Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1877-11-28
CLEARFIELD, PA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER %, 1877


} certain limits) q sovereign government
to which obedience was due directl,
from the people, it took no notice o
, State lines, and could not make wa
upon State any more than Stat,
could make war upon county. Tn,
opposite doctrine, which would inter
pose the State between the people ant
the Federal government, was the doc
trinc Of the seccssionists, which we re
jected as unsound and heretical.
If the executive had at that tim,
opened an indiscriminate and aggres
sive war; IL would not only have beer
lawless murder, but it would, as every
one now can sec, have ended in com
pleto disaster, and the cause of the
Union must have utterly persisted.
The execution function is confined
by the statute book as well as the Con.
stitution. The President could not
and he said plainly that he would not,
Violate hls oati. VI once oy usurping
power which the law Withheld from
hlm' But Congress could give him all
that was needed IL did not DO so. On
the 9th oil January he sentin special
message describing the dangers to
winch the umon was exposed by the
inactlon oil Congress, ana showing the
lnadequacy OF his means to control the
rising revolution congress would not
vote a man ora dollar, nor IN any way
strengtheh the executive manu.
mat THESE views oil legal ana CON
stitutlonal duty were true ana right IS
not open to the slightest doubt. Ex-
cept the southern members who retir-
cd, all the CABINET iully ana heartily
cohcqrred IN them. ueneral Cass, Gen-
eral DIX, Mr.; Holt Mr. stanton, Mr.
Ioucey ana Mr.. hing were as true to
them as | was ana OF course support
9u &C., then win much greater aoiIity'
we dlnered several tunes with one an
other ana with the President on
points oil pollcy but on the law we
were OF one MIND and one heart Our
exposition OF IL was not 10 my knowl-
cage thought or sald TO oe erroneous
oy any member oil that Congress. Our
successors, OF the Lincoln admlnistra-
t'oh, auopleu " IN an its length ana
breadth 10 this day no lawyer oi
average ABILITY has ever iairly consid-
cd 1t and then candidly put in dis
sent. 1t Is so maniiestly correct--so
simply just and right-that all men
agree to IT,
Such being the true state Of the
case, as the record shows, you assail
the buchanan administration with
illthy abuse, and charge Mr.. Buchanan
himself, not only With entertaining
opinions totally different from those
he actually held and expressed, but
with criminal acts of the darkest dye.
Apart IRON the palpable falsehood
OF these accusations, your attempt to
critcisc a man like Mr. Buchanan is
unpardonably presumptlous. Your
Judgment upon his character or con-
duet, even II honestly expressed, is not
worth a straw Doubtless he had his
share ofimperlectionsi but how could
you tell his faults IRON his virtues
fou believe that tho fraudulent alter
alton OF election returns to cheat ma
ton is the "exercise OF wise discre-
ton you believe the Louisiana re-
turning law 10 DC Just ana constltu-
tiona you nelleve II right 70 quote
judicial decision ior principle which
inc case does not contain now, then,
can any moral standard oil yours be
applied TO a statesman whose llie was
upright pure, ana patrlouc iour
iallh IN ana aliectlon ior, inc carpet.
Dag khaVes makes IL a necessity Oh
your nature 10 Vilhy buchanah' VINO
was ~ all thlhgs Iheir opposite, his
lnteiieclual Us wen as nus moral suPe.
rlority puts you so wiuely apart ihat
you can never Know anything what-
ever ABOUT hiln' l. 40 hot wish 10 OK
aggerate nus magnitude OF your ilttie'
ness ana couiu hol II woIiu try J
ior no comparison oil mine can hescrioe
lne uliierence between you hyperion
the mousing owl the King of the III.
tans and the dwarf at his foot; the
builder of tho solemn temple and the
hy on one of its columns-nono of
these tritc SMILES giyes an idea of the
immeasurable distance whichseparates
you from him. Nobody expects the
scurvy politician, who busies himself
fixing up false election returns, to un-
derstand the thoughts, motives or acts
OF the incorruptible magistrate whose
walk is on the mountain ranges of the
law.
Let us look for moment at your
method OF supporting the charges you
make and see hoy worthy It IS OF you
and your carpct-bag associates. In
substance, your accusations are that