, 1877-10-20

the Governor Is phralyZrd, and must call
upon the United States for assistance. If
the authorities Of any State should, for
any cause, fail or refuse to call upon the
United States Government, what possible
remedy or protection is left to life and
property sithin the limits OF that com
monwealth?
1t can readily be seen whnt frightful
possibilities of mischief are afforded by
the necessarily long interval which mus,
clapse, in the present state Of our laws,
before the Federal authority can inter
vene in cases where its intervention is
most imperative In fact, as our recent
experience has shown, the only roads
which could procure prompt protection
and immunity from interference were those
whose misfortunes had made them bank
rupt and placed them in direct custody of
Receivers appointed by the United States
Courts. To the aid of these roads the
United States Marshal could call United
States troops, and no rioters dare to resist
the power represented by the small hut
admirably disciplined detachments quar-
tered near the scenes of the recent trOub
les. 1t will hardly be con,ended that
the railway companies must become
bankrupt in order to make secure the
uninterrupted movement of traffic over
their lines, or to entitle them to the eff
cient protection of the United States
Government. Ifa bondholdcr or other
creditor is entitled to the protection OF
tho Federal Courts to prevent the threat.
ened impairment of the value of "a prop
erty through legal proceedings. he GER
tainly should not be left without remedy
against lawless violence which has actu-
ally destroyed the security for his invest
ment, and has, as ut Pittsburg, converted
millions OF dollars into scrap iron and
ashes. The laws which give the Federal
Courts the summary process of injunction
to restrain so comparatively trifliug a
wrong as an infringement of a patent
right, certainly must have been intended
or ought, to give the United States au :.
thority to prevent wrong doing which
not only destroys particular road, but
also paralyzas the entire commerce OF
the country and wastes the national
wealth. 1t is demonstrable that during
the recent disturbances the Government
of the United States was itself direct
loser, and through the Government, the
taxpayers OF the whole country to avery
large amount, by the elimination of the
national revenues arising IRON the inter-
ruption of business aud the interference
with many of the operations on which
the internal taxes of the country are
levied, as well as by the diminution OF
the Customs revenues, as all the imports
during this period, instead of being for
waried TO their destinations, were neces-
sarily placed in store, OF course without
payment OF any duty to the Government
for the time being. Suppose that this
state Of things had continued for 60 days,
would not the United States Government
have been deprived of nearly all the rev.
enues on which it relies to meet its cur
rent obligations ?
Certainly 1t cannot have been contem.
plated in the formation of our Govern.
ment that the United States authorities
should submit to see the transportation
of the mails, covering the enormous
financial and business transactions of the
whole country, and the movement OF
supplies required Tor its own various
departments, made dependent upon the
grace and favor of rioters, whose mis-
conduct in almost any other form would
have secured their immediate arrest and
condign punishment. During the recent
riots the movement OF United State
troops was inpeded at several points.
and large quantities of ammunition and
other Federal stores on their way 10 the
Pacific coast were forcibly detained for
days. The operations OF the National
Government in some parts of the country
we're as completely blocked as in the
early days of the civil war. There cer-
tainIy should be protection against
such dangers, and II remedy for such