The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-07-25

A panic appears TO have seized the Fraud
ulent President and his advisers in regard
TO the railroad riots and the mode Of dealing
with them. Mr.. SHERMAN is most disturbed,
as the millionaire of the concern, who was
conspicuous In promising prosperity TO busi-
ness and liberal employment to labor, In
case HAYES should reach the Presidency.
lie and his fellow conspirators succeeded by
fraud, and the country Is now paying the
penalty of that crime.
How could confidence be restored, or the
great operations Of trade be conducted on an
assured basis, with the Government in the
hands of men not elected TO administer it,
and the public mind agitated with discoD-
tent at u cheat which strikes ut the very root
of our institutions
One of the means most effectively en-
plOycd to consummatc this monstrous in
EQUITY, and to condonc it when pcrpctratcd,
was the argument that prolonged resistance
under the forms Of the Constitution would
unsettle commerce, postpone the revival Of
prosperity, alarm capital, and bring about Il
financial explosion
Tens of thousands Of honest but unrcfect-
ing men, pressed by the stagnation of bust
ness and the hope that any change, however
bad in itself, might better their condition.
accepted this deluson II promise for re-
covery from prostration. They would not
heed the admoniton that moral laws operate
as regularly AS natural laws, aud that the
one cannot be deiiod with impunity any more
than the other
The conspiracy triumphcd according TO
the plan of its authors The tmid, and short
sighted and selfish surrendered their real
convictions, and now, when stern realities
must be confronted, they may well look
back and ask what has been gained 10y their
wrctched experiment SO far from cOnli-
dence being revived, il has weakened in every
department of affairs, since the electoral
conspiracy was completed and HAYES was
inaugurated The practical proof of this
fact il TO be found in the return Of failures
for the last quarter, which exceed In mum
her and in amount those for 1873 or 1876, the
| latter year having been the moet disastrous
since 1879.
In their anxiety 10 escape from response
bi!ity, it is suggested at Washington that
| Congress should be Immediately convened
with view to legislation on the subject
which now engrosscs mems thoughts. Or
in other words, it is proposed to make POI
ltical question OF the strikes, their causes
and their consequences. But the Constitution
defines within appropriate limits what tn,
Executive may do in cases Of invasion OF
inSurrection, and the act of 1895 prescribe,
the method Of executing the provisions rs
follows IN the Revised Statutes:
sic 5.2e7. In case Of m instruction in any sat
AGAINST the Government thereof II shall be- ltw ul Tor '
Frcsden' on alheai.n o. tlc l@ei .aiure ol such state
OF o tue Executive when tile lHgislntur, cannot be- con
Ncnr. to call forth such number NJ the nnuua
other state stacs, which may he applied tor. a. Ia
application, to employ Tor the purposes such
thc land Or nav az forces vi the United stat, lac deem
necessary"
The Governors Of West Virginia, Mary
land, and Pennsylvania have exercised theil
discretionary power in calling for troops
and apparently without having first ex
haustcd their own resources on the spot
We dislike any form OF Government inter
ference in the internal affairs of the States
except in extreme cases OF urgency, such as
may be supposed now 10 exist, from Tia,
official proclamations and the terribl,
events OF the past week. But while ther,
may be II necessity for employing tn,
army and navy in putting down domcsti,
violence, there is no reason whatever ful
Congressional interference. The law, as il
stands, has been sufficient for every need il
more than three-quarters OF "a century of ex
pericnce and vicissltudcs, and it is abund
ant, without embarking on the troubled SCI
Of new legislation, for all tho wants Of til,
present exigency.