Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-05-31

owever, will be placed actually at e
ny poll of election except upon re-
uirement to that effect by The mar |
hal or has deputy" .
So it seems that the discretion as to
yhether the law should he violated or {
OF was vested in q deputy marshal T! s
n fact they were SO illegally disposed I
resident, as appears by the order OF
ated October 27, 1874, seemed anxious
0 have the troops placed at the polls I
Without the appearance of doing so. In
hat order he propounds physical pro-
lem or conundrum to General Emory
which that officer had to give up. He
ays:
Cannot points be selected near the
,olls where attempts to overawe voters,
likely to result in riots, may be made.
md troops stationed there day or two
1t would not be desirable
o have soldiers at or too near the polls,
IS all appearance Of military inter
except to secure Uoters their
rights to uote, should be avoided."
Not to "keep the peace" mind you,
but to secure voters their right to vote
Now, this was hard problem; to place |
troops SO far from the polls as to avoid |
all appearance of interference with the |
elections, and yet so near as to actually
interfere by securing all men in their
right to vote. Quod est Reconsideration.
1t was too much for General Emory lin
fact, it was too much tor common sense
and common honesty. All these orders
show palpable and shameless deter
mination on the part OF the executive to
control both the elections and the count
ing of the votes of presidential electors.
as well as the organization of state
governments. The manner IN which
the troops were shifted about from one
to the other of these three states, on
which the presidential election depended
exhibits the animus of this infamous
transaction in manner SO plain that
tho wayfaring man. though a republi-
can, need not err therein.
But the president tells US in his veto
message that there has been no inter-
promises that there shall be none. So
we are to take his royal promise to re-
spect the peoples liberties and not to
have them secured by law? Here is the
promise of one president OF the United
States, and one who stands exceedingly
high in republican estimation. dated
November 10. 1879, to General w. T.
Sherman, Washington. District of Colum-
bia
"Instruct General Anger, in Louisi-
ana. and General Ruger, in Florida, to
be vigilant with the force at their COM
mand to preserve peace and good order,
and to see that the proper and legal
boards of canvassers are unmolested in
the performance of their duties. Shonld
there be any grounds of suspicion ol
fraudulent counting on either side it
should be reported and denounced al
once. No man worthy of the Office ol
president would be willing to hold the
Office if counted in, placed there by
fraud. Either party can afford to be
disappointed IN the result, but the coun.
try cannot afford to have the result
tainted by the suspicion of illegal or false
returns. U. 8. GRANT"
On the same day the following tele
gram Is also forwarded to General Sher
man:
| 1.-The president thinks, and l agree
with him, that it will be we'll for you Il
give to the Associated Press his tele
gram and mine to you, referring to al
fairs now in the south.
| J. D. CAMERON,
Secretary OF War"
Of the vast. open.jawed, and cavern
ous-bellied nature OF this promise hav'
not the heart OR the time to discourse.
shall content myself with initiating tn,
discretion OF Mr.. Rodman, who, return
ing home one night full of tax-pald, ant
fearing that his speech would betra,
him, to the many questions of his wife
for long while maintained an obstinate
silence, until at length to end the mat
ter he solemnly remarked, MRS. Rod
man, you know | am man of few
words, and now am plumb done talk
ing" That subject Immediately becam
res adjudicata. I am done talking o.
this subject so we'll calculated to max
an American citizen blush.
The arguments made by the opponent
of these bills. especially those of th
veto messages. strike me with goo
deal Of amazement. To illustrate thei
absurdity let US frame them into tn
} semblance of mathematical propositions
, thus:
Proposition first: Theorem - Th
troops of the United States are tw
} thousand miles away on the frontier an
| could not be used to control elections
} they were wanted. Senator from Maine
The troops could not be so used
they were here, as the law for6ids it.
promise not to use them-The presiden
: Hence it is revolutionary and danger
Gus to liberty and the purity of election
t to pass this bill torbidding such use {
t troops-Q. E. D.
Corollary first - The necessity fc
troops at the polls to secure fair ele,
, tions is in proportion to the squares {
2 the distance OF. their present location,
I e., the greater the distance, the create
) the necessity.
Carollary second-The necessity fc
, the presence of troops at the polls is ais
, in proportion to the legal inability to US
them ii they were present. and if tt
3 president IS determined not to use thel
! at all to control elections. then the n
t cessity becomes absolute.
I Corollary third - The revolutional
and dangerous character of law col
sists IN the fact that it is useless. thel
being already in existence laws sufficie
to effect the purpose.
Scholium--In the above it is assume
e automatically that the terms "liberty
and purity of elections" are synon
u nous with the term republican party
= Prolonged laughter.I
Proposition second: Thsorem-Tt
!. right OF citizens OF the United Stat
u to vote shall not be denied or abridge
Il by the United States or by any state {
!, account Of race, color or previous CO
g dition of servitude.
Sec. 2. The congress shall have pow
to enforce this article by appropriate le
e tslation.-The fifteenth amendment gu
{, ted by the president.
r. The supreme court in the Unit,
Il States against Cruikshank. and IN Mye
4 vs.. Happersett, have declared that Il
only right guaranteed by this amen
ment is the right that citizens shall n
u be Disseminated against on account
s race. color or previous condition of Sc
> vitude. Hence national legislation
z provide safeguards tor free and hone
elections Is necessary, as experience b
. shown. not only to secure the right
u vote to the enfranchlsed race at tt
: south, but also to prevent traudule
IS voting in the large cities of tho north
g The President
: Corollary tirst-It follows that if job
Smith gets drunk at an election in Nor
4 4