The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-03-21


power has been exercised by both houses
without dispute from the foundation of
the government That evidence should
be received in cases of contested returns
:, ems clear The principle has been
maintained by the ablest statesmen the
country has produced. 1t was the prac-
tee confined to the principle in secret
session notably ia the else of LoulsI-
an itself in 1869 and 1873. Such, evil
IDENTIFY. was the view of both houses at
the present session; the investigating
committees were sent to Florida, South
/ Carolina and Louisiana to take testimony
and report a. to the election in those
States.
1t is difictft to see upon what prinei-
pie this view can be based. The duty OF
Congress is to count the vote. This
makes the enactment of the vote to be
{, counted. This again makes the deter
mination of what is the true vote and
the distinguishing of the false from the
true Tuis requires evidence, for when
the false and the fraudulent have been
approached to themselves the forms of
law expressing the fact cannot be admit
ted for if fraud possesses the recount,
how can the success Of falsehood b0pre-
vented if either jury be denied? The
action OF the Commission disables Con-
gress from performing certain constl-
Iutional duty. In the second place, this
decision nullifes an article Of the Consti-
tuition In section l, article A, it is
provided, "But no Senator or Represen
tative or person holding an office of trust
or profit under the United States shall be
oil ba Sfato
chose electors who are ineligible, how
can this provision be made effectual? The
State, by action, has refused to repeal
it. Manifestly it can then only be en-
forced by the power authorized to pass
upon the vote which the State has re-
termed but Congress, then, in counting
the vote, must determine who are and
who are not eligible electors-facts which
can only be ascertained by evidence
aIiunde Any other doctrine abrogates
the previous construction, and in effect
substitutes the following:
Senators, Representatives and all
persons holding offices of profit or trust
under the United States, may be APP
pointed electors" In the third place
the doctrine ignores all the precedents
evidence of fraud submitted. Nothing
can stand which Is furnished by fraud.
1t Vitiates everything. 1t annuls every
deed, cancels every obligation, annuls
every contract, and reverses every judg
ment. Every tribunal, however organ
ized is bound to regard every fraudulent
transaction as nullity, however it may
come before it, whether directly, in an
independent proceeding, or collaterally.
The decision of the highest tribunal, if
procured through fraud, should be treat
ed as of no effect by the hunlb lest Court
of the land As said by distinguished
writer: cit matters not whether the
judgment impugned has been pronounced
| by an inferior or the highest Court in
the land, but, but in all cases alike, it is
competent for every Court, whether in
ferior or supervisor, to treat as nullity
any Judgment that can be clearly shown
to have been obtained by manifest fraud
1t remained for this decision to declare
that there were certain tribunals
which could perpetrate fraud with inlpu-
nifty, and that there was one Court which
could lay it's hands upon frand when
brought before it fol review. Those ex-
ceptional tribunals were the returning
boards of Florida and Louisiana.
That exceptional Court is the Electoral
Commission. Fraud has found an in
trenchment from which it cannot be
driven, in a contest making the choice of
the highest officer of the greatest of re-
pubics. A doctrine more corrupt ~ it's
consequences, more destructive Of the
purity of elections and more threatening
to the perpetuity Of free government
could not easily be found. II is sought
to Justify this decision by ali appeal to
State sovereignty. Tie Arguments that,
as the States choose their electors in
! SOVEREIGN capacity, their decision cannot
be reversed by any other authority.
This proposition pushes to its further
most limit the doctrine of State fights.
The theory of the most advanced advo-
Gates of that school was only that the
States were sovereign as to the reserved
powers over them which were delegated.
/ 1t was conceded that the Constitution was
supreme. The power to choose doctors
would not have existed except or the
| Constitution. 1t was therefore dele
| gated power. The Legislature of the
State chooses electors by yiEue of
the constitutional provision. | is a
duty to be performed by the State
while in the Union. 1t cannot perform
/ it before admission nor after the Union
/ is disputed Can it be possible th.t there
is no power in the Union to deermine
how the duty has been performed, and
| whether in compliance With the consti-
tutional provision? To assert tbs doc
Z / IL. II,
ence of the States, to deny the supremacy
of the Constitution and to leave the
United States powerless against the fraud
or violence of the included States which
may force President upon thepeople.
The power to review the action of the
electoral colleges seems necessarily to be
denied from the nature of confeierated
government. If one party to tie COM
pact possesses Il power as to its subject
matter superior to the power created by
the agreement, the compact inevitably
fails, for it is impossible for conbder-
acy TO exist unless the jurisdiction If its
individual members as to powerscom-
mitted to the confederation is sulordi-
mated to the larger Jurisdiction d the
latter. IF, for example, as in this case,
one State can receive its functions as to
electing President in violation If the
Constitution without any power n the
Union to rev erse its action, then ICon-
stitution was unnecessary for the dee
CATION of powers. and the nation nay be
governed in viois- on of the veryinstru-
ment which createdit. But what0er the
} power of Congress as to the author.y over
j the vote of electors, it is certain tat it is
not bound to treat as valid fraudulent
t certificate. 1t matters not no, abso-
! lutte the sovereignty under whioha fraud
t is perpetrated, it cannot receive protec-
ton nor be granted recognition. If there