The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-07-23
THE RIOTS AT THE NORTH.


We are not sufficiently acquainted with the
circumstances that have led to the conflict
now raging between several large railway
corporations at the North and their employees
to pass judgment upon the merits of the con.
troversy; nor Ia 1t d matter OF Importance to
others than the parties directly concerned
how much OF right and wrong there may be
on either side. What interests us and the
people of the whole country Is the alarming
fact that riot of gigantic proportions has
broken outin several rich and poputous States
of the Union, and, up to the present writing,
has successfully defied the law and held at
bay the constituted authorities of those States.
This state of affairs is positively disgrace
full and cannot with safety to our form OF
government, be permitted to continue much
longer. So long as we enjoy the blessings Oh
a written constitution ours Is a government
of law, and the law must be vigorously en-
forced at all times and at all hazards. we
cannot afford to allow the spirit OF Coinnuh-
ism, which has manifested itself In 80 for
midable q manner at Baltimore, P1ttspurg
and other points, to obtain sway In any part
of the country. It must be nipped in the bud
and reIentlessly crushed out, or the conse-
ouences to which 1t will inevitably lead
will ingulf our State and Federal m
situations in irretrievable ruin. Successful
defiance of the law on the part OF mobs i'm
plies contempt for constitutional restraints
the only protection of minorities and heralds
the approach Of the reign Of brute force. Such
a rule, it is needless to say, can have but two
logical and alternative consequences, namely:
anarchy or It's corrective-despotism. neither
of which must be allowed to take root in
American soil.
There is, then, If our institutions have vital
ity enough to endure but one possible result
of the terrific conflict now raging between
law and violence, and that is the complete
triumph and vindication Of the law-and this,
not through Federal Intervention, but by the
power of the States themselves. II sovereign
States cannot protect their citizens and en-
force the laws within their limits, they expose
to the merited charge Of imbecil-
ity and forfeit all claim to respect. Autono-
my and Independence which exist only in
name provoke nothing but contempt, and
cannot sustain themselves The people of
the States OF this Union must hasten to realize
the fact that the Federal Government is
always, whether deliberately or unconscious
ly, striving to centralize all power in itself
it seizes upon every pretext to
In the affairs OF the States Snow by
charging the jurisdiction of it's courts, now
by attempting to exercise what is called police
power in the several States we sound no
empty note Of warning when we call upon the
authorities of Maryland Pennsylvania and
West Virginia, in the name of self-government
and State independence, to put down these
riots at any cost, rather than invoke the in
5ervention Of Federal troops.
We do not hesitate to say that our sympa
,hies, as mere matter of human feeling, are
Entirely with the poor and suffering employees
whose wages have been reduced in order to
make up for losses occasioned by ruinous
competition between railway corporations;
)ut when they resort to violence and spolia-
Jon as redress for their wrongs, they pro-
yoke the condemnation Of all right-thinking
men. Two wrongs do not make a right.
These riots must be suppressed and order re-
stored, but not by the Federal Government
The States themselves must enforce their au-
thority and vindicate their right to independ-
,nce and autonomy.