The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-05-17

THE UNITED STATES SENATE, ,JANUARY II AND
p 1873.
It is nonsense to talk Of State rights
until the Rraver question of personal
liberties is first understood and adjusted.
President Hayes, 10 reply TO an address
Of welcome in Charlottesville, Virginia,
September 25, 1877, said:
Equality under the laws for all citi-
Zens is the cornerstone of the structure
of the restored harmony from which the
ancient friendship is to rise. In this
pathway / am going, the pathway
where your illustriOus men led-yOur
Jefferson, your Madison, your Monroe,
your Washington"
If, in this statement, President HAYES
IS thoroughly sincere, then he will not
hesitate 10 approve emphatically the
principle OF national protection for ma
tiOnal citizens. He will see that the
protection Of all national citizens in all
their equal rights, civil, political, aud
religiOus-not by the muskets OF United
States troops, but by the peaceable au-
thority Of United States cOurts-is not a
principle that applies 10 a single section
OF the country, but to all sections alike;
be will see that the incorporation Of
such principle in the constitution can
not be regarded as a measure of force
imposed upon the vanquished, since it
would be law alike to the vanquished
and the victor In short, he will see
that there is no other sufficient guar
antee Of that equality Of all citizens,
which he well declares TO be "the cor
ner-stone OF the structure of restored
harmony
The Boston Journal Of July 18th said
There are cases where it seems as if
the constitution should empower the
Federal government TO step in and pro-
tect the cltlzeu IN the State, when the
local authorities are in league with the
assasslnsi but, as it now reads, no such
provision exists"
That the constitution does not make
such provision Is not the fault of the
President; IL must be attributed TO lead
ing Republicans who had il in their
power once to change the constitution
so as to give the most ample powers 10
the general government.
When Attorney General Devens was
charged last May with negligence i'm
not prosecuting the parties accused of
the Mountain Meadow massacre. his
defense was, that this horrible crime
was not against the United States. but
against the Territory Of Utah. Yet. il
was a great company Of industrious.
honest, unoffending United States citi-
Zens who were foully and brutally muir
dered In cold blood When Chief JUS
tice Waite gave bis charge 10 the Jury
IN the Elleutown conspiracy cases, az
Charleston, South Carolina, June !, 1877,
be said:
THAT a number Of citizens Of the
United States have been killed, there
can be no question; but that is not
enough TO enable the government OF the
United States to interfere for their pro-
lection.
Under the constitution that duty be-
longs 70 the State alone But when an
unlawful combination is made TO inter
leIe win any Of the rights Of natural
TItlensnlp q secured 10 citizens of the
Culteu states 10y the national constitu-
tlou, theh an oifeuse is committed
against the laws Of the United States
and 1t is not only the right. but I ibe
solute duty, OF the national goverr,n,a,t
TO interfere and afford the citizens ti,at
protection which every good povern.
ment is bound 10 give"
General Hawley, in an address bef,r.
college last spring, said:
"Why, il is asked, does our povsrr-
ment permit outrages in a State which
IL would exert all its authority 10 re-
dress, even at the risk Of war, if thev
were perpetrated under foreign gov
eminent? Are the rights of American
citizens more sacred on the soil Of Great
Britain or France than on the soil Of
one Of our own States? Notatall. But
the government OF the United States is
clothed with power to act with imperial
sovereignty in the one case, while in
the other Its authority is limited TO the
degree 81 utter impotency, ia certain
circumstances. The State sovereignty