The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-04-02
Rnt One Difficulty.

l3uJ One DllllSuAey'
The wild turkey is often caught in the
yerv simplest Of traps-namcly, covered
men with the rails too close together TO per-
mi. the turkey to escape between them, YET
having hole in the ground under the bot
tom rail large enough for it to pass through
into the trap. The foolish fowl eoos us
head hither and thithcr, and STICKS IL OUT
between the rails, but never after IT'S GU
trance thinks OF the large hole through
which |; entered. The consequence IS tna'
the turkey loses its. liberty, and along w"n
this. its life. Mr.. HAYES seems 10 DC 'os'
now playing the part OF the wiia tufhe!'
The presence Of United States soldiers III
I,or,isiaua is the trap which holds MN anu
prevents him from going about his business
a, restoring peace to that distracted state
To get rid OF this trouble he nced only
Withdraw the army--com out through the
,o,e through which he entered-and all will
he well. The political problem Wit be
solved. To send commission is merely to
noke his head out between the rails. 10
consult plNCuRAcK, or KELLOGG, or CASEY
or IAwRsScn. or even the Attorney-Gene-
raj is simply 10 spluttcr like the silly tur-
kew. Look for the hole through which you
got into the "scrapc. Mr.. HAYES. and you
will at once find the way out OF 1t. Win
draw the army.
But Mr.. HAYES has not entirely Invested
h;nsc. OF the notion that ii is his duty to
be national policeman and keep the peace
in Louisiana. He is still fully bent upon
seeing that the negroes are protected III
ali their rights in that State. Were he
finds his authority, it would puzzle him TO
tell. He is possessed Of the notion, ana ne
can't Get rid OF it. The Constitution was
never understood to bear any such con-
struction before the war. Indeed, the Ere
sidcnt who should have made such pro-
position would have been hooted out OF the
White House. Yet every northern polltl-
ciar seems to think that it is part Of the
duty OF the President to look after the
welfare. not OF white people poor or rich,
Int q, the negroes. We don't suppose
tina. Mr.. HAYES ever thought for mo-
ment that il was his duty to see that the
white men Of any State were Unprotected y
in their rights. No act OF injustice, how
eyer great; no wrongs, however aggravated,
can excite in his bosom the sympathy that
brings about action unless the injustice or
the wrong be done to negro. Factory
lords may march their Massachusetts White
slaves to the polls and compc! them to vote
the Republican ticket. and their act will not
90 bn ptt
founders may do the same with their white
slaves in Pennsylvania. Nay, even here in
Virginia. though size is Il southern and 4
reconstructed State, the Presidents under
Engs in the nary-yard at Portsmouth may
issue orders to compel every man there to
vote the Republican ticket upon pain OF be-
ing discharged from employment, and yet
the President takes no steps towards the
protection" Of these white men in their
rights. The Government Of the United
States has so long been prostituted to. the
basest purposes OF base partisans that this
prostitution has become one Of its constitu-
tional functions, in the opinion Of the head OF
the vile party that first commenced the dis
graceful work. 1t is proof OF the saying
OF distinguished Frenchman that when a
man has done wrong act three times, he
begins to think it right. The Republicans
have so long practiced upon the theory that
the Governments principal business iii the
southern States is to "protect" the ne
groes, that its leaders have come to regard
this as duty imposed upon them By the
Constitution.
II is not the Constitution as the fathers OF
the republic made it that contains authority
for Federal Intervention in State affairs.
Nobody can pretend to lind it in that in
strument. 1t is supposed to be contained
in "the amendments" We find that idea
cropping out in northern editorials and in
northern public-speeches. The negroes
must be protected in their newly-acqu;red
constitutional rights say the negrophc-
lists. But even the amendments confer no
such power upon the President. The Su-
preine Court of the United States has settled
this question beyond dispute. The thirteenth
amendment did nothing but free the slaves.
The fourteenth actually recognized the right
OF every State to disiranchise the negro; so
that the authority cannot possibly be found
in this one. The fifteenth, the only remain
ing amendment,merelypr provides that neither
the United States nor any State shall deny
the ncgro's right to vote. As Senator THUR
NAN has often repeated in the United States
Senate, this is a limitation upon the powers
OF the State government, not provision
under which the President can claim the
right to interfere with individual persons.
, In fact, there is no foundation in the Con.
stitution or the amendments for the Presi,
dents pretence that he cannot withdraw the
troops from Louisiana until he is assured
that the negroes are to be ''protected in
their rights. Louisiana can attend to her
own affairs as we'll as New York to hers,
and should be permitted to do so.
The Right Doctrine