The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-01-04
THE OUTLOOK FROM
WASHINGTON.
Military Preparations.
Hayes to be Inaugurated By ArtiI-
Iery.

While everything is apparently tran
quill on the surface, day by day We be-
hold an increase in the number of troops
at Washington. The military posts In
the far West and in the South u est are
stripped ct their garrisOns and left ex-
posed to Indian incursious, in order that
the force at the capital may be strength
ened few DAYS ago the Washington
Arsenal was connected by telegraph with
the War Department, and other measures
bave been adopted. all of which have
extreme significance in the midst of
peace AMI 10 the absence of aRv cause
! of hisquetude
| There must be a reason for or a pur-
! pose 10 these military prpparatiuns Con
gr-ss has been In session three weeks,
! end mott ing has been said or done which
IN aav wav jnstifies This extraordinary
movement, and this collection Of artillery
right IN view of tue House of Repre-
sentatives Grant has volunteered on
several occasions to say, IL will see
Hayes ilaugurated,' if he is declar, d
Presidents.
At twelve o'clock on Sunday, the 4th
| of March next. bis term of Office as
President will expire After that hour
be will b. 10 all respects a private citi-
| zen, with no more right TO occupy the
White House, or to give an order, mill
CarY or civil, than any other IF the forty
| milIInns of people in ;he United States
Any such act, if attenpted, would be a
hagTant usuTpation of cover, for which
II would be liable to punishment And,
obedience t. that usurpa ion wouIi sub
IJect a military officer tn court mar ial,
and a civil officer to penal cCnsaqB nces.
Ia huS nh ir,.r do
ing his successor, in i legal or constitu-
tional point of view. Conventional
usage has allowed the outgoing Presi-
dent to appear part of the ceremun.
i'll, by attending his successor to the
Capitol, and thus, as it were, testifying
before the world how simply and easily
| power passes from hand to hand in Il
| free Government of la y and order
But there is no ceremony at all erjOin-
ed by law The President-elect may
| qualify before any competent magistrate,
| In Washington or elSew here, az he may
So fit to do Ii NAV deliver an inau-
gurnl address before the people OF to
Congress in person. as WAS done in the
early days, or he may remain silent uu-
til the regular meeting IF Congress, or
be may call Congress together specially
fpr any reason that snail appear to him
to be sufficient
The existing forms originated AID
have expanded under notions Of proprie-
tY and courtesy. They are of no obliga-
ton whatever and have no force Abused
| as many cf them have been in the sense
of centraiizing power around the Presi-
dent, and investing him with attributes
never cIntemPlaVed by the Constitution,
Il might be well now to return to the
plain modes of the fathers, as when JEFF
fersOn rode alone to the CapitOl-nut in
Il coach and four, "a Grant did IN 1878,
attended by a magnificent military escort
said what he had TO say, and returned
4 to the White House, the fret citza n Of
the tile Republic by the choice of the
people.
Grant seems to think that he must
turn over the White House aud his
ofIic', as if they were public stores, to
his successor, AMI that be must sec
! Hayes inaugural d by the artillery which
has been gathered at Washington. The
country has borne patiently with his an =
ties for eight yeRTs. and it is about time
that he and the corrupt crew who Bur
round him should know that they must
go ont of the White HOus on he 4th Of
March, or incur the risk of being dealt
with by the Ew--Ne10 York Sun