The Russellville Democrat., 1876-09-21
TAsT's ORDER.
A Manly and Ciear-headcti Exposure of the Plot against tine Freedom of Elections.

From the New York Werld.l
 A reporter of this journal was
 yesterday favored with q most in
 teresting interview With Senator
 Bayard on the subject of Attor-
 ncy General Taft's extraordinary
 ''order" turning over the south tp
 military law. We give the con
 versation in full:
 Reporter-Have you read the
 order of Judge Taft, giving form
 to the dictates of Grant, Cameron
 and Chandler, and what do you
 think of it2
 Senator Bayard-No document
 so partisan ill character, so reck
 less of all constitutional limita-
 tions upon power, so regardless
 of historical truth, so utterly in
 subordinate to the decisions of
 the supreme court of the United
 States, has in the history of our
 country issued from a department,
 not only acting as all departments
 should act, under the sanction of
 law, but looked to by all other
 departments of the executive as
 Itself the fountain of law for
 them.
 Reporter-Have you read Mir.
 Evarts' opinion of 1868, repro duccd in the World of Wednes- day.
 Senator Bayard-I have read
 it, and by the light of that opin-
 ion consider that my condemna- tion of Judge Tatt's order is completely justified. Mir. Evarts' opinion breathes, from first to last, the true subordination of the military to the civil power. Judge Taft's long, confused or der, opinion. or whatever it may be called, directly reverses this American theory, and seeks by quibhle, evasion and downright usurpation to place law under the foot of military power, and if car ried into effect would absolutely annlhilate every police power necessary for the maintenance of state governments. For exam pie, both Mir. Evarts and Mir. Taft cite tha opinion of Attorney General Cushing as to what may be comprised in the posse com itatus. In giving this abstract definition MT. Gushing recognizes equally the power of the state within it's proper jurisdiction and of the United States within theirs, lay declaring that the persons and classes alleged by him to be com. prised within the ''power of the county" are all alike to obey the commands of a sheriff or marshal; i. e., that the county or state off cial, the sheriff, is as fully enti- tied to the aid of the power of the county in execution of his law ful duty as the United States marshals can be. But Mir Taft sees fit, in clutching at power to serve the party ends of his superiors, to omit the we'll recognized and essential fact that neither the state nor the United l States can either directly or in y interfere with each other in the exercise of their respective | jurisdictions; that the existence | and maintenance of the due pow CT of each is as essential to the | of our system of as of the other. To use the i'orcible words of MT. Jus tice Nelson, speaking for the en- tire court in the case of the Col. lector against Day (lith Wal lace): "To disturb these essen tial rights and powers of the states would cause our govern ment to disappear from among the family of nations" Thus no judge of a United States court has so far ever attempted to as sert that when jurisdiction has fully accrued to state tribunal, or over a person or subject of dispute within the cognizance Of the statc tribunal, such iurisdic ton can be nullif,ed by the Unit ed States. Illustrations of this are too frequent to make discus sion necessary. But passing by Judge Taft's claim for an indef- lite jurisdiction over matters which can and must in the nature of things belong solely to state the clam of power which he makes is SO full of dan ger, not to the south alone, which ,flords the immediate pretext, put to every section of the coun- ry, the north and the west as we'll, that it should be instantly net by all who love law and or Ter, without regard to party, with he sternest reproduction and con What does Judge Taft mean by speaking of the peace of the United States" which the marshals and their ( warns of deputies are to pre- crve, and the violation of which hey are to suppress, and which protects, amongst other rights" he rights specified by him? Does he not plainly mean that as he United States include all : he states, the preservation of |