The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-06-24

,sso,yerreiffnty az protection agaslnt suhsSl
deci;nea TO defend and contenEM heTe 94lss
With iustructing counsel to proHHs8 again 49,
tthe supreme Court exercising jerlsdlctios
/ me eourt. after considerisg th6gnestlU1f
decided unanimously that under The Constt-
| t,,tinr, a state could be sued. This decision.
| Though apparently sustained by the law, gave
! Great Dissatisfaction to the friends ana
advocates of States rights and state
sovereignty, who were shocked u.
The idea of bringing a state INTO
tribunal like an ordinary platinum OF We
fendant, AS soon as possible an aIn .ssSs
ment Was made 60 the Constituuoh wutsus
provided that the judicial power OF tne
Government .tshosiid nor extend toahs SUI.
in law Or equity commenced OF prosecuted
against one of the United States by citizens
al another State, or by citizens or subjects OF
any foreign Stase.''7 This seemedto bescon-;
elusive. land the theory that a State could be
reached by any process ofthe.courts was gen.
orally abandoned until o case came up from
that theamendmentc could be evaded lift could
not be successfully assailed In an open at
tack. In this case, the State OF Ohio levied q
tax Of S50, 900 upon a{braneh of the United
States Bank established within her borders.
Tue 2CtusCA W lhiyS
states proceeding to collect the amount ina
States Circuit Court against, not the State Of
Ohio, but against Osborne. the Auditor Of the
State The State objected that the proceeding
amendment to the Constitution. But the
Supreme Court of the United States g(Os-
borne us. United States, Bank, 8; Wheaton,
holl 40 al od 1G III
case where the State. isa party TO- the record,
and it did not apply to the case at bar be
cause the suit was not against Ohio, but
agaihstthe State Auditor. The full force Of
this, decision. which allowed the
amendment to be SO easily evaded,
| does pot appear to !" have been zap
| preciated prior to the war. Since itfle war,
faad with the issuance of; enormous. amounts
of bonds by the carpet-bag legislatures OF
the SouthAaulourts SO enormous that they
can only be INUNDATED by taxation onerous
and grinding--tbe question has again be-
come prominent. With the failure of North
and South Carolina, and other States south
of the Potomac. to meet the interest upon
their bonds issued for railroads and other
|! works of public Improvement, this decision
in 8 Wheaton has received closer attention
and more careful consideration. T" 81
Mr.. johnson believes that the remedy of
the bondholders is simple and complete. He
thinks that al! the creditors have to do is to
apply to the Circuit Court of the United
States for the State of North Carolina for a
n1dnddnaus-not against, the State, but
against the Comptroller General. or other
proper official, requiring him to, leVy'a tax
with which to pay the interest. lie pro-
nounces the legislation of North Carolina
on these bonds, enacted subsequent to their
sale and negotiation, to be an impair
ment Of the original contract, and
consequently unconstitutional, null, and
void. Mr.. johnson in his opinion
which! candor compels Ills to say IS
both able and elaborate-takes the posi-
ton that by the current of its decisions
the Supreme Court of the United States Is
pledged to place most liberal construction
on the eleventh amendment to the CoDstitu-
ton, and that where State is not expressly
made a party 10 the record, jurisdiction of the
case will be assumed. In other words, if the
bondholders should bring their suit against
North Carolina, it will not be allowed to
proceed, but if they bring suit against
John Doe, the omptroller-General, their
action will he sustained. Ifthis opinion be
correct, and the decision in the case from
| OnlO sCel!lS W .WdITdNl lLS SOuuIlneSS, tnC
constitutional provision prohibiting suits
against States becomes Il nullity. A nominal
change of name in the party defendant would,
in effect, bring any State in the Union into
an United States Court, and bind it by the
| decision which might be rendered. By
parity of reasoning a past-due bond can
be collected with the same machinery
| used in the collection Of past-due coupons.
According to Mr.. :.Johnson's theory, if the
State of Georgia should fail to pay bond at
| maturity, the holder of the obligation would
only have to apply to the Circuit Court in
savannah Tor il mGnddmus, directed to w.
5. Goldsmith, comptroller general, re-
quiriDg him TO levy a tax for the pay
ment OF the debt. The South will await
with much anxiety the decision upon this
test case from North Carolina.
What pity the creditors of Mississippi,
Illinois, and Pennsylvania, States whose acts
of reputation once brought the whole
Union into bad repute abroad, did not know
how easily the Constitution could be evaded.
But surely the Supreme Court of the United
States will not sanction such an outrage upon
/ that institution and upon the States. rs