The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-03-01

lolGAIb4CS lAG4N . OSNA 0AOASA& OIl4aby sNA1C
resignation of members, OrsWhatis cons
moply called boiling, and yet it was
never claimed that ssuch q result des-
treged a State gOveTnmentOP took away
it's 1egalscharaeteT. = r.
The theory OF Our system is that
every State government has the power
and machinery to correct the wrongs
and frauds within itself, practieed I'M
der cover of, or in open violation of, its
own laws, and that the decision of it's
| own tribunals, created by its constitu-
ttion and laws for such purpose, must be
received as final.
When the constitution Of a State pro-
vides that each house Of its Legislature
shall be the Judge of the election and
| qualification of it's members, full faith
and credit must be given-tO their action,
and should the government of the Uni
ted States go behind their action to ia
quire whether members have been law
fully elected to the Legislature, their
independence would be wholly des-
tr0yed and the validity of their action
made to depend upon the will Of Con-
gresS.
SO when the laws of a State have con-
stitutiOnally created a returning board
to ascertain who are elected State Off
GERS and members of the Legislature.
If Congress may go behind the decision
of that board, and inquire whether they
had the returns before them, and wheth-
Ell they were acting in accordance with
the laws Of the State, the election of
State officers and members of the Legis-
lature would be placed absolutely I'M
der the control Of Congress.
He next refers to the decision of the
Supreme Court of the United States, in
| H. Dho3C T.1T-1 roIC113aA .o II -
ther vs.. Borden; where it is declared
government has been lawfully estab-
lished, belongs to the State courts.
There is nc impeachment Of the Su-
preme Court Of Louisiana presented to
the committee or to the country. Afits
members but n were placed upon the
bench i'll 1863, before the present troubles
arose, and hold their office for four
years longer, and although imputatiOns
have been cast upon its action, | know
of no foundation for them, and it isnOt
legitimate for Congress to make any in
QuiTy into its motives.
The power and duty conferred upOn
the United States by the fourth article
to guarantee to every State in the
Union a Republican form of govern
ment, is political in it's character, and
not subject to revision by the judiciary
hut when upon inquiryi it is ascertained
that a State has an existing govern
ment III active operation; which is not
0bstructed by violence, in which each
department is mutually recognized nv
the other, and which is republican in its
form, there is no foundation for the in
ference OF Congress and no condition
which its power can attach, and al
though its otficersm a have been cleo
ted by fraud or installed without cleo
ton, yet all questions in relation to
them must necessarily arise under the
constitution and laws of the State, and
under the decision in Luther vs.. Border,
be referred for determination to q tri-
bunal of the State.
This whole affair, on both sides, is I'M
fortunate and painful, and if Congress
could, without exercising a dangerous
power and establishing q perilouS pre-
cedent, set the whole matter aside, and
provide for a new election, with the Sc
curlty that it should be a fair one, it
would be tar more satisfactory to the
people of the whole nation.
Murder is the highest crime, but it is
not every court that has the Jurisdiction
to punish it, and one court cannot as
sumo such jurisdiction UPON the ground
that another to which it has been grant
ed, will not properly, exercise it: and
Congress has not tile jurisdiction to ex-
anime and redress every delicate wrong
that may take place in a State.
Legal remedies are provided for the
redress of all wrongs that NAV take
place in regard to elections,
1t would be inconsistent wish the in
dependence and integrity of the State
governments for the United States to
Interfere and assume jurisdiction upou
the ground that State tribunals have
acted .wrOngfully and fraudulently.
Nor will tt'sO act. The government of
the United States is not q Don Quixote,
going forth to hunt up and redress ali
the wrongs that may be inflicted upon
the people in any part of the country.
Ii IS a government limited and res
trained in its jurisdiction by the char
tlnet1y recognizes the existence of State
governments, to be constituted legally
by the States themselves, subject Only
to the provision Of the higher law that
they shall be republeansi in form.
This doctrine IN no wise RECOGNIZES
the blood-stained theory of. State SOW
%ereignty, which has been the evil shirt
of our political system, and to which
the present troubles in Louisiana NAV
be traced back, but springs from the
great fact that the States have q vast
body of rights, distinctly guaranteed
andreeognized by the constitution of
the United States, and thatamong these
is the right to constitute their own
Legislatures and determine by their
own tribunals the legality of their or
~ganizatiOn. hi
This great power to guarantee toeach
State q republican form Of government
is intended only for the highest and
most solemn occasions. IF it is invoked
for every disorder in a State, 1t must
result IN the absorption of the State gov
ernments and subvePt the whole theory
and plan of our political institutions. =
While we are a nation in which alone
the sovereignty resides, yet local self
governments which preceded the con
st1tutiOn and are recognized and con-
tinued by it az part of the great plan
Of political salvation are Indispensable
to liberty, progress and happiness,
and must be preserved. tt should be
exercised only upon well defined prin-
ciples, IN cases coming clearly within
their limits, and with all the more eau
ton because it is political IN it's eharac-
ter, and the use or abuse of it can not
be remedied by the courts. .s-
While it would be imprudent to Mt
tempt to define the cases that come
within its scope, it may be safely said
that it does not comprehend a disorder
in a State rising under it's own eonsti-
tuition and laws, for which these laws
provide remedies. A State in which
there is prOfound peace, andin which the
State government is republican in it's
form and discharging its. functions in
every department. without interruption,
even IN cases that come within it's scope
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