The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-08-04
Political Aspects of the Trouble


resent revolt against the laws Of 5 J.
clal order indicates the existence 0
dangers of another sort, and the ne
cessity OF making prompt provision
for the difficulties which develo,
them. 1t is not more certain that the
national authority may employ I'll
requisite means for its own mainte
nance unimpaired than it is bound tt
keep in its own hands the force re-
.quired for the attainment OF object.
to which local authority is unequal
AS the supreme power, charged I'm.
der the G ,cStitution with the per
farmancel 5 great duties, it mus
...si.n-:l resources which
III contention as in actual war
goinsure respect for its pretensions
bedrst essen. ial is an adequate reg
hoarmy. This element of strength
cir Government has been denied.
Id ocrats in Congress, and dema-
tgs les out Of it, have insisted that
2u-ublic needs no regular soldiery,
Ire, in fact, is endangered by their
p esence. On this preten"e, and with
tlie further plea of economy, the mil
ltry force of the country has been
dluced to point that is obviously
Ssutficient for its ordinary wants
|, he troubles in the Indian terrific
ribs are formidable simply because
0fthe absurd feebleness of our avail
tle military reserve; and for the
SINE reason the paltry raids on the
Mexican frontier are a source of per-
lpttual uneasiness. If the possible
I etigences of the public service called
| ff nothing more than the means OF
Keeping the Indians in subsection,
maintaining patrol on the Rio
%ande, and occupying in a formal
fashion the scattered forts, the cut
ting down of the army to its present
standard would be ineXcusable. The
democratic majority in Congress are
responsible for a reduction which
has rendered the Government inca
lp.ble of meeting satisfactorily the
loidinary difficulties to which it is
leApOsed.
The extended and complicated
jtipubles which have grown out OF
Nlk strikes of railroad WOrkmen show
at the Federal authority can alone
relied upon for the preservation
'"aer ~ ANY greathmergene,y con
oUou with our commercial and in
lstrial system. The railroads are
1r the most part the creatures of the
States through which they run.
Their charters are derived from State
Legislature, of which, in turn, their
managers have in some instances be-
come the masters. Every road, more
over, now is but part of a system
Whose qualifications make it subject
to the laws of various states. The
injustice inflicted upon the cred tors
of a great railroad enterprise by the
conflict of local jurisdiction has been
often enough demonstrated since the
collapse of 1873. Evils of a more for
kind are revealed by passing
events. The railroad system, local
in its origin and local in its subordi-
nation to civil authority, has become
in many of its characterize
les. The main trunk routes, COM
posed, may be, of many roads, are
so many arteries, whose healthy ac-
ton is indispensable to trade and
travel. Let one of them be cut, or so
clogged that it no longer serves its
purpose, and the interests which suf-
extend across the Continent. Let
all of them he injured, and the whole
country must pay the penalty. The
movements of Interstate commerce
are suspended. The East is deprived
of its food supplies and the West of
its markets. Passenger traffic is sus-
pended and uncertain. Even the
mails are interrupted and every
Where precarious, Add to these I'M
favorable conditions the incipient
btages of anarchy, and we have, in
'rief, the situation as it is to-day.
Are we to be told that the Federal
Government should take no coZni-
zance of what are in effect great ma
tional highways, and should leave
them exposed to the vicissitudes OF
focal conflict, with no other supervi-
sing authority than that which local
jurisdiction affords ?
The question is a wide one in its
bearing upon the future Of railroads.
We look at it now only in relation
to the protection of life and property
and the efficient performance of the
service which has grown into a ma.
tional necessity. The most ardent
worshippes of State rights must con-
TESS the spectacle presented during
the last few days is not likely to give
the world very favorable estimate
of the way in which States discharge
their first and highes duties. They