The Van Buren press., 1873-07-01
letter from Ex.Gov. Murphy on the Pres
ent Political Situation Of
Arkansas.
A Gloomy Prospect for the Downtroddel
People Of the Stats-Baxtsr an Un-
principled Usurper.

! We find in the Little Rock Republican, Of
MURPHY. to gentleman of that city. Our
old fossil friend has been 80 long silent, that
we had forgotten he had not passed in his
chips" We don't know by what right or au-
| thority this old man sets cut to lecture the
Democracy-hc 10 not ore ofthem-never has
been, and his silently upholding the party
that has kept the best men Of the State in po-
| ltical bondage. ndquietly acquiescing In the
| insults heaped upon them, gives him no claim
to lecture any body. As it is no more than
fair that the ex Governor should have his say,
we copy the letter:
HUNTSVILLE. ARK, June 5, 1873.
! DEAR SIR: Yours Of May is received, The
| political outlook about the capitol seems that
of a lunatic asylum turned loose--a gloomy
prospect truly. for the downtrodden people
! of the State.
That Baxter was not elected by a majority
of the legal votes, | recken, is believed by
every intelligent man in the State. Hence,
Tom Jones has as much right to act as gov
ernOr as Baxter, could he get possession Of
the executive chair, as Baxter has done Bax-
ter gets possession by fraud falsehood. and
official perjury. Let the precedent be followed
and if he can be oustcd by fraud force, orany
! other means. the next usurper getting posses
! sion viii have the same de fdcto right Mr..
Baxter has. What astOnishes me Is that the
leaders of the democratic party, knowing the
above facts, and having denounced the vii
lainy Of all concerned in falsifying the result
Of the election. aan SO easily change front and
sustain the usurpation they so lately de-
nonced. OF this there can be but one expla
nation: Baxter, the nsurper, is as foul as Ss-
tan, so long As his appointments are made
from the minstrel party; but, let him appoint
leaders of the democratic party to office thsn
the aspect tchanges-BaXteri is all right. Damn
majorities; we are ted out Of the public crib.
As long as Baxter will let us put our hand
into the treasury he is all right and the frauds
by which he obtained his position must not
be exposed so long AZ he permits us to sit
with him at the public table. Hail all hail
to noble Baxter. He is turned over; he Is
now our msn. and invites us to eat with him.
Damn the votes! All hail Baxter he is our
man. The poor, ignorant people don't know
what suits them. Our turn is come new to
get our share Of the pillage. This is a picture
Of Rene at its worst; ofMexice now. Where
is republican government? Where is liberty
Whittier are we tending? Alas alas for our
country!
have no doubt that the courts have ample
and complete jurisdiction to inquire into the
TlgHl pl any OHs 10 nOlu Ollltt any OlncI view
would be an absurdty in law.
II there is no remedy for the violation Of
the constitutional right of the citizen to the
office to which he has been legally elected in
the power of the courts of the State, then, in
deed, are we without government or laws,
and the courts have no jurisdiction of any
case. The legislature have refused to ihyesti
gate the facts of the governors election,
which they should not have done. Had they
acted on Brooks petition. their sction would
have been final But without examination,
and with knowledge that Brooks had the ma
jority of votes, they wiliully and corrupty
rejected his petition. Hence he is without
remedy, unless the courts take jurisdiction,
and the rights of the people are disregardGd,
and the constitution guarantying those rights
violated, and the people of the State are gov
erned, not by law, but by force and tyranny,
and civil law becomes a farce
1t does seem to Inc that no honest lawyer
can doubt the jurisdiction of the courts in
such cases, even if the law did not give it,
which it expressly does,
The only account have seen Of the move
ments of the governors guards and the mill
tia was in the New York Herald. | have not
seen Little Rock paper for some time. Re-
pudiation will be forced; poor Arkansas will
be bankrupt Nearly every good citizen here
would leave the State could his property be
sold. Respectfully,
ISAAC MURPHY.