The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-11-04
THE LAWYERS, PROTEST
Military Interference Condemned by Lead
ing Members Of the Philadelphia Bar.

ing Members Of the Philadelphia Bar.
In ourjudgment the proclamation issue
by his Bxcelleney the President Of tn
United States, shlald not be permitted t
pass into a precedent without protest
In the line of our professional duties W
have been called upon to give large
degree Of attention to the.study of ou
laws and institutions than IS general,
possible on the part of those engaged il
other pursuits; and although we do no
assume to be better able than they Il
judge of the merits of the questions nov
arising, our attention has been necessaril,
called to the many illustrations of thu
danger of excusing the violation of gen
eral law under the stress of some supposed
emergency; and in no respect is this peril
so great as in the interference of the mill
tary power Of the government in elections
The traditions of our mother country and
the warnings Of the trainers of our own
government are in accord upon this point
BY statue passed in the eighth year ol
the reign of George the Second the Brit
ish Parliament directed that no troops
should come within two miles of any
place, except the capitol or a garrisoned
town during an election, And when the
military had been called in to quell an
alleged riot at Westminster election, in
l741, it was resolved "that the presence
Of regular body Of armed soldiers at an
| alanfiOu nF ho,-e t, Il
ment is high Infringement of the liber-
ties of the subject, manifest violation of
the freedom Of election and an open def
ance of the laws and constitution of this
kingdom, and the House of Commons
ordered the persons concerned to attend
the House, where, on their knees, they
were compelled to submit to severe re-
primand from the Speaker. Such was
the temper cherished by the English
people upon this subject, and, till within
recent years, a like feeling existed here
feeling which found expression in our
own act of Assembly of 1889, which pro
vides that "no body of troops in the army
Of the United States, or of this Common
wealth, shall be present. either armed or
unarmed at any place of election within
this Commonwealth during the time of
such election" Local disturbances and
riots have not been unknown in either
country, but it has been wisely thought
safer to tolerate occasional breaches of
the peace than to call in the services of
an armed soldiery. The universal result
has been, that when election day was over
no other contest was thought of than o
peaceful trial before courts or committees,
while in Mexico and the South American
Republics the appeal has been from the
ballot to the bayonet. The fact that no
such immediate danger now threats us
should not blind us to the possible conse-
quences of the policy just initiated at
is by lying dormant long time, or being
at first very rarely exercised" wrote
Burke, Chat arbitrary power steals upon
a people," The electoral vote of South
Carolina is not likely to be of much i'm
portance in the approaching election; but
if the people of the United States ac-
quiesce quietly now in this violation Of
the Constitution, there may come time
when such interference in that or other
States will be decisive, and the temptation
"to better the instruction" may prove
irresistible. In country like this no
party can always remain in power, and
what is done to-day by the one side may
be attempted tomorrow by the other.
For awhile the defeated party will content
itself with angry comments and unayail-
ing protests, but in time either the posses
sion of such power will prove irresistible
or its exercise lead to bloodshed and revo-
luton.
The men who framed our Constitution
were guided by such considerations as
these. They were versed in the teachings
of history, and weighed well the meaning
of their words. The section under which
the power is now claimed is as follows:
The United States shall guarantee to every
State in this Union republican form of gov.
ernment, and shall protect each of them
against invasion, and on application of the
Legislature or of the Executive. when the
Legislature cannot be convened) against do.
mestic violence.
The contingency contemplated in this
section and in the acts of Congress passed
in pursuance Of it is sufficiently we'll de-
fined. Domestic violence" or insurrec-
ton, does not mean such lawlessness and
anarchy as have prevailed in the mining
regions Of this Staie, or as are said to exist
in several counties Of the State of South
Carolina, but such organized resistance to
lawful authority as endangers the State
itself and threatens the stability of its gov
ernment. As was declared in the Fed
eral convention when this section was
under advisement, its object "was merely
to secure the States against dangerous
commotions, instructions and revolu-
tions," and in the act of 1895 it was defined
as can insurrection in any State against
the government thereof"
1t does not appear what representations
have been officially made by the Governor
of South Carolina to che President of the
United States as the basis of his procla-
nation. The language of the proclama-
tion is
Whereas, 1t has been satisfactorily shown
to me that insurrection and domestic violence
exist in several counties of the State of South
Carolina, and that certain combinations of
men against law exist in many counties of
said State, known as ''rfe clubs,n who ride
up and down by day and night in arms, muir
dering some peaceabe citizens and intimida.
ting others, which combinations, though for.
hidden by the laws of the State, cannot be
controlled or suppressed by the ordinary
course ofjustice.
1t is not alleged, however, that there can
anywhere be found any body of men who
openly defy the lawful authorities The
crimes charged are against individuals and
not against the State, and whenever ar
rests have been attempted no resistance
has been made and the alleged offenders
have voluntarily submitted themselves to
judicial process whenever issued.
Such state of affairs was never before
supposed to constitute domestic violence
within the meaning of the Constitution,
and the application for troops has been
made by an Executive who is himself a
candidate for reelection who could have
convened the members of his Legislature
at any time, upon weeks notice, and
who has assigned no reason for his failure
to do so. Under these circumstances his
individual application is not enough. Il
is only when the Legislature cannot be
convened that the call Of the Governor
l..-fI n