The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1879-06-13
SENATOR VANCE ON THE SITUATION.


ers in withholding from them the yer,
admirable speech of Senator Vance deliy
cred with temper in his own ininitable way
Hence We make the following extract con
tanning the pith of the Senator's remarks |:
Y *
Coming briefly to the real questions !
ask why should the law authorizing the
military to be used at the polls not be
repealed, and why should the law authoriz.
ing Federal supervision also not be re-.
pealed l take it to be iudi.putably es.
tablishcd, without further argument, that
the whole subject relating to the elective
franchise is placed by the constitution un-
der the control of the States, and all that
the Federal government can do is to sec
that the States, as such, do not discrimi-
nate against any on account of race, color,
or previous condition Of servitude This is
the whole duty and power of Congress, as
declared by the Supreme Court. When
any Republican Senator has ventured for
one moment to abandon the line of inflam-
Inatory appeal to tho sectional feeling of
the country, the excuses given for the
retention OF this law upon the statute book
aro illogical almost to puerility.
One Senator gravely urges that it should
not be repealed because the great bulk of
the army is in the distant West, only some
few hundreds being east of the Rocky
Mountains. He tells us in the course of
his enumeration that there are only about
thirty in the State of North Carolina, and
asks the senators from that State if they
are afraid of that number of soldiers Pas
sing over the obvious fact that within thir.
ty days 10000 could be sent there if de-
sired, [ answer that We do fear them, be.
cause they represent the power of the
United States government aud the cnmity
OF the Republican party which wields that
power; We fear them as the Hollander fears
the first small leak in the dykes which bear
back the waves Of the ocean from delucino
the meadows Of his homestead; we fear
them as the physician fears the first speck
of gangrene in the system of his patient;
we fear them as TIC sailor fears the piling
up of the storm clouds upon the horizon,
knowing that their deceptive beauty covers
the fierce desolation of the tempest wo
fear them as the shepherd of the mountain
fears for his lambs at even the fitting of n
shadoH athwart his path, for he knows it
to be the shadow Of the eagle, the remorse.
less tyrant of thu air we fear them as Char
lemagnc feared the rude wooden ships of
the Morse Vikings on their first appearance
in the seas of his empire We fear them as
all patriotic Romans feared the crossing Of
the Rubicon by Caesar, the passage of which
with arms in his hands marked him as the
enemy of Roman liberty.
Even so we fear and believe that when
an American crosses the Rubicon of his
constitutional powers and appears ct the
place of choosing our rulers, armed either
with the sword or with illegal powers of
arrest, he thereby proclaims himself the
enemy of the liberties of our people. a
fragrant illustration ofthe justice of this fear
is to be found in the various orders of the
War Department directing the concentra-
tion Of troops ia the States of South Caro-
lima, Florida and Louisiana on the occasion
of tho election of 1876. The excuse that
these soldiers were not intended to interfere
with elections or to be placed at the polls.
but only to be sufficiently near to keen the
peace, is not sustained by the facts of that
reign OF military violence, nor will it be if
tried again. quote from an order dated
headquarters Department of the South, Co.
iumbia, South Carolina, October 8, 1876,
issued by General Ruger:
"Should the barracks or camp in any
case bs so far from the place of voting that
prompt assistance could not on occasion
arising be rendered the civil officers, the
commanding officer will SO place his com.
mand, or sufficient part thereof, that
such assistance, if required, may be
promptly given. No troops, however, will
be placed actually at any poll of election,
except upon requirement to that effect by
The marshal or his deputy"
So it seems that the discretion as to
whether the law should be violated or not
was vested in deputy marshal In fact,
they were so illegally disposed and used iu
hundred instances. The President, as
appears by the order of General Townsend
to general Emory, dated October 27, 1874
seemed anxious to have the troops placed
at the polls without the appearance Of doing
so. In that order he propounds physical
problem or conundrum to General Emory
which that officer had to give up. Ht
says.
"Cannot points be selected near poll
where attempts to overawe voters, likely tt
result in riots, may be made, and troops sta
toned there a day or two beforehand !
would not be desirable to have soldiers at o
too near the polls, asaN appearance Of mi
itary Interference, except to secure Voter
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