The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-12-06

Ouby uuuSot VI poooiR8 -t00 ~
sH!seSRsSsbSsa ;k ss;;si9ss ss .R$ hs
orats who may be ct homo when they
|ought to be in shair. seats. The. De.
mocratic members of the. present
House comprise s1number who seem,
like Grant, to regard their Office as i
perquisite. and not as public trust.
An effort ia on foot to call caucus
OF the Senate early in the session, with
view to re-organize the Senate COM
mittees. This is direct movement
to displace Cameron from the head of
the Foreign Relations Committee, and
also fill chat of Education and Labor
with more fitting Chairman than the
illiterate Flanagan, of Texas. The
latter committee did comprise, during
his life. Sumner. and still rotains Nor
ton and other prominent Senators.
Owing to the manifest ignorance of its
Chairman. no meeting Of the commit
tee as II is now constituted has ever
been held or ever will be while Flani.
gan is at the head of it.
The following teiegraphic CORES.
pondence has just ocourred:
SAN FnANcrsco, 4:25 P. M., De-
cember 1 To THE president OF THE
UNITED STATES, Washington: Kala-
kaua. King of the Hawaiian Islands
sends greeting to his great and good
friend. the President Of the United
States OF America. He acknowledges
generous reception. characteristic of
warm hearted people. aud will haste u
to express, in person, those sentiments
OF sincere respect aud lasting friend.
shIp entertained toward the President
and the great nation he SO worthily
represents.
To which the President ~eplied: The
President OF the United States extends
the cordial welcome of the nation to
hls great and good friend, His Royal
aighness Aaiakaua, on his arrival in
tue United States, aud tenders his
personal congratulations on the safety
OF his voyage. Tho President antici-
pates with great pleasure the oppor-
tunity OF personal greeting. and as
sures his Highness of the sincere
friendship which. in common with the
people of the United States, he enter.
tains for His Royal Highness, and
hopes that his journey across the oonti.
ncnt may be guarded by kind Provi-
dence
RICHMOND. December 60 lite o
sensation was creuted. to-day, by the
announcement that there was divi-
sion between Judge Bond, of the
United States Circuit Court, and Judge
Hughes. of the United States District
Court, both of them sitting and hear
ing the cases of the judges of election
at the Petersburg municipal election,
In May last, and also tha three regis.
trars charged with "preventing and
obstructing from voting divers persons
citizens Of the United States, at that
election" The indictments we're made
under the Enforcement Act, to which
the defendants fled demurrer. Upon
this division Of the court arose on
the point that the indictments do not
charge that the persons prevented from
voting weTe SO prevented on account
OF race, color or previous condition of
servituhe. Judge Bond holds that. as
the motives OF men cannot be looked
into or proved, except by their acts, it
Is suhcient TO charge that citizens of
the United States were prevented from
voting, aud that the motive of hostility
TO race may be- Inferred from the act Of
preventing colored voter from vot-
ing. Judge Hughes takes the ground
that If tue election, instead of being
for municipal officers, had been for a
member OF Congress or Presidential
electors OF the United States, these in
diotments. for reasons which need not
De set forth, would have been valid to
give jurisdiction to the court, and
would have been founded on thos.
eeotions OF the Enforcement Acts of
Congress Which expressly relate to ma
tional elections. On the other hand.
If tho indictments had churgod that the
persons prevented from voting at this
State election were persons of Saxon.
Celtic, Mohgol. African or othor Do.
scent, and that the defendants pre-.
vented from voting on account of race.
then. being founded upon those sec
tions Of the Enforcement Acts. which
were designed to enforce the fifteenth
amendment to the National Constitu.
ton, they would have given Jurisdiction
to this court, because The fifteenth
amendment expressly declares that
"the rights of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of race, color or
previous condition of seryitude." Hs
concludes his decision by the opinion
that any law OF Congress ia sunconstitu.
tlonHl which makes the preventing of
voter from voting in State election
penal, on any other account than of