The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-05-03
"DEtUIR vs.. The GOV. ALIEN"
NUMBER TWO.

places Of business, and Of public resort, or lo
which license is required by either State
parish or municipal authority, shall he deem
ed places Of public character, and shall bs
open to the accom- mediation and patronage
OF all persons, without distinction and dis
elimination on account Of race or color"
Article 1857, Revised Statutes, provides
for the cases where common carriers can eX
clude passengers, but prohibits distinctions
of color.
Article 1899 declares that no person shall
be refused admission or entertainment at any
public inn, hotel or place of public resort
in the State.
Article 1899 declares that call licenses
hereafter granted " by State, Parish, Or Mu
nicipality, to persons engaged in business
or in keeping places of public resort, shall
contain the express provision, that the place
of business, or public resort, shall be open to
the accommodation and patronage Of all per
sons" equally, whether white or black. and
any person who shall violate the condition
OF such license, shall, on conviction thereof
be punished by forfeiture of his license; and
his place Of business, or Of public resort
shall he closed"
This article further provides that the
said license shall be liable to damages at the
suit of he person aggrieved, and that exeT-
plary, as well as actual, damages may be re-
covered.
think we shall see that these provisions
are alike unprincipled and absurd, aud
that the legislative bodies that imposed
them have ignored the geography and navi-
cation of craftsmanship, and sailed liz I'M
chartcd and perilous seas, beyond all lati-
tude and longitude, and beyond truth, JUS
tice, experience or common sens.
Unfortunately, like the bull in the china
shop, they have had more power than wis
dom; and in the style of that iconoclast
they used brute force over us without judy
ment conscience, dashng not only over
everyday crockely aid choice china, but
our very household god, in pieces.
The base men referred to assume the gov
ernment to be master instead of servant
principal instead of agent-and an "abso-
lnte supremacy" over the people, instead of
the mere delegative breath of the people
Hence they use unbounded discretion; heed
no natural limitations Of power; disregard
the original, inherent, inalenable, and ind,.-
feasible rights of the human being, and I'M
bestatingly violate the sacred institutes of
freedom, as found in the bills of rights
established rs inviolable by the very found
ers of our liberties!
They fOrget--if they ever knew, and were
honest enough to heed the fact-that IA citi-
zen holds no life, liberty or property, under
and by virtue of the Constitution. His
right to his life. to his freedom, to his
property, aud the control and disposal
thereof, and to the pursuit of his lawful
avocation, without let or hindranee. are, as
will be seen, above the Constitution, and
a tortiori above the government and officials
the said instrument empowers. l do not
ignore eminent Notwithstanding the right
to take, with due compensation, private
property for public use. But this is the
peoples own use, and. as will be seen, the
right springs from their agreement, consent,
and will In a republic, all authority
springs from the individual people.
l will now present the leading points in
vOved in the above acts of legislation, with
comments:
l. The 18th article of the Constitution Of
1868, and the legislation based on it, assume
that sovereign and unlimited right tn dis
pose of and control property, and the use
and enjoyment OF property, exists in the
Government by virtue of the Constitution,
when. in fact, the Government is, and can
only be the agency Of the owners Of the
property, who, acting in their collective
capacity, create and employ such agency
for the purposes of protection and govern
ment. They must use agents, because they
are not able to act directly and personally;
but they, collectively, are always sovereign,
while their governmental agency is always
subject.
These owners Of the said rights-these
exclusive components of society-only gave
to it (i. G., gave to themselves collectively
the power to protect, regulate and rule, and
not the power to take away, destroy or i'm
pair any Of their original Tights-with Ger
tain seeming, if not real, exceptions, which
will be duly noted, but which do not touch
this case. 1t is they that & i've society ii. e.,
they as individuals give to themselves as
body eminent domain, so that they, the
collective people, can to the extent OF pub
lie needs, control, and even appropriate
private rights and especially take, upon
paying for it, such private property as is re-
quired for public use.
This, in society, is right founded III
compact contributed right-a right held
in trust by the society for the use aud bene-
fit Of the people who own it. Snch con
ceded right is what enables society to get
contributions for public purposes. For ex-
ample, the tax is pro rata assessment on
the members and their property, with their
consent, for the support of their govern
mental agency, and to enable it 70 do their
will.
l thus go back to rudiments, because it is
in this way only that we can find limits to
powers.
1t is now obvious that the right of the
public over private property has limits.
Under society's eminent domain, as restrict
ed by the bills Of rights, and the constitn-
tions, to say nothing of the natural law, it
has the right to take private property for
public use, upon needing it, and duly paying
its value the right to tax: the right to
exact penalties and forfeitures; the right
to impose liens and public servitndes; the
right Of using police powers which may
affect proprietary interests the right to
prevent misuse, abuse, or improper destina
ton of property, etc, etc.,-all in the duti-
fnl process of preserving public order,
morals and safety but none of these cases
include the taking, or giving control OF,
private property fer private use.
In all these matters, property is taken
for public use with the consent or will Of
the owners; for they are society, which
exists by their will, is moved by their will
and is governed by their will, such is the
true theory of the republic.
The people are the government, they have
the eminent domain, il is they, collectively,