The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-04-26
r0IlAlIrY uNDER TAE LAW.

We do not adopt the uoctrlne ol tno
absolute equality OF men with which
the demagogue captivates the fancy o.
the ignorant and unthinking ana zoo
often excites their passions>to the Sc
rious detriment OF society. But there 10
q more limited sense to be attached to
It, to which we yield as thorough and
unreseryed an adherence as could
Cleon or Anacharsis Clootz. we De-
lieye in the perfect and complete equal
itv OF all men before the law; and we
would have the doctrine, thus limited,
not only theoretically avowed, but prao-
tically applied.
We can conceive of nothing more
detrimental to society than the preva-
lence OF the belief in the say
ing of Anacharsis, that flaws are
like cobwebs. In which the small
flies are entangled, but wasps
and hornets break through" 1t at
tacks the moral SENSE Of men and de-
stoys that confidence in the administra-
ton OF justice which Is the strongest
imminent Of society. The conscience
or every correct thinking man must re-
coil from the practice which confers i'm
munity upon men in an inverse proper
ton to their guilt, to the temptation to
which they have been subjected, and
the opportunity they have possessed to
acquire the habit of resisting that temp
tation. Why should the miserable Off
spring of crime, who has never heard
an honest or virtuous sentiment. be sent
to the penitentiary for stealing loaf OF
bread or q pair of shoes, and the Gov
ernor, or Chief Justice, who has violated
his official oath for dishonest lucre; go
utterly unwhipped Of justice9 The
crime committed by the clerk who robs
the till of his employer is hardly 80
base as, and is far less deleterious to
society than, that Of these men. That he
should be sent to hard labor and
they have immunity must be felt
by all as an outrage upon justice,
and, by weakening confidence in
the integrity Of government, be
productive Of the most unhappy ELECTS.
Indeed, we know of nothing in the last
ten years which has been more demon
alizing than the conviction in the pub
lie mind that, had the law been prop
erly administered, many Of the judges
who passed its sentence should have
taken their place in the criminal dock
and received 1t.
It lis to a dereliction Of this character
that we now call the attention OF the
Attorney General, upon whom devolves
the duty OF enforcing the law. Ii the
criminal prosecution of the parties Is
no longer feasible, though some Of them
are probably still liable even to that,
they may yet undoubtedly be required
to refund to the public treasury the
money which they have unlawfully
withdrawn from it. Every considera-
ton OF the public interest, and those OF
moral nature far more than pecuniary
ones. demands that this should be done.
We refer to the excess Of salary drawn
by the late judges OF the Supreme Court
under the cover OF statute ono. So,
which one Of their number lobbied
through corrupt legislature in Febru-
airy, 1871. That statute gave to them an
increase OF $25O0 over the salary APP
pointed by article rs Of the constitution,
which fixed absolutely the amount and
conferred upon the Legislature no
authority whatever over the subject.
Chief Justice Marshall, in the case OF
Marbury vs.. Madison, says:
"The constitution is either a superior,
paramount law, Interchangeable by ordin-
ary means, or 1t Is on level with
ordinary legislative acts, and like other
acts. ia alterable when the Legislature
shall please to alter it. II the former
part Of the alternative be true, then a
legislative act contrary to the constitu-
ton Is not lao; IL the latter part be true'
then written constitutions are absurd
attempts, on the part Of the people. to
limit a power in It's own nature illimita-
BILE. Certainly all those who have
framed written constitutions contem-
plate them as forming the funda-
mental and paramount law OF
the nation, and consequently the
theory Of every such government
must be, that an act Of the Legislature
repugnant to the constitution Is Uoid.
This theory is essentially attached to q
written constitution, and Is consequent
ly to be considered by this court as one
OF the fundamental principles Of our
society"
Here, then, we have as near demon
stration as the nature Of the subject adj
mits, of the principle that the Legisla-
ture cannot change the constitution,
and that any act having that effect is