Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-04-07

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committee, rs TO the action OF tho ret turnng
board, We are all agreed.
We understand the committee TO BE- unani-
nous in finding tho fact that the action Of the ~
! turning board has dcfeated the will Of the poo.
pie as expressed by them at the polls on the Sd
Of November, 1874 The people then elected to
the lower house of their legislature majority Of
conservative members portion Of the conser-
vative members thus elected were refused their
certificates. This s an act Of great injustice to
! the individuals, Of gravcst danger TO the State
and free government, and ought to be immedi-
aiely corrected BY any power competent to cor
rect II.
Yet the Legislature being organized,
with this clear right and plain duty,
going on with its business, armed sol
diers intervened on the 4th of January,
1876, and dispersed them. The Prcsi-
dent says he knew nothing Of il prior
to this occurrence Let us see. In
the message of the President to this
body on the 18th Of January, 1875 he
says f
Respecting the alleged interference BY tho mil
iiary with the Organization Of the Legislature Of
I Louisiana on the 4th instant, have no knowl-
| edge or information VIII ich has not been received
by me since that time and published. My
hrai information was from the papers Of the
morning Of the st. Of January. did not know
that any sach thing was anticipated, and no or
ders nor suggestions were ever given to any mill
lary officer in that State upon that subject prior
| 10 the occurrence.
But under date of the 18th of De
cember 1874, we find this dispatch
fcipher Tolegram.l
NEw ORLEANS, La, December IS, 1874
tncceived December l6l
To AnJr-GEsERAL U. s. ARxY;
The returning board and people representing
opposing party differ on vital questions. Each
ayers against the other crime Of such onormiiy
that in the present excited state Of the public
mind violence Is imminent. On the occasion Of
the lith Of September was informed, in a dis
patch dated 5th September. that the President
directed yon to say that previous orders are not
10 be observed In consequence Of which my or
der to Col. brooke to recognize Governor kel-
logg was revoked, aud an interregnum interviewed.
To avoid future Misunderstanding in the impend-
ing disturbance, which may happen at any mo-
ment or may not occur until after the meeting Of
the Legislature in January, ask to be inform
ed If the Instructions contained in your dispatch
Of September is are TO be considered in force, or
IL ain to await the result Of another app pcation
from Governor Kellogg to the Presidenty
W. H. EMORY,
Colonel aud Brerei Maj Geaeroi Commanding.
On the day on which that was re-
ceived we find this dispatch;
Wan DErrAnrnrSr ADIr. GEMS OFFICE,
wAsHSaros, Dec. 10, 1874.
Colonel W. II. EnoRY,
Commanding Department Gulf,
New Orleans, Louisiana
The President directs that you make arrange
mens to be in readiness 10 suppress violence, aud
have 1t understood that you will do il.
Please acknowledge receipt
Dy order Of the Secretary Of War
+. D. TOWNSEND,
Adjutant General
Now, either on the 18th Of Decem-
Der, 1874, the President did know Of
the existence of anticipated trouble in
regard to the meeting of the Legisla-
ture and that orders had been sent to
the troops to hold themselves il readi-
ness in view of such difficulty, or the
subordinates Of the President kept him
willfully and falsely in the dark But
again the President says
repeat that the task assumed by the troops is
not a pleasant one to them: that tic Army is not
composed Of iawyers capable Of judging at mo-
ments notice OF Just how far they can 60 in the
maintenance Of law and order and that il was i'm
lor all possible contingencies that might arisc.
ono.'' subaltcrn and Lieutenant-Gen-
oral, soldier and President, are alike
bound by the fat of the law that CON
trols, regulates, and governs this conn
try, and when they, whether in the
highest or lowest place in this Repub-
lie, shall deny the order and command
of the law when they, whether they
have epaulets upon them or have
simply the warrant Of magistrate in
their hands, shall not be amenable to
the power and the control of the law,
il will be sorry day for this country.
In government of law no man can
take the liberty or the life Of his fel-
low-citizen in his hand and, so long
as it can bo, the civil power must be
held TO be superior to the military
power In the exercise of these grave
rights, technicalities become sub
stance, forms become grave reality.
The military are the mere agents of
the civil power and cannot act, and
dare not, act, save under the order and
control of the civil power. When they
do, they act at their peril. When they
do, they put themselves in jeopardy
When they do, they are liable to pun
ishment, and the individual who is ag-
gricvcd can recover his damages from
them. These are part of the liberties
that came to us with the form Of gov
ernment we have All who are vested
with military power who assume oiigi-
nal authority become offenders liable
to the laws and liable to the citizen in
iured More than two centuries ago
the Count de Lancaster, taken in open
was condemned to death
by martial law. When il came TO be
in the courts what this
was, the courts held that it was muir
der, for the courts were open and al
though he was in open insurrection he
was amenable TO the, law and could
have been made liable there and pun
ishod for his crime. So, too, Senators
will remember the case of Governor
Wall in ono of the West India islands,
who under the authority of military
commission caused asoldicr to be logged
until he died and twenty years alter
ward, having returned to England, he
was arrested and tried for murder, and
the single question tried there was, had
the military control of the question or
had they no jurisdiction, and this sin
gle point being determined in the neg
ative, that the military power had no
control over the question, Governor
Wall was convicted of murder and ex-
ccutod rt
Can the laws go furthcr2 Yet these
are our laws. We may fail TO find
these in the written forms Of govern
ment we have but that branch Of the
Government that sits in another por.
ton Of this building, in Er parte Mil
ligan, rulod that these rights do not
rest on written constitution, but have
come to us as part Of the liberties Of
the people, have descended 10 us as our
tights, our inherent rights, and all the
people are entitled to them, and wheth-
or the armed hand or the warrant Of
the officer attempts TO take them away
from Us he is liable to the punishment
that the law metes to the crime Of
which he has been guilty.
The Constitution provides that the
President shall take care that the
laws be faithfully executed = yet here
is q paliation, an attempted pallation,
of the act of the soldiery, an attempt.
cd excuse of the destruction Of one of
the gravest rights of the citizen. l
need not refer TO the trip Of the Lieu
tcnant-Gcneral South. | need not re-
fer TO what has occurred there since.