The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-03-02
THE FORCE BILL.

new Force bill will have been opposed in IL
House by the Republican leaders who oppose
IN the caucus, and that the Republica
party Will have been spared responsible
! under which it would have staggered W
snail, however, discuss the principle of bill
whlch we presume will have been defeate
: oeiore these words are read, because it is
i, prlnciple which can never be safely disre
carried The fourteenth section of the bill a
lepoited IN the Caucus placed the persona
ioeity OF every American citizen at the dis
cfetton OF the President. 1t provided that
whenever any such unlawful combina
IONS OF two or more persons1 as defined il
the revised statutes and under this act, shall
oe organized or attempted. and so numerous
ana powerful as to be able, by violence, to
Set at defiance and overturn anv State autbor
tiles, in all such cases such combinations shall
be deemed a rebellion against the United
States and during the continuance of such
reoeiilon within the limits which shall he
| prescribed by the proclamation of the Presi
| dent OF the United States, it NAV be lawful
| Tor the President of the United States in his
discretion, to suspend the privileges of the
writ OF habeas corpus and it is provided also
that all the provisions Of the second section
OF the act Of March ,, 1865, relating to habeas
corpus, are hereby revived in full powers"
The President was made the sole indge of
lawtulness, OF their purpose and of their
power, and he might at his pleasure annul
every guarantee OF liberty, AMI i1nprison
without Investigation or appeal.
such proposition should need only to be
stated, for in an English speaking comnu-
nlty the statement is the argument. For
hundreds OF years the political effort Of the
English race has been to secure personal lib
cry, ana ITS gl.lantoes can MOI be too highly
raverencGd.
The power conferred by the Force bill is
Such a. may be- properly exercised in a state
OF open Wax, luz not sach as may be granted
t" prevent war, because that pin-hole would
let N ths whole sea. TIE dangerous power
wopiy be always sought and granted upon
the plea OF preventing war, Just as Louis Ma
poe9n JUSTIFIED MS coup eidt and street mas
sacres under the pretense Of "saying So
clety. We do not say, of course, that Gen.
Grant would misuse such a power.
But it Is power that no President should |
ask IN a time of peace, and that no Congress
snonld grant; and that the grant was DELHI |
erately recommended by ca ucus of members |
OF Congress, many OF whom were doubtless |
sincere and patriotic men, shows how familiar
the public mind has become with a military
spirit, and how far it has drifted from |
wa chful jealousy of constitutional forms |
and civil guarantees. The Washington !
Republican, paper of no importance |
except as a parasite Of the Presi- |
dent, hailed the adoption of the
Force bill by the Caucus as a sign of .'cour-
age, and it was suggested in other quarters
hat the President would not misuse the
bower. But is it seriously supposed that
Americans, whose boast is government of
avs andsnot OF men, would regard as cour-
lgeous disposition to rest their personal
liberty upon a confidence that the Chief
Magistrate would not misuse the power of de-
Driving them OF it?
We are not, of course, unmindful of the
ltuatlon in the Southern States, which is
Urged as the argument for such bill There
S undoubtedly virtual terrorism in many
'laces. There IS an angry and hateful feel
ng surviving the war. There are all the
PASSIONS, Ignorance, Incidence, lawlessness,
nd barbarism which are the natural fruit
+ slavery, system which, as the antislavery
1en always said, was as hurtful to the
7hites as to the blacks, to the master as to
be slave.
There is, as every trusty report alleges, and
s all experience taught that there would be,
Il element of disorder and anarchy in those i
tates OF which the actual outrages and q
rlmes give but a feeble idea. The White {
league is but an unmasked ku Klux The 1
Conservatives" as they are ludicrously
allied, man the White League and plot revo- /
ltion. The Arkansas report agrees with the i
tatements from New Orleans that there is
body Of young men, reckless des- 7
eradoes, ready for any mischief, who are v
upported by the ris inertia of the old ''Con-
ervative" hatred of "the North and the
ankee. 1t is not, indeed, denied, on the
Their hand, that there are large communities
which this is not true, and many people
no are sincerely DESTROYS of tranquility.
ut this sentiment is overborne by the White a
eague influence, which controls politics and e
peaks and acts for the States. \
In this situation, it is asked, is it not b
hildish to suppose that the rights of the ne k
roes guaranteed by the Constitution will be
9spected, or that the ordinary forms of law, A
, be administered by conservatives" and s
Jhte Leagues, will be anything more than {
rec There is one thing, and one thing C
My, we are told, which this lawless and !,
lalIgnant spirit respects and fears, and that
the United States bayonet.
We are assured that if Governor Kellogg
ad not seized the sword on the 4th of Janu- b
~, with or without law, the Legislature \
T Louisiana would have been overpowered in a
s own hall by White League conspiracy, '
id the streets of the city would have run a
18th blood We put the argument upon s
hich the Force bill is urged as strongly as it 6
as been stated. And the reply is conclusive. C
the Southern situation isas it is represented, S
the wdefying hatred of the controlling
ass in those States is such as to o
lthorize the passage of this BILL it is such as "
justify the President in proclaiming re- 6
elton, and summoning troops, as Lincoln v
id in 1861. But if such is not the situation fl
there are only the disorders and disturb v
aces and hatreds and expressions which I
ere sure to follow war that freed the slaves a
i'd destroyed the industrial and political b
stem Of the States concerned there is no b
ason or justice in the BILL and it is crime e
yainst civil liberty. II
II there are unlawful combinations in any
tate SO numerous and powerful that they g
ave overturned, or are overturning, or t
lreaten to overturn the authorities by vio- n
nee which they cannot control, then let u
lose authorities, as the Constitution pro- c.
des, apply for assistance, which should be G
id would be promptly rendered, But upon h
hat conceivable ground can people, jeal- s.
Is of the safeguards of liberty, authorize