Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-04-21

ID under the law TO appeal on that DAY Ia II.
~ place and proceed to business. UnlaWfu
b ness could NOS therefore, be predicated
= their presence, for even the military guaI
o had admitted the legality Of that by ALLOW
IS ing their entrance. Once in, the facts clea
d ~ show that the House became organize,
Ifthere was error or ~illegality in admittin
the five members, it was one which cOul
not be corrected either by executive actio
or BY force Of arms. It was an error Whic
n the House alone could correct, by virtue {
1 its plenary and exclusive power. But theT
was no error. The FIVE members were a
g plainly entitled To their seats as any Of th
; rest, andi it would have been an act Of mar
Iiest Injustice for the House to deny ther
the privilege Of taking such seats. No per
son or committee that has ever examine
the subject has ventUred todeny their right
The whole Congressional Committee sen
/, there to inquire into the facts, has afirme,
It in the most emphatic terms, and con
demned the Returning Board as arbitrary
unfair and unjust in raising any Question
concerning il. When, therefore, Gen. Dt
Trobriand's soldiers, with muskets anC
bayonets, forced those members from the
House, they were guilty of as high handed
an outrage upon free institutions, and as
glazing an invasion Of representative priv
ileges, as wa Charles l., when with like
force he attempted the arrest Of the five
members Of Parliament whose course dis
pleased him. Those who commend the
one act should be prepared to join in re-
vensing the condemnation which long since
the public opinion Of Great Britain and
America passed upon the other.
If the House was not legally Organized,
/ the raap Il M haffor 1fharo = NJ ra,,f-o
ment that a legislative body shall organize
the first hour, day or week, or without dis
order. Some of us have vivid recollections
Of cases when Congress has failed for a con-
siderable period to perfect an organization,
and when the disorder was quite as great as
has ever been charged against the BODY
which chose Mr.. Wilt speaker. The case
Of the Twenty-sixth Congress, when the
contested election in New Jersey left the
House in a condition corresponding to that
in which the action of the Returning Board
left the House in Louisiana, is in several
particulars most nearly analogous to this.
In that case also, a member Of the House
assumed to put a motion in disregard Of
the clerk, and thereby initiated the pro-
ceedings which brought order out Of chaos.
But this was not until four days Of disOr-
der. "What a spectacle" he exclaimed,
"dO we here present. We degrade and dis
grace our constituents and the country.
We do not and cannot organize; and why?
Because the clerk of this House-the mere
clerk, whom we create, whom We employ,
a whose existence depends upon our
Will-usurps the throne, and sets US, the
representatives, the vicegerents of the
American people, at defiance, and holds
us in contempt" And this men,
Der was John Quincy Adams, who may
safely be assumed to have understood the
principles Of representative government
quite as thoroughly as any D of the file Of
soldiers who, at the request of Gov. KEEL
logg, unseated the five members.
1t is clear that disorder among the men,
bers could furnish no ground for the inter
ference Of the Governor, unless he was act
ing under some other rules than are to be
found in the Constitution or statutes Of
Louisiana, or in the common law. The
three departments Of the government are
separate, distinct and independent, and
they are purpOsely made so from a convic-
ton based upon long experience, that this
is necessary if we would prevent such a
concentration Of power as would constitute
tyranny. As well might the Legislature |
send a sergeant-at-arms 10 remove the
Governor from his room when he is re-
gardless of the proprieties of life, or the
Judges from the bench when they are
guilty Of indecorum. The proceedings in
the n case or the other would be palpable
~usurpatiOn which might lawfully be re-
sisted even unto death.
But, justifying the Governor does not
necessarily justify the military force. This
is conceded by those who attempt to reason
on the subject, and they fall back upon the
provision in the Constitution Of the United
States which requires the United states,
'Fon application Of the Legislature, OF Of the
Executive, when the Legislature can not
be convened" to protect each State ~sagainst
domestic violence" This provision seems,
in the opinion Of some persons, to consti-
tute the ever ready instrument by means Of
which the Federal Government may over
turn the administration of a State, when it
proves out Of harmony with the prevailing
Federal policy. Even while we are writ
ing, an attempt to revOlutionize the State
Of Arkansas, under pretense of this au-
thOrity, has barely failed. But the utmost
violence to the language can not make it
cover this case. In the first place, there
was no domestic violence. This term ey-
implies a degree of force which can
be suppressed by State power, and the
remedy is regarded an extreme one. But
the evidence" had not gone beyond a
threatening exhibition Of pistols by a few
persons; and with the building itself in
hands Of a friendly military force, Gov.
KellOgg's police must have been greatly
wanting in courage if they could not have
preserved order among the few persons who,
by grace Of the military, had been admitted
to the hall. In the next place, the Legis-
lature could be convened, and actually had
been. Therefore, there was no authority
in the Governor to make application for
help, and the Legislature made none. In
deed, the application for force was with a
view to employ It against the only authOri-
Jy that, by the Constitution, under the cir
cumstances, could lawfully have called for
it. The case was, consequently, the exact
opposite Of that in which the Constitution
contemplated Federal action. But, in the
third place, even the Governor did not
make application to ssthe United States"
He applied to Gen. De T~robriand. That
gentleman may be every way honorable and
respectable; he may be thoroughly cOmpe-
tent to deal with all those questions of law
and constitutional right which sometimes
the minds of lawyers and states
men in contested elections of representa-
but he is not the representative of
the sovereignty of the Union, and empOW-
cred as such to decide upon applications for
aid in suppressing violence. Neither, if be
falls back upon the orders of Gen. Emory,
his immediate superior, can that officer be
as such representative. 1t is
plain, therefore, that the Constitution Of
the United States furnishes no justification
whatever to the proceedings Of the military
force, which broke up a Legislature and led
Of its members from the hall, as a King
of England, two centuries and a half ago,
hazarded his head in doing; hazarded a d
lost. And let it not be said any
more that these five persons were not men,
bers. They were elected by the people;
the election was certified by a Beard com
posed Of their adversaries; the Congress
sional Committee Ofseven members, unan-
imOusly reported that there was no ground
for contesting their right. They thus have
both State and Federal testimony to their
election. But, perhaps, most conclusive test
imony Of all is the fact that the chairman
of the Returning Board, who could make
oath to facts of which he knew nothing, in
order to unseat others, did not venture to
decide against them. Surely, the case
must have been very plain in their favor
II cou1d time 10 naccaI omar ~ Ellie