The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1876-04-05
Tho Enforcement Act,


The people Of South Carolina
cannot have ceased to romember
| very distinctly the arrests, trials
and convictions had in 1871 and
1872 umdcr the provisions of an net.
of congress entitled "An act to
| enforce tho provisions Of tho four
tocnth amendment to the cOnstitu.
ton commonly known us tho
Enforcement Act. It will be re-
mcmbcrcd that grave doubts wore
then entertained us to tho right of
conSro"s to Interfere to enforce
the right Of suffrage conferred upon
the ncSroca by the amendments to
the constitution. Moro than one
ease wos t,kcE mp from tho Unitod
States circuit court for this state to
the supreme court, but owing to
some technical points Il decision on
, tue merits wnB novor reached. In
1873 thcro wore riots in Grant
Parish. Louisiana, which resulted
i'll tho killing of several negroes.
Several persons vcro indicted under
tho Enforcement Act, and, after
one mistrial, somo wcro convicted.
Tho parties convicted mado Il
motion III arrest Of Judgment, and
/ tho cases were taken to the
supreme court. The opinion of the
court has just been pronounced.
and the indictments pronounced
fatally defective. The chief points
made in the opinion Of tho court
arc these l. That tho amend
mcnts to The constitution do not
confer the right OF suffrage, bnt
only cnjoin that the right shall not
he abridged on account of raco or
color. 2. That tho right Of sur-
IriSc IS under the exclusive control
Of tho states, with tho single
reservation set forth in the amend
mcnts. 3. That to make ont i case
against party under the Enforce
mcnt Act, it must be shown thut
the offence consisted in IN attcmpt
to Interfere with the political rights
OF Il person oM "cco,tIH ot' his ruce
or c"i"-that is, conspiracy to
interfere with tho rights Of demo-
Gratis or of republicans, az such
without regard to waco or color, is
not an offence cognizablu Under the
Act in question. This last point
was raised before Judges Bonl and
Bryan, sitting ut Columbia, in 1871,
AMI more than emo count in an
indictment was pronounced bad, on
the ground that each contained nm
allegation That the right of suffrage
WAS conferred Ivy the constitution.
Under tn" decision Of tho supreme
court, no Indictments can DO tricI
under the Enforcement Act, unless
1t be shown in every case that thc
wronSiI! act wa* committed against
person on account Of his race O.,
color. The discrimination may be
dccld"d and sweeping, and may
operate chiefly against negroes, but
II The ground OF such hiscr:>nination
be amy other than that Of race or
color, the Enforcement Act is DOW
cricas, and the United States
Courts have NO jurisdiction. The
N'"$ Ht"d CD"ricr says: 1T will
no longer lie possible for the
United States Conrts to GUST the
state of lis jurislirtion, is prcroSu
tive, in cases OF assault and battery
or felony The United States vii
no longer undertake to pcrforn
mere police duty; tho United States
Courts will have no Jurisdiction
under tho Enforcement Act, saye
in the cases where tho freedom
from discrimination on account O.
race or color, guaranteed to tho
citizens by tho constitution, shall
III some way be lcsscncd or i'm
paired" This restriction of tho
power Of congress to'antcrfcro will
the local affairs Of tho states is II
perfect consnnancc with tho spirit
Of the constitution and the spirit o
I'LL our American institutions. Th,
highest court Of the land coulC
nave performed no more important
duty than that Of expressing an
opinion: which keeps tkc power O.
congress within proper and con-
atitutionnl limits.
Thd Work OF Investigation.
The democratic majority in ih,
Il ~ Ia,