightful Legislature
and who was the legal Governor, but
even then he would have been compelled
to determine the question. But in recog
nizing the Kellogg party in this instance,
he had not only the evidence that they
put forward in their favor, and which
was, to say the least, as good as that Of
the other party, but he had three judicia
rulings to the same effect to guide him
To have overborne these and set up hiE
own dictum in the case, even had he en-
tertained views of that character, woulC
have been a grave exercise of power tina
we hope never to see attempted, save IL
cases of the utmost necessity.
The Committee have not improved
their case by this high-sounding appea
to the people of the United tates.-Ch'
cago Inter Ocean.