The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-03-29
WHOLESOME DOCTRINE FROM TIE
SUPREME BENCH.

from the presiding Justice OF the great Amer
lean Tribunal of Constitutional Law q distinc
and emphatic recognition Of the rights, juris
diction and sovereignty of States. Says Chic
Justice Waite:
Ills the duty Of State to see that ITS citizen
are protected in the right to peacefully assemble to
peaceful and la,ofM purposes The Constitution
forbids the government from Qbridging this right
The right Of bearing arms for la,ofI purposes
must be seen to by States, the Constitution
simply providing that Congress shall not in.fring'
its rights. The sovereignty to protect RUes ana
property hes exclusively in the States.
This is doctrine which Justice Marshall
might have taught with the hearty approval
of Jefferson or Calhoun. It has not only the
ring but the aspect, the stamp, the image and
superscription of the true metal.
And again, the Chief of the most exalted
tribunal of the land, says:
The fourteenth amendment prohibits States
from depriving any person Of certain rights,
but this adds nothing to the rights Of one ciii-
| zen as against another. The only obligation
| Of the United States is to see that the States
do not deny the right The amendment
guarantees that, and no more. The power of
the United States is limited to the enforce
ment OF THIS guarantee.
The first section Of the fourteenth amend
ment reads
All persons born or naturalizad in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and
of the State wherein they reside. No State
shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immuni,ies of citi-
zens of the United States, nor shall any State
deprive any person of life, liberty or property
without due process of law, nor deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the equal pro-
lection Of its laws
And the fifth section of the amendment
provides that "The Congress shall have
power to enforce. by appropriate legislation,
the provisions Of this article" the meaning
of which is that the legislation for carrying
out the fourteenth amendment must be con-
formable to 1t, limited by it, and controlled
by its spirit and intent. It was not designed
to confer upon Federal courts the jurisdiction
over the trial of offsnses against the peace of
the State, nor over the trial of q conspiracy to
commit breach of the peace within State.
Says the Court:
II ,oiu certainly not be claimed that the Uni
ted States haze The poUer to perform mere
police duty aoahia the States.
A recent and eminent writer says:
Ours is double allegiance. The State is
our country, the Union is our government,
and though we may have more than one allie
glance We can have but one country; we love
our country, we respect our government; one
is passion, the other is q duty. Laws and
covenants unite the State to the Union, but |
nature herself binds the citizen to his State.
May we not hope that this latest decision |
Of tribunal in which Republican senti-
ments prevail will be taken by the wiser and |
better part Of the Republican party as cue
and signal for reasserting the doctrine Of
those who called themselves Republicans in
the days Of Jefferson? Will not the Execu-
tive and Congress take this as an admonition
to cease from assaults upon the rights of the
States and from vain but most pernicious
attempt to absorb into the Federal Govern.
ment the reserved powers and functions Of
he individual republics of which the Union
ID made up? Is it not time for thoughtful
men to be looking into the powers usurped
BY the central authority which the Federal
Government was intended to prevent?
It is high time for all those thinking men
Who are accustomed to watch the drift of
power to consider whether our liberties are
afe where the wholesome division Of govern
ng authority and functions is despised. An
buse often committed and long tolerated
. precedent for other and greater
buses An infringement of State rights, re-
'eated until it becomes habit, will at length
% claimed as legal, proper and necessary.
he bonds Of q Federal Union were just,
7ise equitable, and easy to be borne; SO long
3 they are not made the appliances and
,eans Of tyranny the people will cherish and
maintain them. The strength Of govern
,ent Of delegated powers lies in the wise,
autious ard forbearing use that may be {
lade of them for the common good without
eglect, oppression OF pertiality in any direc.
on.
Families. associations, communities, cor
orations, guilds and societies always prosper t
lost where individual preferences are re- Q
pected, where each member attends to his own
fairs with diligence and oircumspection, and :
here the assumption of control without
nthority is justly regarded as crime. /
The central power should be strong enough
unite the States, but strength beyond that !
more than is safe and more than is neces-
Try for selfpreservation. The Constitution i
as intended to give, and did give, to the =
sntral government power enough for protec-
on and to prevent disintegration. 1t was !
ot intended to give, and did not give, to it :
10 power to enlarge its powers.
Hon. GEO. A. SHER1DAH.-0n Monday the :
DOM of the outer darkness of very trying /
~ was off,et in part by agurative rays of i
,nial sunshine, which came to our Office
ong with our good-humored, wide awake, !
itty. eloquent and social friend, Sheridan. 3
ho returns to New Orleans after q tour {
rough Texas. He lectured in several of