New-York tribune., 1879-05-13

more cHtctudlIy UndH IL 10 SudiuO" "i''"''
we should advise some Republican Senator or
Representative now TO introduce Dill
for that purpose. But it is not possible, ana
the Democrats know that it is not They are
not trying to erect safeguard against IN
reference by the military authorities; but
they are striving to remove the ballot from
under the protecting care of the General
Government. That they shall not DO. They
may as well admit the inevitable without
further struggles, which only expose them to
fresh defeats and notifications.
-
ARNS FOR EFERYBODY BUT THE NATION.
The Presidents Message goes to the root OF
the matter. Under color of preventing mill
t,iry interference with elections, the Demo-
Gratis attempted to secure for their own armed
and drilled partisan leagues and rife-crbs
absolute freedom to do as they pleased on
election days. Again and again they voted
down amendments to prohibit the presence OF
any armed force at the polls. What they
wanted was to strip the United States OF all
power to enforce its laws, or to protect citi-
zens in their free exercise of the right of suf-
frage. Then the rile-cubs would have been
able to interfere in any election with i'm
puuity. The Presidents reply makes the
proper distinction. military interference with
elections" he says, in substance, lis al
ready prohibited, and it is not desired
"by anybody. But the presence OF an
"army wherever it may be necessary
"to enforce the laws, on election days
"or any other, at the POLLS or anywhere
"else, is not prohibited, and shall not be
".with my consent If you mean no mischief,
"the troops will never trouble You. If you
"mean to seize voting-places with illegal
"bodies of armed men, to defy the laws, and
"to deprive citizens of their freedom, the
United States ought TO stop you. and viii
"retain all the power it las for that pur-
"pOse."
A great cloud of Misrepresentation and
sophistry is blown away by this straightforward
message. The Federal Government has an
absolute constitutional right to put forth all
its powers, at any time or place for the en-
f0rcemcnt of It's laws Only those who break
those laws have any occasion to fear Its
power. If the Democrats mean to have fair
and peaceful elections, no army Will ever
interrupt or alright them. President Hayes
can justly point to his record as proof that he
has no intention whatever of employing mill
tary force in any case where the right to do
so is questionable. But the right to use all
the power of the United States for the en-
forcement of its laws is not question
able Those who mean to break those
laws, those who mean to carry elec-
tions by means of armed mObs and
violence, will not be left to do so with i'm
punity. They are plainly told that to stop
Al nd tI.i Xf,l lar
and whenever it may be necessary, is not in
reference with elections. 1t is simply en-
forcemcnt of law.
That elections should be free from all
fOrcbe interference, and, as far as possible,
from all apprehension of such interference"
the President declares. That is the true rule.
But how can that end be attained, if Demo-
cratic rihe-clubs can ride up on the morning
of election and surround any voting place, and
murder United States officers while attempt
ing to perform their duties, while the United
States is not permitted to send a single
soldier, at the call of any official, to support
him in suppressing viOlencel I" That we
"may have perfect peace and freedom" says
the wolf, "let it be enacted that no shepherd
shall be within two miles of any sheep
"fold at night" There is but one way
to keep elections free from all for
cible interference" and that is to give
the Government ample power to sup
press and punish any fOrcible inter
ference. That power is now intrusted to
the President by the Constitution and the
laws, and he properly refuses to surrender it
at the demand of the Democratic wolves in
Congress. Bloody cOrpses at hundreds of voting
places in the South have shown what sort of pence
these Democrats mean to keep. Their extra
session, and their passionate anxiety to strip
the Government of all power to prevent inter-
ference with elections, and their threat to starye
the Government unless that power is surren-
dered show their purpose. Military interfer-
ence with elections there will be none. Mill
tary Interference with them, if they attempt
to carry elections by force, we trust they may
expect.
The veto is very strong in its reasoning and
in its citation of the laws. But it will DO the
more heartily sustained by the loyal people of
the free North because 1t draws so sharply the
dividing line between abuse and proper use
of the Federal power. The President has
made it plain to the whole country that he
will not abuse his power. as Commander
in-C Chief of the Army, nor employ that power
for political ends Even when his own
party almost unanimously thought that he
would be justified, he refused to use the Army
because il did not seem to him clear that the
occasion warranted that use. But he now
serves fair warning upon the revOlutiOnists in
Congress that he means to use all his power
to enforce the laws. And it is fortunate for the
that his veto stands as an impregna-