The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-05-22

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4 HAHEs, LAST vETo. -
The Enquirer says: There is no
one honest, pertinent word in the veto
message which the President sent to
the House of Representatives yester.
day which is not a condemnation OF
the veto. Against his inclination, in
obedience to the party behest, the
President yetoes this bill, forced in
very shame to assign in the veto
message the reasons why he should
not veto it. 1t is a bill which, the
President said in his previous veto
message, and in this, was and IS al
ready on the statute books; thus
openly and shamelessly committing
the Republican party to the position
of vetoing bill for the sake of per-
petuatlng political disturbance, for
the sake of reviving and keeping aliye
sectional passions. 1t is bill which
the President q few days ago was
willing to sign. 1t is bill which the
Republicans in the last Congress were
willing to pass, and which leading
Republicans to-day are willing to vote
for. It required the party lash to in
duce Republicans to vote against il in
this Congress. The message is full of
praise of the doctrine of the measure,
and contains no logical word against
it. Not one of the citations made
from the early laws is pertinent to
this bill, or, il either of these is peril
nent, it is pertinent and forcible
against the veto. The veto of the
Army Appropriation Bill was an an
noancement to the country that the
Republican party was willing to stop
the supplies for the army, if it could
not use the army at the polls for po-
litical and Republican purposes. This
veto, following and emphasizing the
other, 10 an announcement to the
country that the Executive will insist
on retaining the power to elect Con-
gress by the Federal sword. It is
also known that this is to be followed
by another veto, in which tho party OF
the President will insist on retaining
the power to elect . Congress by tho
Federal purse. These are chief among
the issues that will be presented to the
people Of the United States in the
next elections, and in the next ones.
Tho expression of the opinion by
the President that mo additional leg
islation is necessary to prevent inter-
ference with elections by the military
and naval forces of the United States,'
is, to begin with, an impertinence. He
-is not the judge Of the necessity for
legislation. 1t is, in the second place,
proof of the hypocrisy of the veto; for
what President would veto q bill
which did not alter an existing law
If it is not intended to use the Feder-
al soldiers at the polls, there could be
no objection to signing this bill, ,whe,h-
er necessary or unnecessary. But the
President himself gives the reasons
why he should sign the bill: |
Holding as do the opinion that
any military interference whatever at
the polls is contrary to the spirit of
our Institutions, aud would tend to de-
stroy the freedom of electlOns, and
sincerely desiring to concur with Con- |
gress in all of it's measures" &c.
This is an hypocritical concession to
the known sentiment of the American
people, which this veto itself openly |
violates. The veto sets up goddess
Of liberty and stabs her in the back. |
the elections says the President,
should be free from all forcible inter- |
and, as far as practicable, from |
all apprehension of such Interference. |
No soldiers, either of the Union, or Of
States militia, should be present at the
polls to take the place or to perform
the duties of the ordinary civil service
force That is precisely what this
bill says, and the President, swearing |
it ought not to be vetoed, yetoes it.
The President adds that there should
be no denial of the right of the Ma
tional Government to employ it's mil
itary force on any day and at any
place, in case such employment is
necessary to enforce the Constitution
and laws of the United States That
IL what this bill said. The bill specif-
ically and painstakingly declared the
right to use force to repel armed enc
mics Of the United States, or to en-
force the provisions of the Constitu-
tion relating to this subject. and the
laws made in pursuance thereof. Here,
again, the foundation is taken from
under the veto by the veto itself. The
bill re-commands the constitutional
use of the military; it only forbids
the unconstitutional use of tke mill
tary at the polls. The veto message
declares that the bill would seriously
impair the efficiency Of the Executive
Department of the Government In
deed! How? The President has said
that the law is already on the statute
books, and, if that be true, the bill can
not impair the efficiency of tho Exc.
cutive. He has said that he will not
use the military at the polls if that be
true this bill does not impair his eff
ficiency. The fact is that the bill does
impair the unconstitutional efficiency
of the Executive Department of the
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The early laws alluded to are all
wide of the point at issue in the bill.
The laws of 1892 and of 1895 and of
1907 lstndiously forebore, as this bill
does, to authorize any interference of
the Federal army at the polls,not only,