Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-06-05
The Veto Answered.
SPEECH or gEsAToR WALLACE IN THE sEs-
ATE, MAY 2gih.

ATE, MAY 29ih.
Prom the Harrisburg Pairiot
Mr.. Wallace moved 10 amend by in.
sorting all that part Of the late legiala.
tive appropriation bill, which is known
ms the political clause. Mr.. Wallace
spoke TO this amendment. lie quoted
from Hayes veto message sent to the
House. Hayes, he said. had spoken Of
national elections. lie would take Is.
sue with the Executive on that term.
There was no such thing as a national
election. lie then read from the re.
cords Of the early Congresses to define
| the character Of the congressional cleo.
| tions and also to show IN what abhor.
renee military interference with such
! elections was held at that period. lie
read the bill Of 1900 which passed the
| House hut which was defeated in the
senate. This bill was to permit military
Interference at elections. The men
who defeated il were the Federalists Of
| the John Adams school and in that
same year they went out of power.
| History repeats itself. The Republican
| party Of today continues to assert the
! principles Of ccntralism a. their prcde.
cessors did eighty years ago. They con.
tinue 10 override liberty. proscribe
| foreigners and set,up a despotism Mr.
/ Hayes and the sthlwarts of his party
are forgetting that the States were in
the beginning invested with certain
authority aud rights which were never
| delegated TO any GENITAL government.
! This stalwart doctrine IL fully as danger
Gus As its opposite, the doctrine Of Sc.
cession. Mr. Wallace read a large
number OF extracts from the leading
statesmen Of the period of the adoption
OF the Constition 10 show what the pre-.
yailing views were nj that time in re.
gard TO the respective powers Of the
States and the Federal government.
The States existed long before the
Federal government, and il was never
contemplated that the latter could
usurp the prerogatiycs Of the former.
No one had dreamed that such an Us.
urpation was possible until recently.
hc election laws now on the statute
book constitute plain and unwarrant.
ed usurpatlon OF States rights, and il
was against these laws that the present
Till was levelcd. The Federal govern.
ment itself was based upon the States.
and It's eKistcn ce il destroyed when they
arc destroyed. Why, the qualifications
Of electors, as described in the conEti.
tuition, are conferred 10y the States or
the people Of the States. The States
are above sll and behind all, and in
them resides all power, and Federal
authority l. only what the States volun.
tarily confer upon the general govern.
ment. Mr.. Wallace devoted a good
deal Of time 10 discussion Of what
constitutes voter in the different
States. II. said he, az "the President
three times assumes in his message,
there are such thing. n. national elcc.
iions, then they lack an important in
Rrcdisnt, namely. national voter. for
there j. no such thing. The Senator
from Ohio, lMr. thurman had, in his
speech OF last week, made a valuable
contribution TO political history in say.
ing that the existing election laws affect
Northern more than Southern cities
In nineteen Northern states there are
sIXtyfour cities Of more than 2O.OOO
population each, or with . total Of
about 10000, which are made subject
20 the infamous rule oi these supervi.
sors Of elections and deputy marshals.
Ten Southern cities, representing a
population of $4,000, are similarly AZ.
icCted. 1t is thus seen that the North
suffers far more than the South in this
respect. Mr. Wallace read from the
testimony taken by the Cox committee
in the case of the New York elections
and from the testimony taken by the
Wallace committee in the case Of the
Philadelphia elections, in which the
number, character and duties Of deputy
marshAls employed were set forth in
the language Of the witnesses examined.
He also quoted from the testimony in
regard To the conduct Of deputy marsh.
ais in NJ, Louis, Little Rock and New
Orleans. He introduced extracts from
large number Of speeches which have
already been made in the Senate on this
question, together with opinions Of the
leading men in the country at various
periods. Among these were W. NJ
EvaTts, Carl Schurz, the late W. II.
Seward, Stanley Matthews and Others.
The speech was a compilation Of all
that has been said or written upon the
subject of military interference with
elections, either directly or remotely.
There were citations of Law, citations
from the Constitution. from the pro.
cecdings of the State conventions. from
the messages of governors, including all
manner Of testimony bearing upon the
subject of the rights of citizens Of
States 10 express their franchise by the
employment Of the bullot. There was
also large number Of valuable stats.
tics introduced relating to the mode
employed by the Republican admins
traiions Of the past ten years in main.
tanning power. 10y using its army OF
othceholders and employees to carry
elections. The speech was more than